First coal by bow drill!

[gregorach]

Well, I figured that it seems like a good thing to be able to do, so I've been working on the bow drill off and on recently. I started out with an elder drill and hearth, but couldn't really seem to get a coal - plenty of smoke and [coa rse] (filters seem a bit extreme!) brown punk, but no coal.

I picked up a wee bit of hazel when out for a walk last week - made it into a drill last night and got a good coal using this and my elder hearth on the second attempt. I didn't take it as far as actually producing flame, as there's a limit to the amount of woodsmoke I'm prepared to put up with in my living room, but it was a good coal.

I guess using an ice-cream scoop as the socket (suggested by someone on here, but I forget who) and 3mm climbers gear cord for the bow string is cheating a bit, but it's a start. The bow was a fairly straight piece of ash, only about 40cm long - perhaps a bit short.

Just wanted to share that with people who would understand.

 

[Marts]

Well done mate. Great feeling isn't it

There really ought to be a smilie for congratulations on a bushcraft milestone!

?

 

[moduser]

Nice one. I still remember the buzz I got when I achieved my first fire by friction.

 

[leon-1]

Nice one. I still remember the buzz I got when I achieved my first fire by friction.

So do I, that look of glee as latent pyromania kicks in and a smile that spread from ear to ear and that was just me

Congratulations gregorach, it won't be long now before you're wreathed in the mysticism of fire bow or more than likely the smoke that comes from the tinder bundle just before it takes to flame

 

[stuart f]

Well done,its when you get an ember for the first time that you feel a conection with the past and our ancestors. To me it was like opening my eyes and seeing the world in a new light,that for all the modern gadgets we have now, i can step back from the modern world and say,a little bit of me is no longer reliant on you.

 

[rich59]

Aha...

My ice cream scoop tip has been useful!!

Well done.

Getting 5 parts of a bow drill set to behave well together is quite a challenge I find. Making it easy with good cordage and steel socket and so on is all part of the learning. I resorted to a power drill at times to learn about how it worked.

 

[gregorach]

So that's who it was. Cheers - it's a good idea! I did try with a socket made of a bit of pine I had kicking around the house - worked OK with the elder drill and a bit of candlewax, but it was charring with the hazel drill.

Breaking the whole task down into several components does seem like a good idea to learn with. I guess I need to rumage around for a bit of oak or ash for the socket next - I think I'll leave trying to make a bowstring from natural cordage for a while yet. I always like to carry a hank of gear cord anyway - it's way better than paracord in my estimation, if a little expensive.

 

[Longstrider]

Well done Gregorach. I'm still at the "Making everything I own stink of smoke, but never seeing the tiniest glow of a coal" stage when it comes to the drill. I've picked up a few pointers from the forum and realise that I have spent a good deal of time and effort using unsuitable woods for drill and hearth. I'll be wood gathering again soon....

I can fully sympathise with the need to tell someone who understands. I think I'll be telling the whole blessed world when (if) I ever get it to work. OK, so most of them will give me that "so what?" look and feel sorry for me, but what will I care?