Worth trying certainly as a step along the way. Even better if you could make the string out of newspaper too. I tried that this morning briefly, and yes, you seem to be able to get cordage with tightly rolled lengths then twisted into cordage in the usual way.
Make fire with just a newspaper
- Thread starter rich59
- Start date
-
Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.
Worth trying certainly as a step along the way. Even better if you could make the string out of newspaper too. I tried that this morning briefly, and yes, you seem to be able to get cordage with tightly rolled lengths then twisted into cordage in the usual way.
OK, you've got a lump of pine wood weighing about 6-7oz. Make fire with just that and no tools? Can that be done?
I'm giving this a go - Used water, not spittle. Now drying out in a warm place for a couple of days.
Part of me would think that fire by compression would be the way to go but without tools that might be a bit hard to do.
Great thought! Did you have a fire piston in mind, or some other setup?
I wonder If you could make a paper mâché fire piston. Would need to think about strength and air seal. Would probably need a number of other materials to make it work.
fire-piston was my thinking, making use of a stone that's shaped well enough or, if you have the ablilty, then try making something out of the clay from the soil and dry/cook/cure it in the sun then use a stick with some amber to make the piston (stick) and seal (amber) and give it a whirl but no idea if that'd ever work
Ok, making a little progress. I got warmth! From other friction observations I have some general principles. One of them is that the softer a material is the bigger the friction surface needs to be to get heat. A smaller area just causes disintegration without enough heat.
So, newspaper is soft. So I made a big drill and socket, about 2 inch diameter drill. I just made a roll with half a newspaper and twisted it in a hollow made by some more newspaper. After about a minute I had quite a warm drill end and socket.
The problem with large drills is that they take a lot of work to heat the large volume involved. Thinking of a test rig where I attach a newspaper role to a power drill and observe if I get a coal. If so I can see if I can do it without powered assistance.
So, newspaper is soft. So I made a big drill and socket, about 2 inch diameter drill. I just made a roll with half a newspaper and twisted it in a hollow made by some more newspaper. After about a minute I had quite a warm drill end and socket.
The problem with large drills is that they take a lot of work to heat the large volume involved. Thinking of a test rig where I attach a newspaper role to a power drill and observe if I get a coal. If so I can see if I can do it without powered assistance.
I had made a drill out of rolling wet sheets of paper round a small stick a couple of weeks back and left it to dry out. It was dry after about a week. Diameter about half an inch. I had predicted this would not make fire as such soft material needs larger dimensions.
Yep, tried hand drilling with it into a pile of papers. Warmth but not hot. The materials powdered too fast to get enough friction energy into a small volume.
Still got the power drill test to do. Also want to try out a "sleeve" method.
Yep, tried hand drilling with it into a pile of papers. Warmth but not hot. The materials powdered too fast to get enough friction energy into a small volume.
Still got the power drill test to do. Also want to try out a "sleeve" method.
OK!! Real progress. I know...... it wasn't newspaper, and I did use some cordage..... and a Workmate...... and a power drill. But I did get a coal [and some say you can't get a coal with a power drill!]
The drill was about 1.5 inches diameter.
.
I started a lowest speed and gradually worked up to about half speed.
Then I tried with bow drill with same drill and notch. The ice cream scoop over the drill end worked well as the top bearing.
I got smoke and char, but no coal. The char was much coarser than with the power drill. I would have needed either much more speed or a significantly bigger drill diameter.
Where next on this? Still thinking about a "sleeve" idea.
The drill was about 1.5 inches diameter.
.
I started a lowest speed and gradually worked up to about half speed.
Then I tried with bow drill with same drill and notch. The ice cream scoop over the drill end worked well as the top bearing.
I got smoke and char, but no coal. The char was much coarser than with the power drill. I would have needed either much more speed or a significantly bigger drill diameter.
Where next on this? Still thinking about a "sleeve" idea.
Attachments
Well, what did you expect a roll of "Yellow Pages" pages tied up in a tight roll and then drilled into the remainder of the telephone directory to look like?
Last edited:
Similar threads
