Little Known Friction Fire Materials

[cottonwoodroot]

Hello All,

Up until a couple of years ago my go to material for friction fire was red cedar. Then I came across a book that recounted the local first nations (Indian) oral history. The history is told as a story and contains little tidbits of local knowledge. One of the things I noticed was a suggestion that cottonwoodroot was used for both drill and hearthboard. I tried it and was amazed at how effective it was (hence the nickname). It has the consistency of balsa wood, and can usually be found just lying around on the riverbank. The ember forms far more quickly than cedar, but doesn't last as long.
I have yet to see cottonwood (or as some call it, black poplar) mentioned as a friction fire material in any of the bushcraft literature I have come across. It might be out there, but I haven't seen it.

Does anyone else out there have any "secret" materials that are effective for friction fire but are not well known?

 

[Ruud]

Black poplar is mentioned in the book 'Bushcraft', written by Mors Kochanski in 1987. He mentions the tree has great capabilities into making fire by friction and carving utensils.

 

[cottonwoodroot]

Hello again Ruud!!

Yeah, bushcraft is an awesome book!! In my opinion it is one of the best on the subject. It helped me in particular when it came to the bearing block for the bow drill. I had used all sorts of materials, but wound up constantly using a shotglass, which was really defeating the purpose of developing bush skills. Then came Mors. He suggested the black poplar bark as a material that would generate a virtually frictionless surface. It was right in front of me all along and I had not been aware. I had experienced several needless failures in firestarting because of lack of knowledge. Now its black poplar bark all the way.
I don't recall Mors specifically mentioning the root of the cotton wood tree as a good material for friction fire, but the book is right beside my bed so i will check again. One material that I have read a lot about but have not had any success with is willow. I also have a horrid time with smaller dead branches. I find that if wood is very tight grained and hard it is more difficult to start an ember. Based on the fact that it works for other people, there might be something wrong with my technique.

 

[MegaWoodsWalker]

I am not sure if it is a "secret" but certain plants with pith in the center can be extremely effective for friction fire. I have used mullein for both the fireboard and spindle in bowdrill sets. Lots of people use mullein for a handdrill spindle.

 

[redneck]

Dave Canterbury mentions it quite often as a good wood for friction fire

 

[Ruud]

Hi cottonwoodroot

Seems I mixed up balsam fir and black poplar, black poplar is indeed for the bearing block!

Hello again Ruud!!

Yeah, bushcraft is an awesome book!! In my opinion it is one of the best on the subject. It helped me in particular when it came to the bearing block for the bow drill. I had used all sorts of materials, but wound up constantly using a shotglass, which was really defeating the purpose of developing bush skills. Then came Mors. He suggested the black poplar bark as a material that would generate a virtually frictionless surface. It was right in front of me all along and I had not been aware. I had experienced several needless failures in firestarting because of lack of knowledge. Now its black poplar bark all the way.
I don't recall Mors specifically mentioning the root of the cotton wood tree as a good material for friction fire, but the book is right beside my bed so i will check again. One material that I have read a lot about but have not had any success with is willow. I also have a horrid time with smaller dead branches. I find that if wood is very tight grained and hard it is more difficult to start an ember. Based on the fact that it works for other people, there might be something wrong with my technique.

 

[cottonwoodroot]

Hey Ruud,
Now there is a method that I have never gotten to work. The two stick method. I think it's a fantastic way to save the labor of making hearthboard. Any tips?
Speaking of Mors Kochanski buschcraft, here is a short vid I did for a friends youtube channel using a reliable two man method I learned from Mors' book. It took us way too long in the vid. I am pretty sure the wood was a little damp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG0IDPVso5E

This method works well for beginners. I have found that they can usually succeed on the first try (if they have enough

 

[cottonwoodroot]

Hello Again Ruud,
I tried to post a reply with a video, but I guess it is waiting for moderation. Anyway, it looks like you have used the two stick method. I have never succeeded with this method, but would very much like to. It would save a ton of effort in carving a baseboard out. Any advice? I just find that I can't get enough powder to pile up and form a coal.
In the post that hasn't gone up yet, I did a video for a friend demonstrating a two man friction fire method taken from Mors Kochanski's bushcraft that has always worked well for me. I sometimes give presentations to local school kids on friction fire, and most of them succeed using this method.

 

[Goatboy]

In one old tome I was going through about the Eskimos it mentioned that in their tinder kit they kept the dried fibres from wild parsnip roots as their main tinder, though they were using flint and steel to ignite it. Something else to try out though.

