Bowdrill Fire Kit

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,669
McBride, BC
Kestrel claims that a D adze is not a tool to build unless you know why you need one. How else would you know?
I can skim off a mm/1/16". I can smooth off the rib on a split cedar plank. You stand up the plank and start trimming/smoothing and work your way up the wood.
There's old guys who can strike so carefully that they can texture a surface with it. . . .. . maybe in the next life.
I want a lip-blade for cross-grain work. Made 4 handles, might as well use one more!
Thing is, it works like any other "western-style" shallow gouge except that you are standing on the other side of it for once.
You get to see what you are doing. Say, a Pfeil 2/40.
I have others = a Kestrel Baby Sitka elbow adze ( mine is 55 degrees) and a Stubai 7/75 adze as well.
 

Fraxinus

Settler
Oct 26, 2008
935
31
Canterbury
Sorry to hear your earnest efforts have not got you there yet, it will happen for you, it took me a long time to get it but I only had book descriptions to work from, today we have some great vids to help like those of Uncle Ray, like this....

[video=youtube_share;DAs2xnfNidM]http://youtu.be/DAs2xnfNidM[/video]

notice the curve of the bow, the thickness of the drill ends and wrist to leg support.
cont...
 

Fraxinus

Settler
Oct 26, 2008
935
31
Canterbury
Then this one which really shows how determined one needs to be...

[video=youtube_share;1hLaTYDQkVA]http://youtu.be/1hLaTYDQkVA[/video]

atb Rob.

(the limit of one vid per post can be frustrating)
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,669
McBride, BC
Encouraging videos. Thanks for finding them. I was counting = smoke with less than 20 bow strokes.
I split some cedar and made new drills and a new hearth board.
Fresh off the side of a large shake block. The thought comes to mind that my wood is damp.
Might give the old board & drill a go today. I have some very dry scrap pine wood.
 

MegaWoodsWalker

Forager
Jul 10, 2014
230
3
Connecticut USA
Sometimes it's not easy. This friction fire took me nearly 3 hours from conception to done. It was raining all weekend. The coal is only 1/2 the battle.

[video=youtube;LwgLtgJmcsE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwgLtgJmcsE[/video]
 
Jul 30, 2012
3,570
224
westmidlands
I havn't much experience, but some people find shaving the char off helps a great deal. You can fire harden wood and a similar thing happens with the drill (sometimes) where the wood becomes too hard to grind. Due to the grain in the drill beingopen and the grain in the hearth being side on, most of the dust seems to come from the drill(in my experience) so in my opinion the many hearth sockets are less inportant. Also the dust, try and stick a flame to it to see whether it's getting too hot or not hot enough, if it lights to an ember, the drill is not getting hot enough, if it's a black powder that will not light it's already burned and there fore getting too hot.

The dust can mean a number of thing, unseasoned wood, or too much pressure or speed if it is overheating, overseasoned wood or not enough pressure or speed if it isn't getting hot enough.

I truly believe that the biggest factor is wood choice, not just the variety but the condition, as I have seen a man on the Internet with a simple hand drill start a fire in 15 seconds, which makes a bow drill a bit exessive.

Edit:

Also that knife rays using in the later australian? video doesn't look like a wooodlore to me.
 
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Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,669
McBride, BC
Carry on, I'll be reading. Been derailed by wood carvers who can't get "carving sharp edges." I'm no expert but I am competent.
I'll get the drill deal to work, come Hello, high water, or both.
 

leon-1

Full Member
Fire by friction and the sets are always going to be something of a personal preference. For everyone that says use a bigger / fatter drill there will be someone who tells you something different in as much as using a thinner drill.

Some will tell you to use a bowed stick for bowing, others will tell you to use a straight stick. Some people prefer short bows, others prefer long ones.

For all methods there are equal arguments.

I use a longer bow for a few reasons, firstly I prefer it, secondly it has taught me greater control, thirdly I get more rotations per drive and fourthly I teach people and it's easier to help someone else with a longer bow (it's easier to use for team bow drill as well).

The bow I tend to use is quite straight with a kink towards the base and it has been carved to produce a flat area on the inside. This means that when I push and pull the bow it's in a straighter line, I find it reduces the amount of force required so I find it less tiring to use.

For one person I also use a drill that's rarely more than 1" - 1.25" diameter. The thermal mass is smaller and it reaches temperature quicker, this also is the same for the hearth. A bigger drill does increase the level of friction, it also requires more effort to drive, the thermal mass is larger and heat dissipation over a larger area is greater and more downward pressure is needed to achieve a coal.

The downside to this is that the coal is generally smaller than it would be with a larger drill. This is where use of other natural materials come in, like the humble cramp ball as an ember extender, thistle down and the down from the seed heads of reed mace mixed in with dried grasses as the center of my tinder bundle. The down from Rosebay willow herb will work as will clematis heads.

I very rarely burn in or pre cut / carve the holes or the ember notch. This is normally the last thing that I do as it reduces the chance of moisture getting into the hole or the notch itself.

