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Topic Closed’bow n’ drill’ method fer start’n a fire

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Direct Link To This Post Topic: ’bow n’ drill’ method fer start’n a fire
    Posted: 06 October 2003 at 11:58

Ok Guy's,

    I passed the flint 'n steel test, even made my own char cloth.  Anyone want to take a shot at tellin me the best way of constructin a bow & Drill.  I'd like to try it with parts I can find in the woods, but maybe the first time I should just try it with what's around the house.

Spot

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 October 2003 at 06:37
My brother and I used to use a bow drill for fire starting. Looks impressive,but isn't very tough. To start with household stuff, get yourself a piece of 2x4 pine, and drill some holes along the edge the size of the drill. Cut a slot on the outside edge of the board, your tinder goes there so you can blow/push the glowing bits of wood over onto it. Get your self a small piece of wood that fits your hand, and drill a shallow hole in it. This is to hold the top of the drill. Wrap your bowstring twice around the drill, put it into the hole on the bottom piece. Place your tinder alongside the drill, cup the drill with the handpiece, and start sawing. You'll need to experiment with downward presure and see what works for that particular piece of wood. Keep on sawing and pushing down and you will start to see smoke rising. At that point, stop and check for glowing embers, and blow/rake them onto the tinder. BTW, use hardwood for the drill part. An oak or poplar dowel will work.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 October 2003 at 13:06

I like cedar, poplar, or cottonwood for the hearth. They have a lighter, more open, grain construction than many other woods, making char easier and faster than others. I like either mullen or yucca stems for the spindles, as they have pithy centers, and also give a higher friction co-efficient.

Preparing the hearth, make your pilot holes just deep enough to help control the spindle as it starts. Cut a V shaped notch into the center of the holes. So these should be with in about an inch or less of the edge. The hearth only needs to be a half inch thick or so. I've seen lots thinner ones.

The bow shouldn't be over 24 inches, and shorter works better for me. If your string slips on the spindle, apply some pine pitch, rosin, or beeswax.  

The char will gather in the V. Some will use a square of rawhide under neath to capture the spark. It will burn for quite awhile, giving ample time to transfer it to the tinder. I prefer to use a bit of tinder to catch the spark, eliminating one step.

Although I have used pine, and even hardwoods for spindle and hearth, they make the job much tougher.

Keep your spindles down to a length of 6-7 inches. Place your one foot, or knee, on the hearth, which ever is more comfortable to you.

Brace your wrist holding the spindle brace (mine is stone, with a hole drilled into it, and lubricated with deer fat, NEVER water or saliva.) , against your lower leg or ankle, locking it as solidly as you can. You want all of the pressure to be vertical, and not wobbling.

Start spinning the spindle slowly at first, and increase speed as the char builds up around the base, and begins filling the groove cut to the edge of the hearth. Increase pressure when you have a good char supply. It doesn't need to be all that much. 

Once you get the technique down, you should be able to consistantly start a fire in under a minute. I've seen it done in 15 secounds by one individual giving demonstrations, but he has done it ALOT!

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2003 at 16:04

I read and read waksupi's advise. Took ta hand some stuff and tried it. Darned if'n I got smoke at the hearth near first try. I never "seen" it done. I Learned,, I needed ta make proper bow,an how ta get the lace strung about the spindle an bow proper,right down to needin grease on the rock.

waksupi,? I ain't sure I got the proper wood,or size of the spindle or depth of hearth, ta get good char.?? It was smokin good,but I couldn't catch it.

I used a split piece of dry Basswood maybe 1/4"x 3 ta hold with me foot, whittled with me knife for the hearth,then tryed oak dowel and dry Maple branch,, both bout' 3/8's dia. for the spindle. Any tip's fer the greenhorn?

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2003 at 16:16

Ditch the hard wood spindles. Look for willow, cotton wood, poplar,  dry mullen, yucca, horseweed, something sturdy, preferably with a pithy center, or light grain like the willow.

If you can find a piece of cedar siding to experiment with, this will make your first fires much easier. Basswood is good to carve, but will not yield as high friction as more open grained woods. Keep to a 3/4" piece to start with, it will give you a bit more wood to work with starting out, and is no hindrence to the final goal. 1/4" and less is for experts, that have very good control of speed and pressure.

Make them at least a half inch, up to 5/8". I've seen larger used, but they seem a bit harder to control, on my one try with them.

One other hint. When starting in, whittle the end that sits on the hearth into a semi rounded point, and leave definite carving marks on it. This will help start and seat the spindle much easier than a smooth end.

 

 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2003 at 16:24

I kind of ran things together in that post. Let me add some clarifying points:

In relation to spindles;

Ditch the hard wood spindles. Look for willow, cotton wood, poplar,  dry mullen, yucca, horseweed, something sturdy, preferably with a pithy center, or light grain like the willow.

On hearths;

If you can find a piece of cedar siding to experiment with, this will make your first fires much easier. Basswood is good to carve, but will not yield as high friction as more open grained woods. Keep to a 3/4" piece to start with, it will give you a bit more wood to work with starting out, and is no hindrence to the final goal. 1/4" and less is for experts, that have very good control of speed and pressure.

On spindles;

Make them at least a half inch, up to 5/8". I've seen larger used, but they seem a bit harder to control, on my one try with them.

One other hint. When starting in, whittle the end that sits on the hearth into a semi rounded point, and leave definite carving marks on it. This will help start and seat the spindle much easier than a smooth end.

 

 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2003 at 16:27
While your playing with fire, don't forget the magnifying glass. Your char cloth will ignite in seconds on a sunny daywith one, plus the fact you can actually make char cloth with a magnifier, and start a fire. Once you get these methods down, let us know. I can tell you of others.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 October 2003 at 01:29

Waksupi,

   Cool!  Man you know alot about this stuff!

BTW - my son make his first flint & steel fire from the char you help tell me how to make last night!  Took him about 3 minutes to get sparks consistantly, then another couple of minutes to catch one.  Kid got a big grin on his face when the jute tinder lit!

  I'll start gettin the materials together, don't have them readily on hand.  I'm going to have to get a magnifyin glass to try starting the char with glass - does time of year matter with that?

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 October 2003 at 19:08

Spot- Any time of year is good. The sun is always the same. Winter is coming, we can get you into doing it with an ice lense.

I used to travel the country doing seminars on primitive technology, and at one time had about twenty two different methods of survival firestarting methods. I'm a bit older now, and find some too strenuous, or hard on the fingers and no longer use them. But, I am willing to share the knowledge on how to do them, along with alot of other useless knowledge.

Any time a person can no longer learn, or teach, they may as well lay down and die.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 October 2003 at 19:16

One other hint;

When you start getting smoke, don't stop. Keep the spindle rotating. After you have done it a few times, you will see the difference in the smoke. You can't over-do it, but you can easily under-do it. It takes some work to develop a good spoark, and only time and experience will show you how long you will need to keep the bow working.

Something on the bow;

I use one wrap, and have a lot of slack in the string, that I control the tension of the string with, wrapping it around a finger.

It may seem like a lot to remember whan you are starting in, but will become natural as you learn the technique. Sorry I have to keep adding things in, but things I take for granted, I tend to forget when trying to put down in writing.

 

 

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