Sorbus aucuparia for a bow drill?

[Chris68]

Anyone ever use Sorbus aucuparia (Rogn in Norwegian, possibly Rowan in English) for a bow drill?

I gave it a shot; got a lot of smoke and black powder, but I never got a coal. I usually use Willow with good results, but I've been experimenting with other species lately.

Any thoughts?

 

[PaulSanderson]

Hi Chris,

I have tried using Rowan before on a few occasions but with no luck. I ended up with lots of smoke also but no viable ember.

Maybe its just not the correct type of wood...

 

[lannyman8]

i think the reason would be because the wood is to hard, if you tried with a harder bace board that might help......

worth a try..

regards...

chris.

 

[davidjwbailey]

as it happens I was just in the Pitt Rivers Museum of Ethnology (behind the Oxford Natural History Museum) and they have a fabulous display of 'used in the real world' fire drills, bow drills, fire saws and raffia ribbon ignitors.

the first thing I noticed was that all the drills were really a LOT fatter than I was expecting - better cord grip and less cord wear, I think.

no idea of the woods - mostly tropical?

from my forestry back ground, I would go for willow (dried), sycamore (dried), ivy (old, dried), larch

rowan is very hard, and does not 'dust' or crumble much, so I suspect ok for drill, not for board