This afternoon I had a go at creating an ember with a bow drill just to make sure I could still do it and also to try out a variation on the bearing block. I also made another change to my set up - more later ......
First of all the bearing block.
Some people say the bearing block is so-called because you 'bear' down on it. That always struck me as a bit odd because it is a 'bearing' ie part of its job is to reduce friction (Engineers feel free to comment.)
Anyway it is the 'bearing' explanation that is used in a video I saw by Sean Mulhall, at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3a1RW7AJpQ&feature=em-uploademail
He uses a skate board wheel as the bearing block and he explains that this is just the first step - he is likely to develop it in the future.
In the comments to the video someone refers to a wheel bearing bracelet'. This is at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovgZKE4vbMU
In my experiment I used just the bearing. I got it from a bike shop. A new one would cost about £8 but I think mine was second hand and cost £1.50. In the Sean Mulhall video there are references to getting them from old electrical equipment, but I didn't have any to hand. I carved a hole in a bit of wood for it to go in:
I couldn't get it to fit in perfectly but that didn't seem to matter. I found that if you just angle the wooden block to give a smooth running bearing then it works well. After making my second mod (see below) I soon got an ember, and a pretty big one too.
The bearing doesn't take up much space and could be a valuable part of a fire drill set. But it would be a bit of a bind to cut a hole in a bit of wood each time so something like the bracelet idea would be helpful in reducing space/making it easier to find. Even if you used a skateboard/rollerskate wheel this would not take up much more space that a normal wooden block.
So if anyone has any ideas (in addition to the bracelet one) please suggest away.
The second mod was to the spindle. I don't recall seeing this before but know from experience that it is unlikely that no-one else has thought of it.
Spindle
When I had a go at actual drilling the cord kept coming off the spindle. So I just carved a double taper in the middle.
You can see that this doesn't have to be very elegant - even my rough and ready, near enuf, gud enuf approach worked well and - as I said above - i got a really good ember in very little time, and with little effort.
First of all the bearing block.
Some people say the bearing block is so-called because you 'bear' down on it. That always struck me as a bit odd because it is a 'bearing' ie part of its job is to reduce friction (Engineers feel free to comment.)
Anyway it is the 'bearing' explanation that is used in a video I saw by Sean Mulhall, at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3a1RW7AJpQ&feature=em-uploademail
He uses a skate board wheel as the bearing block and he explains that this is just the first step - he is likely to develop it in the future.
In the comments to the video someone refers to a wheel bearing bracelet'. This is at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovgZKE4vbMU
In my experiment I used just the bearing. I got it from a bike shop. A new one would cost about £8 but I think mine was second hand and cost £1.50. In the Sean Mulhall video there are references to getting them from old electrical equipment, but I didn't have any to hand. I carved a hole in a bit of wood for it to go in:
I couldn't get it to fit in perfectly but that didn't seem to matter. I found that if you just angle the wooden block to give a smooth running bearing then it works well. After making my second mod (see below) I soon got an ember, and a pretty big one too.
The bearing doesn't take up much space and could be a valuable part of a fire drill set. But it would be a bit of a bind to cut a hole in a bit of wood each time so something like the bracelet idea would be helpful in reducing space/making it easier to find. Even if you used a skateboard/rollerskate wheel this would not take up much more space that a normal wooden block.
So if anyone has any ideas (in addition to the bracelet one) please suggest away.
The second mod was to the spindle. I don't recall seeing this before but know from experience that it is unlikely that no-one else has thought of it.
Spindle
When I had a go at actual drilling the cord kept coming off the spindle. So I just carved a double taper in the middle.
You can see that this doesn't have to be very elegant - even my rough and ready, near enuf, gud enuf approach worked well and - as I said above - i got a really good ember in very little time, and with little effort.