Fire Bow

[kai055]

i want to either make a fire bow or buy one?

where are the best places to buy them or wat sort of materials are best to use to make one.

can if poss show me pics of home made ones and shop brought ones

 

[Ogri the trog]

Kai,
No-one buys a fire bow. You'll need a piece of hazel or willow (though any wood will do) as thick as the base of your thumb (an inch and a bit or 30 - 40mm diameter) and as long as your armpit to finger tips. A straight piece is just as effective as a curved one. Cut a groove around one end to take a length of paracord and a hole or notch in the other end so that you can tighten the cord, so that it doesn't slip on your drill.
The other parts of a fire drill set are probably more important - hearth, bearing block and drill; as you should be able to knock up a bow wherever there is enough wood to burn, so don't expend too much energy in getting one, other than as a practice piece.
I don't have photos to hand but there'll be plenty in the gallery, I'm sure.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[bartjen 2]

look at the bbc2 link yesterday about RM there is the bow explained

 

[Longstrider]

Hi Kai, One aspect of the fire-bow that no-one thought to tell me for years was the fact hat you need it NOT to flex too much. You want it to flex a little so that you can tension up the cord around your drill but you do NOT want something that you could fire arrows with.
I find that a piece of dead wood, or wood that you cut whilst it was green and then dried, is the best to use. Green wood tends to be too soft and springy (more like an archers bow) than you want for this job.
Having your fire-bow too flexible will mean that you get good tension on the "pull" stroke (where the string is being drawn back by the end you are holding) but the cord will slip on the drill on the "push" stroke because of the bow flexing too much and letting the cord slacken a little.

As Ogri says, the rest of the "set" is actually far more important to choose and store with care. Check out the threads on the Fire Making forum or use the "Search" function to find out more about those pieces.

Best of luck !