Hazel hand drill

[bushcraftbob]

After success with the bow drill (still cant wipe the grin off my face), I am now eager to try the hand drill.

I have a nice long thin bit of Hazel in the shed so was wondering if this is a good hand drill wood? If so, what hearth board shall I use? I can get hold of Hazel, Willow, Lime and Sycamore quite easily - will any of these work??

cheers

 

[spiritofold]

Sycamore and poplar are good.

Poplar makes good hand drills. My hands hurt so much doing it without the bow that i put duck tape on them, it was the only way i could get and ember without stinging my palms.

I have some really dry poplar spindle if you want some? (Ivy's good for base)


Andy >>>>>---------------------------------<>

 

[Bernie Garland]

Clematis is good for a base if you can get hold of any.

Bernie

 

[Kepis]

i recently got my first hand drill ember by using an elder drill on a cedar hearth, took me ages to get there but it was worth it in the end

 

[rich59]

Firstly I really want to hear a bit more about the duct tape idea. Was the tape on the hands or the drill? Any picky? If on the hands which way did you run it, how many layers, etc etc.

Secondly, I tried really really hard with hazel hand drills some time back - no joy. I know more techniques now and would like to give it another go, but in the mean time I would advise other woods.

All the woods you mention share one complication - they have little pith, they are mostly solid wood. This is a problem for hand drilling. You can get round this by hollowing out the tip to a centimetre or so each time you rest.

Elder, buddliea, mullein, teasel are good ones.

Bob, do you want me to track down a hand drill tutorial I put on the site a while back?

 

[spiritofold]

The duck tape was used as a barrier to stop heat and pain on my palms because of blisters from earlier attempts. Wrapped a couple of times around each hand covering my palms, my fingers and thumbs could still move fine. Im a woodworker by trade, i have tough hands, but i still got blisters from trying a hand drill. The tape makes it more bearable.

 

[bushcraftbob]

Spiritofold - if you could part with a spindle that would be much appreciated, I have loads of cramp balls, and a small nob of home made birch bark glue if they would come in handy for you?

Rich - yes that would be cool if you could provide the link to the tutorial. There are loads of elder bushes around here so shouldn't be a probem getting some. What hearth board do you recommend with Elder spindle?

 

[bushcraftbob]

Why do the spindles need to have a pith??

 

[rich59]

Hear is the link to the thread. I see my little stick men have gone walkabout!

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10330

It isn't the pith that is important as much as the absence of wood. A ring of wood with none in the centre is a more efficient fire drill - hand or bow.

 

[Matt_M]

Best advice i can give on a hand drill with regards to the physical pain.......Do it over time, the first time try till ur hands first start to burn a little, if you go too far your guna get blisters!! do a little more the next day, and the day after. Within a week you will have built up the skin on your hands and will be able to drill many times longer than when you first started, you have to keep it up too, otherwise within a few weeks your hands soften and your back to square one

 

[spiritofold]

Spiritofold - if you could part with a spindle that would be much appreciated, I have loads of cramp balls, and a small nob of home made birch bark glue if they would come in handy for you?

Ok, i'll swap you the birch glue for the spindle
Pm you address etc and i'll get it into the post for you, enough to make two drills.

Andy >>>>>----------------------------------------<>

 

[Ivan]

I have not tried hazel myself but here is something that might help. I've studied hand drill techniques of the native tribes here in California. For the more difficult woods, of which were more readily available, two men would drill in tandem. This is also a good way to train a novice. An expert could take turns drilling face to face with the novice. Recently I showed two friends, a man and a woman, how to use the hand drill. Surprisingly, they did it in tandem themselves and were succussfull on the first attempt with my best horse chestnut hand drill on a cedar hearth board (a native combination). Good luck to you.