Right, seems there are issues here that Imay be able to help with. I'll start with Tadpole as he seems to be struggling with getting his ember to flame. Big tinder bundle, dry grass works really well. Make it into a birds' nest and add some fluffy materials such as cat tail fluff or peelings from honey suckle buffed up fine (my new all time favourite!). Thistle down is good too. For it to be efficient, the tinder bundle should be as big as a grapefruit minimum and a chicken egg sized amount of fine stuff in the centre. Drop your ember onto the fluffy fine stuff and pinch the whole thing closed sop that you can just see the ember glowing and start to blow. Moving the tinder bundle away whilst you breathe in is a good technique to adopt if you don't already do so. Keep going until the smoke goes a manky mustard gas yellow and you are almost done, one last puff should have it alight.
As for Lindseys' fire bow issues, I can nip down to Swallownest some time if you like? I was on the High Street today in fact! Last week I made a complete bow drill set before breakfast with wood from the trees and got an ember first go with it, it really is all technique and picking the right wood. Hazel is good on willow, ivy, lime and rowan, lime is good on a lime hearth board and willow on willow seems to work well too, a woman on the course I went on last week got an ember with that combination, she was 61 years old! One of the guys was trying for hours with what turned out to be oak on oak! He nearly got an ember too, talk about training hard! I'm sure with a bit of tweaking and some help you'll get there in the end. I'll bring some of my sets along to yours and you can have a go if you wish.
As for the bows and hearths and drills, there isn't a hard and fast rule on dimensions. A hearth board that is too thick can enable the dust to cool quickly and your ember will never be achieved, but too thin and you'll drill through in no time at all! A thick drill can be a good thing in certain wood, but it is best to go for a thickness about the same as the base of your thumb. Carving the drill perfectly circular is not a good idea, carve it hexagonal, or at least with that sort of idea in mind, and you'll be left with ridges that the cordage can grip and the drill will be less prone to slipping. The bow should be light and long enough to comfortably get a long bowing action in. Hefty bows are no good, something the thickness of the base of the thumb again is pretty good and yet still strong. Tie the string in such a way that you can fine tune the tension without undoing a whole load of string.
as I have been able to get an ember for weeks but not flames. Spamel :You_Rock_