Once you have burnt in when you bow start bowing slowly, get into a rythm. Keep the drill as upright as you possibly can locking it in against leg or ankle. Keep the bow level, this should help to stop the string from moving up, down the drill and potentially into the socket at either end.

You'll start to get a little smoke and at around this stage you'll notice a change in the feel of bowing, apply slightly more pressure and drill slightly quicker, the smoke will start to spiral around the drill, once this happens apply more pressure and bow harder (remember this is still controlled). If you lose sight of the hearth there is a good chance you'll have a coal to be proud of :)

Don't try to move the coal, move the hearth away from the coal holding it gently in place with a blade of grass or a small stick or twig. This should leave the coal in the ember pan. Don't breath or blow on the coal, there will be moisture in your breath, fan it gently with your hand. Leave the coal to coalesce and make the tinder bundle (if you haven't already). The rest is up to you. :D
 
I've never had any luck using western cedar - smoke yes, coal not so much. White pine for both hearth and spindle are common (where I live) and work very well. But what helped me the most is this guy -https://youtu.be/_r4W2Yqw20U

Friction fire is his speciality and he is good at teaching it. Also, until you sort it out give yourself every possible advantage - practice in the back yard in fair weather, with the hearth board clamped to a table so that it is less work.
It will still be plenty difficult.
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,669
McBride, BC
That was a good video to watch, especially the bits to show how to knock the coal/ember out of the notch. Also, no hurry at that stage, just be careful and methodical.
Just habit I suppose but I can't help but count each push/pull stroke. Never have I watched a demonstration by anyone which took more than 25 strokes
to begin to get some smoke. Sure, there's lots to do after that.

Any drill: short, long, skinny or fat, I can go 100+ and smell warm wood, that is all. I'll worry about the notch when I get there. In the meantime, I want choking smoke.
 
You might notice that he mentions that the wood he chose is at just the right stage of decomposition - that really makes a big difference. With white pine it should be completely sound but not very hard to break a 1 1/2 inch branch - if it is too fresh it will be very hard to break. Then make the hearth and spindle out of the same piece of wood.

He has another video where he doesn't even use a knife - just a rock he picks up, and a root for cordage. That would be the trick.

Great fun when you get it to work.
 
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GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
3,209
26
1
Lovely looking kit but i am not too sure it is a practical kit for use for the reasons mentioned by others but mostly because of the position of your handle, I was taught by Patrick McGlinchey who made Toddy's bow, i also failed a lot before i got success, technique is everything.

I start slow and steady running the full length of the bow from one end to the other priming the kit for about 20 seconds with light pressure from my body onto the spindle, this is to warm up the spindle and the hearth as it warms up light smoke starts to rise, then i lean a bit more on the spindle and increase my speed slightly still using the full length of the bow at which point smoke starts to rise up thicker from the hearth, this is creating a pile of hot shavings from the spindle and the hearth building up in the notch.

After ten full strokes of the full length of the bow at the this new speed it is time to ignite the pile of hot shavings with 10 fast steady full length strokes of the full bow length and just before removing the spindle from the notch i gently tap it up and down a couple of times about 5 mm inside the notch, this wafts oxygen into the pyre and ensures the ember stays lit and loosens it in the notch a bit

The young lady in this video has it spot on, it's all about form not strength, my main reason for failing the first 20 + times was i tried to use brute force, i am 18 stone in weight i have plenty and thought it best i use it all, i was so so wrong

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">[video=youtube;PlxujVPiN6U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlxujVPiN6U[/video]


 
Feb 21, 2015
393
0
Durham
Then this one which really shows how determined one needs to be...

[video=youtube_share;1hLaTYDQkVA]http://youtu.be/1hLaTYDQkVA[/video]

(the limit of one vid per post can be frustrating)

Oh Heck yeah! i been there....... usually within 5 mins i have fire....but one time, in FREEZING -9 in the mountains in Spain ( yah, it gets that cold!) I took 3 hours to make fire.....I was so knackered after it was all i could do to feed the fire, make a hot drink, and revive........
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,669
McBride, BC
I have eliminated the possibility of inferior wood quality (drill and hearth board). I did that within minutes of first making those key items.
I get smoke and an ember in less than a minute, using my electric drill with that wooden drill rod (shortest one in the picture.)
The bow handle is not in the middle, although it may appear so. I hold a Raven by the carved feathers at either end.

I must have watched half a dozen fire-makers using half a dozen different kinds of wood so I'm content to conclude that there's no
magic in any one over any other. I see all sorts of bowdrill kit qualities, so that's eliminated. I carved mine because I felt like it.
Maybe I sit by my wood stove today and start carving the other two bows, one with frogs and one with dragonflies. . . maybe bears.
 
Jul 30, 2012
3,570
224
westmidlands
I'd go for a small thin bow, mega woods walker seems to favour it, and I liked the smaller bow too. And I find my electric drill can make fire with pretty much anything, I get a lot of smoke sometimes, not that it's what I was hoping for. Thin the hearthboard out a bit?

And even when you get an ember I wouldn't call it a sucess unless you achieved it easily, an ember with you all tired out isn't ideal
 

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