bamboo fire saw

[rich59]

I have had a couple of goes at the bamboo fire saw and, amazingly, I seem to be getting coals. Here is my first one, yesterday. You can just see the ember on the black area of bamboo.



And here is how I did it again today,

Here are the main parts



Close ups of my 3 previous attempts grooves (2/3 created fire)

top


and reverse


Here is a new notch cut with a saw



and now with a hole dug out with a knife through the thin wood remaining



close up



Now the other side



Next I placed 2 bundles of tinder/ packing material each side of the hole



and then brought them loosely together and steadied them in place with a scrap of wood



Next I made sure the "saw" edge was sharp enough to fit into the base of the groove.



OK, so next I positioned the saw, wedged into my shed door, just above the lock - to support it in place



The other end was against my stomach, trying to rest on my belt, with 2 gardening gloves to protect me from injury



Then I brought the piece with notch and tinder up to rest on the saw edge - saw edge in newly made groove



Then I placed my 2nd hand on the bamboo - in mirror image to the other hand (no picture of this) and started rubbing it backwards and forwards along the saw edge. I steadily increased speed and pressure over about a minute until at nearly flat out I got smoke. Then I went flat out for another 10 seconds or so before stopping. NO COAL! So I did it again. YES. COAL THIS TIME!!

The small coal quickly transferred fire into the thinned down bamboo wood itself. Sorry about the aim of the camera. I was trying to blow and hold it and take pictures at the same time




And now I have got that "first coal" grin all over again!

Purists would make all the parts, including the tinder wads from the bamboo and blow it into flame.

You probably can't do it without those wads of material. Otherwise the dust scatters.

 

[Coldfeet]

Nice write up, thanks for sharing. Do you think it would work "up-side down"? i.e. the bamboo on the ground with the tinder underneath, and then you sawing from the top?

 

[Limaed]

Thanks for sharing Richard, I have some large pieces of bamboo from an old chair that I'm keeping to have a go at this with.

What did you use for tinder? I'm assuming any fine natural tinder will work as the cushion for the ember?

 

[rich59]

There is a video out there of someone doing just that. I had one go at that as well. I wasn't any where near successful. For this method (which ever way up) I think you need to transfer much of your moving upper body weight to the saw in the narrow groove. It didn't seem easy to do that with the large piece on the ground and the small piece in my hand. It might be easier if the large piece could be stably positioned a foot or two off the ground. Another factor I noted "upside down" with my bits of bamboo was that the smaller bit was bending quite a lot, and this was difficult to control. Additionally for the upside down version I felt I needed to have my hands quite far apart, one near my body, the other a foot away and this was difficult to hold firmly.

Doing it normal way up I had a firm base to put my weight through.


I should add that Interceptor Boy was my chief guide in getting this far.

Nice write up, thanks for sharing. Do you think it would work "up-side down"? i.e. the bamboo on the ground with the tinder underneath, and then you sawing from the top?

 

[rich59]

I used some wads of fibre I found in the shed. It turned out they seem pretty impervious to fire, so I would think that something like hay would work very well and better than my found material. I was being lazy really. Interceptor Boy showed me how you can use a knife to scrape off tinder from the outside of the bamboo itself.

Thanks for sharing Richard, I have some large pieces of bamboo from an old chair that I'm keeping to have a go at this with.

What did you use for tinder? I'm assuming an fine natural tinder will work as the cushion for the ember?

 

[MegaWoodsWalker]

This is something I have never done before. Congrats on the coal! Great job.

 

[Ruud]

nice one, thanks for the good pics.

 

[forrestdweller]

i have done bamboo fire saw quite a few times successfully but only with a second person holding the base piece while i sawed away... . all attempts at doing it one-person failed... . uppy_dog

i followed the instructions in a book with had a lengthwise groove on the inside as well.... . and dried wallaby poo worked best as tinder...

 

[rich59]

I have now spent many happy hours playing with the fire saw. I have been working on 2 questions:-

1) How exactly does it work?

2) Can I make a fire saw work with other materials?

Regards 1) OK it is friction fire! But what catches fire? I have a suggestion. I think that tiny coals are forming on the surface of the 'saw' - tiny wisps of smouldering flecks of wood. These collect in and around the V ends of the oval hole forming in the rubbing piece. If there is sufficient collected quickly, and if sufficient insulation above (the tinder bundle), and prevention from dispersing (the tinder bundle again) then a coal forms that quickly transfers into the wafer thin wood surrounding the hole in the rubbing piece.

So, what then of 2) ? I have tried emulating the bamboo rubbing piece by hollowing out a piece of wood, commercial pine as one example, and sycamore as an example of a relatively hard wood. I also tried some elder, using the hollow down the middle as a fire chamber. I made fire saws out of pine and of sycamore, and of elder. I can readily get heat and smoke but no fire so far. I think the harder the wood the better. If I need to emulate the hole breaking through a smooth surface on the inside surface of the bamboo then this will be hard to set up without a number of wood working tools.

Has anyone else any insights on making fire saws out of alternative woods? I know there is a 2 person method by Australian aboriginals, but I am seeking a potential single person method with woods obtainable in the UK.