Preparing Ivy for Bow Drill

[Justin Time]

Hi
Got myself some good sized Ivy wood today, planning to make a drill and board from it. I'm not sure whether to cut it to shape now and leave it to season, or leave it as is and prepare it when it's dried out.

Any tips?

Justin

 

[Gary]

Let it season - youll get no where with green wood. While its seasoning use the time to get an idea of the sizes you need for spindle and hearth and also you could prep the other parts of your set - bearing block, bow and ember tray.

 

[Justin Time]

cheers Gary

I'm guessing that if I prepared it now and then left it to season it would probably warp?

Justin

 

[sargey]

mebbe, but surely it would dry faster. cracking might be a problem...

cheers, and.

 

[Gary]

you could split the timber down to rough sizes - allowing to shrinkage and warping etc - this would speed up drying and then leave you less carving at the end.

The other parts should be either hard or green - something to bear in mind - get a nice bit of beech for your bearing block that works well.

 

[Justin Time]

Cheers Both
Already got the beech block, made some spoons with the rest of the branch....

Justin

 

[Roving Rich]

Now I'd heard (and use) Yew for the bearing block? It is a bit waxy to the touch.
Rich

 

[Gary]

Any hard wood will do. You can lubricate the socket with green leaves especially waxy ones like holly,

or

You can be as sad as me and carve a set that have a lambs knuckle bone set in the centre so that the hard wearing but oily bone takes all the abuse. Soap stone works well too if you know a canadian or go there for your holiday.

But at the end of the day the important parts are the spindle and hearth.