 

[steve a]

The most extensive work that I know of that looks at various woods for friction fire lighting
http://stoneageskills.com/articles/Preferred_Friction_Fire_Woods.pdf

 

[Ruud]

Hello Again RuudQUOTE]

I have started fires using the two stick-method and the two holes-method explained in Mors' book, but I like carving a hearthboard more. (more stability, more dust)

I like to pick out one long hazel/willow wand and use the lower, fatter piece, as the hearthboard and a thinner section as the drill. The rest can be used to make the bow with most of the times, or just harvest another wand.

Carving a hearthboard takes about 15 seconds to fashion it, since you only need to carve two flat areas. (1 to burn in, 1 to keep it nicely on the ground).

That's how I like to make my bowdrill-sets (hazel and willow are abundant and can be drilled dry and still create a nice ember when green wood is used)

Checked your video out, very impressive! checking out the YT-channel of yours, good stuff!

 

[cottonwoodroot]

Hey Ruud,
Thanks for the compliment on the youtube video. The channel actually belongs to a buddy of mine. I do some camera work and editing. I love film making, and it's a little more than a hobby for me. Kind of an obsession, (just like bushcraft!!) I haven't gotten a chance to check out the two stick method yet, but I am going to. The problem here with finding a baseboard is everything is always so wet. Red cedar makes a great baseboard, but a person need to carve a few inches of material away first, not to mention chopping solid wood out of a large stump. This can be a real challenge if you only have a knife.
I am going to spend a little time browsing your blog if you don't mind. It looks like you have some great info there!!

 

[GGTBod]

I don't know if it is just my stubbornness but i have gotten every wood combo i have tried so far with my bowdrill to work, currently using a willow bow and bearing block with a maple hearth and a sycamore drill, only reason was these were the nearest trees local to me with standing dead wood available when i needed a new hearth and drill 3 days ago, before that my whole kit was willow, i also had success with the sycamore drill and a douglas fir hearth yesterday but the smoke created whilst getting an ember nearly choked the life out of me, this might be because the hearth was still fairly green.

i've been practicing flint and steel so much tonight i can hardly hold onto the piece of flint anymore, city hands are sore as hell, i've clearly spent too many years in offices instead of learning this stuff from childhood and developing natural Orc paws.

I have not practiced any other methods so far but i am about to consume that pdf, cheers Steve a

My current set (except hearth and drill)

 

[cottonwoodroot]

GGT Bod,
That's fantastic!! Is that your bow with the snake head and bead eyes? (at least I think that's what it is. It looks super cool in any case)

 

[GGTBod]

Yup it is a snake, tooled finish all done with a Mora wood carving knife, it was just a branch (lol) which was turned into a bow back in feb this year on a course with backwoods survival school where i could not create an ember try with all my might, back home in mid march i made my first ember with it and then out of sheer sense of achievement I set about making it into something i wanted to keep forever, makes me happy everytime i use it and is one of only two things i have carved which i have kept. I will see if i can take some better shots of it and load them up

 

[GGTBod]

Thanks for the kind words, original plan was for it to be a fire dragon but realised with my current skill level if i kept going for that it was going to be a toothpick so went for a serpent like critter and decided it can breath fire too, ball bearings from a 1983 Raleigh Grifter to stay true to my cycling heritage


I was a bit concerned when it started to look like jar jar binks with no ears from this angle

Underbelly shot

tail underside

Tail from the side, also the handle

Along the back ontop

More of the back pattern

Profile shot

I am working on getting better at carving but i keep going too far and spoiling projects like spoons, not deterred just keen and a bit heavy handed now and then

 

[Clouston98]

That's cracking mate! Good job .

 

[GGTBod]

Cheers mate, just glad i was able to make myself put it down and stop cutting before there was nowt left to keep, just one more cut seems to be my whittling achilles heel

 

[cottonwoodroot]

WOW GGTBod,
How long did that take you? Your piece has a tremendous amount of detail!!

 

[GGTBod]

I done it in lots of little sessions of around 30 minutes at a time over about a month, i realised my worst times for being heavy handed was as my grip got tired and i tried to rush things so everytime my hands started hurting i'd put it down, keep forgetting this simple technique and going into gouge mode.

When i was happy with it and the eyeball glue had dried i sealed it with a homemade beeswax and olive oil treatment (ratio of 1 tablespoon pure beeswax to 3 tablespoons of olive oil warmed in a double broiler until one liquid and then allowed to set) rubbed in with an old toothbrush.

One day i will eventually make something else worth keeping, i'm off up to Scotland wild camping for a while from Friday so maybe i'll come back with a new carving or two, either that or a huge pile of toothpicks and cocktail sticks and an even huger pile of wood shavings for my emergency tinder sack