KILN DRIED PINE vs AIR DRIED PINE

[hawsome34]

I am hoping someone can shed some light on my dilemma.

I am practicing Bow Drill, and my set consists of:
Hawthorn bearing
Hazel Spindle
Kiln Dried Pine hearth.

I get stacks of smoke, the hearth end of the drill is too hot to touch, plenty of char through all the stages to where I should be getting a coal. But you guessed........ no coal.

Could my problem lie in the hearth wood being kiln dried, I have read a few threads saying pallet timber works pretty well. Both pallet and the wood I'm using are pine, but when I cut the Kiln dried it seems very compact in comparison to a pallet.

Also has anyone got a great way of recognising poplar tree in the
UK during the winter.

Cheers Folks

 

[redflex]

Which poplar? White, Black, Balsam, Lombardy or Aspen?

Most have buds on alternate buds which are are pointed and close to the twig.

To tell the difference in the poplars the colour and shape of the twig is indicator.

You can also tell them apart by the length of the terminal bud.

You can get hybrids which show mixed characteristics

I can give more detail if you let us know which poplar you looking for.

Lombardy are used for wind breaks so cann be seen around crops etc

 

[Longstrider]

I know that others swear by pallet wood and pine for the hearth, but I've tried it (and tried it, and tried it) and my results have always been the same as yours... plenty of smoke and the right looking sort of punk ....but no coal.
Then I put a little more effort into getting "decent" wood for the job and dried out some ivy, some elder, some hazel, and some lime that I gathered myself. With these I can produce coal after coal. The easiest combination I have found is with a hazel drill and a lime hearth. It sounds to me like youare doing what I did, looking to gather your own, better, wood for the job. Lime trees are not too hard to identify once you have looked at a picture or two. One pointer is that they nearly always have smaller shoots growing from the base and sides of the main trunk. They seem to throw these smaller twigs up from any tiny nodule on the trunk. A quick Google will show you what to look for.
Poplar trees tend to be the tallest, thinnest trees on the landscape. Look for a tree that has the shape of a long thin flame like that on a welding torch and you'll soon find poplar. Many of them are planted as avenue trees by country landowners along their entrance roads and can be seen for miles around due to their height and distinctive shape.

 

[hawsome34]

Cheers For that info mate, I'll get out on my way home tomorrow evening, not the best thing to be doing in a suit, but then neither is looking at trees in the dark.

I'll update u on how I get on, but glad to hear its not just me.

Should hopefully have a coal by Friday, if not well I'll keep going.

 

[Biddlesby]

I've been getting this too. Get smoke in under ten seconds, and sustain it until the cows come home, but no coal. I am using some seasoned popular in one set, and some seasoned hazel in another.

 

[sodajoe]

I have started to use the bow drill and have found a willow drill and hearth to be pretty good. The willow is also easy to identify in winter as well. But that's all I have tried at this stage.

 

[bushtuckerman]

never had any luck with hazel drills myself. willow always works...

 

[match]

Having played about a bit with a piece of pine brought by Toddy to the Scottish meet last weekend, we discovered that for this particular piece, no matter how long we drilled for, and how much perfect-looking black dust we created, it just wouldn't hold a coal.

A closer look at the wood (compared to the usual piece of pallet I use) showed it was a much tighter grain and much denser wood - looking as if it had been compressed or pre-treated in some way (possible even with a fire-retardant )

So my advice would be to look out for rougher pieces of wood, preferably those that appear to have no treatments applied, and that cut and splinter when cut with a knife, rather than denting smoothly.

I would however recommend hazel as a spindle - I regularly use hazel on pine and tend to get coals anything up to fingernail size within about 30-40 seconds of starting!

 

[BobFromHolland]

Hi hawsome34, keep up the good work, you're nearly there!

I have struggled exactly the same way, and found my drill to be the key thing here. I succeeded on different kinds of hearth woods only after changing to a willow drill.

You will see how easy it is when using the right woods. But your effords pay off anyway, in terms of posture, steadiness of bearing hand and stamina!!

Please let us know when you've succeeded