Bow drill and lockdown tea

[Suffolkrafter]

Inspired by Van-wild's recent post and suggestions on lubricating spindles, I decided to have a bit of a bow drill day today. I'm a novice, but starting to see progress. Bushcraft is teaching me the art of patience and practice, which I think can sometimes be forgotten as an adult.

It seems to me that success in bow drill comes from having a whole series of variable all correct. When everything is right it is relatively easy. If one thing is out of place it's either back breaking or impossible.

Having recently figured out that a hole that is too deep can lead to failure, today I made another discovery. After a lot of smoke-and-no-ember (I'm talking hours), I guessed that my hearth board was too thick, and the drop down to the collecting mat was high enough that the material was cooling down on its journey - not helped by the breeze. So I started on an adjacent hole so that material would collect in the first hole - which I also partially covered to protect from the wind. This time I had an ember going in about 30 seconds or so. Couldn't beleive it. I'd post a photo of my lixada stove and subsequent brew, if I could work out how...

 

[Spirit fish]

Inspired by Van-wild's recent post and suggestions on lubricating spindles, I decided to have a bit of a bow drill day today. I'm a novice, but starting to see progress. Bushcraft is teaching me the art of patience and practice, which I think can sometimes be forgotten as an adult.

It seems to me that success in bow drill comes from having a whole series of variable all correct. When everything is right it is relatively easy. If one thing is out of place it's either back breaking or impossible.

Having recently figured out that a hole that is too deep can lead to failure, today I made another discovery. After a lot of smoke-and-no-ember (I'm talking hours), I guessed that my hearth board was too thick, and the drop down to the collecting mat was high enough that the material was cooling down on its journey - not helped by the breeze. So I started on an adjacent hole so that material would collect in the first hole - which I also partially covered to protect from the wind. This time I had an ember going in about 30 seconds or so. Couldn't beleive it. I'd post a photo of my lixada stove and subsequent brew, if I could work out how...

A foolproof bowdrill set ,spindle hazel 8 inches thumb thickness hearthboard dead ivy thumb thickness ,socket limpit shells,shot glass,polished hard wood, always use sand to prevent polishing use lawnmower starter cord as cordage enjoyyyy

 

[Broch]

Strangely I (and a number of well known instructors) don't rate hazel very highly as a drill. True, it comes in convenient round section, but there are better drill materials IMO. Hazel will work, I grant you, but not as well as other materials in my experience.

 

[Spirit fish]

Strangely I (and a number of well known instructors) don't rate hazel very highly as a drill. True, it comes in convenient round section, but there are better drill materials IMO. Hazel will work, I grant you, but not as well as other materials in my experience.

anything that's harder than the baseboard works for me i use hazel mostly because it grows straight and is extremely common I'm not a fan of hazel heartboards though unless there in a advanced state of decay ,not quite punky,as your a instructor your insight on good drills would be apreciated

 

[Broch]

anything that's harder than the baseboard works for me i use hazel mostly because it grows straight and is extremely common I'm not a fan of hazel heartboards though unless there in a advanced state of decay ,not quite punky,as your a instructor your insight on good drills would be apreciated

I'm no expert, I'm just someone that's been 'having a go' for a long time and still makes mistakes

My go-to drill wood is elder but I know people who don't like it and swear by other woods. I have seen instructors that will demonstrate bow drill, then send the students out to gather material and have a go - I don't know of anything more demoralising than failing for hours! When I have taught it (and it's not high on my essential skills list when time is short over a weekend) I have allowed students to use a working set first - now they know they can do it so building their own set is just about attention to detail as Suffolkrafter has said.

I also start by using charcloth and cotton wool to get a flame from the ember; you can mess around with natural tinder when you're sure you've got the process right.

 

[Spirit fish]

I'm no expert, I'm just someone that's been 'having a go' for a long time and still makes mistakes

My go-to drill wood is elder but I know people who don't like it and swear by other woods. I have seen instructors that will demonstrate bow drill, then send the students out to gather material and have a go - I don't know of anything more demoralising than failing for hours! When I have taught it (and it's not high on my essential skills list when time is short over a weekend) I have allowed students to use a working set first - now they know they can do it so building their own set is just about attention to detail as Suffolkrafter has said.

I also start by using charcloth and cotton wool to get a flame from the ember; you can mess around with natural tinder when you're sure you've got the process right.

I use punk wood as a member extender

 

[Broch]

I use punk wood as a member extender

I hope you mean ember!!

 

[Spirit fish]

I'm no expert, I'm just someone that's been 'having a go' for a long time and still makes mistakes

My go-to drill wood is elder but I know people who don't like it and swear by other woods. I have seen instructors that will demonstrate bow drill, then send the students out to gather material and have a go - I don't know of anything more demoralising than failing for hours! When I have taught it (and it's not high on my essential skills list when time is short over a weekend) I have allowed students to use a working set first - now they know they can do it so building their own set is just about attention to detail as Suffolkrafter has said.

I also start by using charcloth and cotton wool to get a flame from the ember; you can mess around with natural tinder when you're sure you've got the process right.

I'm no expert either elder spindles always break with me I'm a big strong guy , so if I have right materials and sand to prevent polishing I bear down as much as I can get away with without stopping the spindle spinning and I I move the bow full length parrallel to ground at great speed well as fast as I can go without cord slipping I usually get embers in 60 seconds doing this if the materials are correct

 

[Spirit fish]

I hope you mean ember!!

yes thats a typo be cool if punkwood had those health benefits