Hey guys. After a time away from this I stumbled across one of my hearth boards in the cupboard when I was having a clear out and it's rekindled my need to master this art. My plan for this post is to talk through it, telling what I've learned so as when I do finally win others following suit will have something to inspire them (hopefully).
Today marked another of my many mistakes. When I first started I was putting far too much effort into my drilling too early on in the process. I didn't build up enough of a pile of dust to make an ember with and the result was I was knackered before I got enough of a pile to ignite. Youtube taught me a lot and I had another go, but today I learned the importance of using the right materials. My set consisted of a dry hearth of Leylandii, about 8mm thick, and a drill of elder around 10mm round and 500mm long. I picked the elder from the garden today and it felt dry enough, but it was a single year shoot that had died off. The outer hard layer was only a couple of mm's thick and the majority of the stem was pith. This has presented me with quite a problem...
I started off smoothly and bedded in the drill. Cut my notch, and for the first time I under cut it so it was wider at the bottom than the top. I'd read that this creates a little "cave" for the ember to grow in, and that worked very well. I then started off with the dust building. Calmly drilling and sitting in a relaxed position until the notch was full, then building up to quite a vigorous stroke which began to produce a good amount of smoke. It's by far the best I have managed so far, but then disaster. The drill started to stick. I do a phsical job so my grip and upper body strength isn't too shabby, but I just couldn't get the thing to turn. Disgusted with my predicament I gave up, and my nearly made ember faded to nothing. I think another five runs down the drill at full tilt would have done it as I was in two minds as to whether I had got it, but not quite.
On closer inspection of the board the outer layer of my drill had made it's way a good 5mm into the hearth, but in the centre of the hearth hole was what I can best describe as a spigot... The centre of the drill had worn away and the male/female joint that resulted was jamming solid so I could barely turn the drill.
I'm off out to find a piece of willow and will try that tomorrow. I'm not going to go crazy and kill my hands today - they feel fine for the moment but I don't think they'll take too kindly to a second attempt. That's my input for the day, and I am quite eagerly awaiting replies from more experienced folk that could further nudge me in the right direction. I'm so close now and getting to this stage was much harder than it needed to be. I really think the answer at the start is to read more and do less, as I've near passed out in the past and not got half as far as I did today. There really is no need for it!
Today marked another of my many mistakes. When I first started I was putting far too much effort into my drilling too early on in the process. I didn't build up enough of a pile of dust to make an ember with and the result was I was knackered before I got enough of a pile to ignite. Youtube taught me a lot and I had another go, but today I learned the importance of using the right materials. My set consisted of a dry hearth of Leylandii, about 8mm thick, and a drill of elder around 10mm round and 500mm long. I picked the elder from the garden today and it felt dry enough, but it was a single year shoot that had died off. The outer hard layer was only a couple of mm's thick and the majority of the stem was pith. This has presented me with quite a problem...
I started off smoothly and bedded in the drill. Cut my notch, and for the first time I under cut it so it was wider at the bottom than the top. I'd read that this creates a little "cave" for the ember to grow in, and that worked very well. I then started off with the dust building. Calmly drilling and sitting in a relaxed position until the notch was full, then building up to quite a vigorous stroke which began to produce a good amount of smoke. It's by far the best I have managed so far, but then disaster. The drill started to stick. I do a phsical job so my grip and upper body strength isn't too shabby, but I just couldn't get the thing to turn. Disgusted with my predicament I gave up, and my nearly made ember faded to nothing. I think another five runs down the drill at full tilt would have done it as I was in two minds as to whether I had got it, but not quite.
On closer inspection of the board the outer layer of my drill had made it's way a good 5mm into the hearth, but in the centre of the hearth hole was what I can best describe as a spigot... The centre of the drill had worn away and the male/female joint that resulted was jamming solid so I could barely turn the drill.
I'm off out to find a piece of willow and will try that tomorrow. I'm not going to go crazy and kill my hands today - they feel fine for the moment but I don't think they'll take too kindly to a second attempt. That's my input for the day, and I am quite eagerly awaiting replies from more experienced folk that could further nudge me in the right direction. I'm so close now and getting to this stage was much harder than it needed to be. I really think the answer at the start is to read more and do less, as I've near passed out in the past and not got half as far as I did today. There really is no need for it!
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all my drills are made of hazel if you have any of that kicking around, might be worth a try?
