spoony said:
Ok i have 2 drills drying in the airing cupboard from my buddliea, also have a piece of pine for the hearth (the bit you drill into yes??) ialso have a couple of elderberrie trees would they be any good for a bow or drills as well????
anoth quick question, when i see pics of peoples sets, the bit you drill into with the notch cut in. Do you drill the holes first through the wood or are they caused by the drilling itself, and i take the ember is used to hold the tinder while the ember drops in yes???
Storm did a big exercise in testing loads of woods for ease of getting fire with bow drill. Top of the list for ease of getting fire (if you add up all the scores for each wood) was Sambacus mexicana - a close relative of the English elderberry - Sambacus Nigra. So, yes I would definitely harvest some elderberry.
I use commercial pine board for my hearth board nearly all the time for hand drilling. - It is a workable softwood. I think it is a good choice.
When I start a new drill hole for bow drill I would first roughly sharpen my drill to a small blunt point. Then I would make a corresponding small indentation in the hearth moderately close to an edge using a tool off my Swiss Army Knife. As you drill (burn it in) the indentation enlarges to the diameter of the drill piece. Once I have the full width indentation I then stop, and cut the V shaped notch in from the side of the hearth into my indentation - the apex being up to about a 1/3rd of the diameter of the indentation.
Hand drilling - I dont sharpen the tip of the drill. I make an indentation up to about the diameter of the drill with my knife (I use the screwdriver blade).
Hot dust starts collecting in the V shaped notch as you drill. Produce it hot enough, fast enough, and fine enough and it will coalesce into a smoking, glowing coal.
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