Hand made Pump Drill

[PatrickM]

This was made from odds and ends that I had lying around. Although it's not exactly
the kind of thing you would carry in your kit bag, it's a fun way to demonstrate fire by
friction to young people and it does produce wonderful coals.

The drill can also bore through many materials if you switch to a flint or other hard tip.

 

[Brian Curnel]

Very nice.. I like the uniformity, and the wraps look good. What did you use for the weight? looks like hardwood.

bri

 

[Rob]

lol.....that looks so much more substantial than the one i broke doing a demo once.

:You_Rock_

 

[Wayne]

lol.....that looks so much more substantial than the one i brok doing a demo once.

:You_Rock_

Could be your just ham fisted
.



Nice work there Patrick.

 

[Motorbike Man]

Ok, I don't mind showing my ignorance (I bet I'm not the only one ) but how does it work?

 

[ditchfield]

Very nice indeed!

Mine uses a 12" squared off piece of wood about 1" x 1" instead of a rounded fly-wheel. Easier to make, you just have to watch out for the spinning ends touching the ground.

 

[Motorbike Man]

Can anyone tell me how this works??

 

[Marts]

MBM
I'm sure someone can give a fuller explanation but basically you twist the horizontal crosspiece so the cords twist round the vertical spindle. Then as you push down on the crosspiece the cords are forced to untwist, spinning the vertical spindle around and around and around...

 

[Stuart]

that’s a beautiful piece of work Patrick

 

[Marts]

Here you go. This should make things clearer

http://www.trackertrail.com/survival/fire/pumpdrill/8191NN.wmv
(1.46Mb)

 

[Motorbike Man]

Cheers guys, that looks to be very efficient once you get the hang of it,

 

[match]

Ok, I don't mind showing my ignorance (I bet I'm not the only one ) but how does it work?

Brief explanation here:

http://www.pyrology.org.uk/pumpdrill.html (shameless plug I know )

 

[Toddy]

Beautiful work Patrick :notworthy
Just had a thought, it's really a drop spindle (if kind of muckle ) with a handle, isn't it? Somewhere I've got a whorl that weighs in at 300 grammes...

Nice explanation Match,

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Porcupine]

i asume you can exchange the drilltip,but how you get it loose enough to exchange and firm enough to stop it from slipping?

only thin g i can think of at the moment is making a square hole to take the tip.....now how you make square holes is beyond me


Porc

 

[PatrickM]

Thanks folks for describing how this works.

Porcupine, the drill bits are tapered and have a small groove cut into the side. The socket on the spindle is also tapered. When pressure is applied to the bit by the spinning action of the pump, the bit tightens in.
To remove the drill tip, you place the back of a knife blade into the groove and lever it out. It's all quite simple really.

Square holes can be achieved using the tip of a sharp knife.