Natural Cordage for a Bow Drill

[Bartooon]

I've made bow drills using paracord in the past but now I want to have a go using all natural components.

The question is, what makes the cordage for bow drills? Clearly it has to be fairly strong and stand up to wear well without breaking or stretching, but I'm not sure what to use to get the best results.

Anyone able to offer any advice?

Cheers

 

[spandit]

You've got a choice of animal or plant based. Animal provides hide, gut, hair and sinew

For plant based I think you'll have more trouble. Try with some commercially produced sisal first and work up to making your own

 

[Graham_S]

Nettle cordage can work if it's well made, If you're using natural fibres,
I'd go more towards the Egyptian bow drill style with several turns around a thicker spindle.
You need less tension for the same amount of friction against the spindle.

 

[redneck]

I've used flax for bow drill cordage, it works ok but I normally only get about 3 or 4 attempts from each cord before it frays to unusable..

 

[Toddy]

From natural cordage the way that the string is made really matters for a bowdrill.

I make a two ply fine cord and then I four part braid it into a round lace like string. Works fine from nettle, lime, flax, etc.,
Graham's suggestion is very sound; less stress on the fibres.

Be interesting to see what you make


cheers,
Toddy

 

[Niels]

I've seen a thick willow bark cord used as well. Haven't tried myself yet though.

 

[Stringmaker]

In essence, natural cordage only needs to last long enough to get an ember.

How long and how many attempts that takes is another matter!

 

[Bartooon]

I'm not going to have any animal sinew etc to hand so it is going to have to be a plant-derived cord. It's the wearing through before I get an ember that I want avoid, so I like the sound of Niel's willow bark cord suggestion. I'll have a go and let you know the outcome.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Limaed]

From natural cordage the way that the string is made really matters for a bowdrill.

I make a two ply fine cord and then I four part braid it into a round lace like string. Works fine from nettle, lime, flax, etc.,
Graham's suggestion is very sound; less stress on the fibres.

Be interesting to see what you make


cheers,
Toddy

Do you have any photo's Mary? I'm fairly proficient with the bow drill now but have had little success with my natural cordage. I've drilled straight into Chaga as a baseboard and it only takes about 30% of the effort compared to drilling into wood. Once I've made some decent cord I think it would be best to use this first perhaps?

 

[stuart f]

Or you could just try tree roots.

Check out fellow member Cedric G,s video. He uses roots at about 1hr 15mins on the video.
[video=youtube;6pFJPaCNFAA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pFJPaCNFAA&list=UU9yW 33ZesEUd2ZIlNrj8ZQg&index=10[/video]

Good luck with it.

Cheers Stuart.

 

[Toddy]

Do you have any photo's Mary? I'm fairly proficient with the bow drill now but have had little success with my natural cordage. I've drilled straight into Chaga as a baseboard and it only takes about 30% of the effort compared to drilling into wood. Once I've made some decent cord I think it would be best to use this first perhaps?

I agree about the chagga, and old elder is excellent too
I don't have photos, nor do I have any unspun nettle fibre to hand, but I do have flax. I'll see about spinning some up and then braiding it.
It's really easy to do; one of those quiet, sit at peace with the world type of jobs

M