Bow Drill and Hand Drill

PastorMarko

PastorMarko

Joined
Oct 3, 2009
Messages
514
Going to put up a VERY nice bow drill

and a modified hand drill.

bowdrillkit.jpg


This is a VERY complete bow drill kit with some jute for the birds nest.


handdrillkit.jpg


This is modified for 2 reasons.

1. It came with "thumb loops" to make it easier to start a fire.
2. It came in broken. I didn't have the heart to ask Marty to ship another one, so I am going to make a new one out of oak.

The spindle has to be harder than the board. I also wanted to make my own instead of getting a new one because we have to learn to
improvise!

Marty from stickfires on ebay makes these. I know if I would have written him he would have sent a new one but I just don't see him spending
the exta postage for something I can make myself.

Marty makes all of these himself so the quality is top notch!
If you e-mail him or get a kit, please be sure to tell him PastorMarko sent you.
 
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Now you're talking my language. I practice with a hand drill a lot.
 
I gotta be honest with you Marko, this is more than a bit odd to me.

To me, the point of the hand drill and firebow is that it can be improvised in the field. To buy it before hand, well..... Might as well carry a bic into the woods.

I guess it's good to see one first hand before you try to build one yourself.
 
Shotgunner,

I agree but this is a skill that needs to be practiced and callouses need to be formed on the hands. We need a source to buy "kits" to practice with. It's a tough skill and one I have tried to master over the years. It takes a lot of practice.
 
As a side note to this, I've been working with a horseweed drill and a tulip poplar fireboard. All of this I got off my farm. Poplar sucks! Too grainy. Paw Paw is much better but even at that I have managed coals with the Poplar. My hands have some good callouses now so I can go all day on a hand drill.
 
I long ago gave up on the hand drill. Watched Alan Halcon do it and thought, "Wow, that was easy." Tried until my hands were bloody stumps.... No go.

As for the bow drill, I have a grasp of the concept, have gotten fire a few times, coal a few more, but I would be hard pressed to produce fire on the spot with the techinque.

I agree, it's something that needs to be practiced....a lot, but I think that the selection and manufacture of the materials is just as important, if not the most important, part of the process.

That was the part that took the most trial and error and I would say made the success much sweeter.
 
dont give up. all you have to do is let those hands get blistered a few time and develop callouses. it's better than sex when you get a coal!
 
R.A.T. said:
As a side note to this, I've been working with a horseweed drill and a tulip poplar fireboard. All of this I got off my farm. Poplar sucks! Too grainy. Paw Paw is much better but even at that I have managed coals with the Poplar. My hands have some good callouses now so I can go all day on a hand drill.
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There is alot of types of poplar. Tulip Poplar is super grainy and does suck. But some other poplars are great friction fire woods. ie Cottonwood is a type of Poplar, great wood for friction fire.

I haven't practiced much at all with hand drill. I have some Sotol coming from a friend in Texas. I hope that is the one that gets me started. I have heard Eastern Red Cedar as hearth with Mullein as drill works well.
 
The first few times I tried this, it taught me what the true meaning of frustrasion is! Over time I did continue to get better though. I really do need to get another set so I can practice at home when I have free time.
 
tonym said:
I have heard Eastern Red Cedar as hearth with Mullein as drill works well.
Click to expand...

Yes - Mullein is great for a hand drill spindle and works very well with Eastern Red Cedar as a fire board. I'm heading out with my kids in the morning to harvest some Mullein stalks for spindles.

I took my sons to a wilderness/survival skills weekend camp this past May and the kids all made their own bow drill sets (with Eastern Red Cedar). Most of the kids, including my sons, were throwing coals by the second day. One boy at the camp was a particularly quick study with the bow drill and wanted to try a hand drill. This 11 year old was able to get a hand drill coal in less than 15 minutes work - it blew my mind! It is amazing how quickly kids can pick up these various skills. I wish I was that quick a study. I guess I can take some consolation in the fact that I can buy nicer knives than most kids.
 
JK, Were they using red cedar for both hearth and spindle for the bow drill? White cedar is my favorite bow drill wood by far, with Basswood a close 2nd. I never tried Eastern Red cedar before, I would guess they were using the sap wood and not the heart wood.

That 11 year old sounds amazing. Some just have the gift.. Great stuff!
 
I agree, children have no problem with hand drill technique!:D
Many have told me it is easier than bow drill!


My combos as of late for hand drill are:

large set - Mulefat drill with California Buckeye hearthboard. Also substitute CA. Buckeye for Box Elder. 1-2 passes with this combo.
med_1259990458-DSCN2202.JPG


small set - Cattail drill with Yucca. These two go great together, small sets require lighter density wood so it is about speed, not downward pressure, which is ideal for a short handdrill. 2-3 light, quick passes with this combo.
med_1259990489-DSCN2200.JPG


It's all in the callouses!
A trick for hand drill is called the 'floating' technique. You can work up and down the drill with your hands or float on the top and heat the coal up and burst down and get it in one pass. The hand motion is different, once you learn it, you never look back...
 
tonym said:
JK, Were they using red cedar for both hearth and spindle for the bow drill? White cedar is my favorite bow drill wood by far, with Basswood a close 2nd. I never tried Eastern Red cedar before, I would guess they were using the sap wood and not the heart wood.

That 11 year old sounds amazing. Some just have the gift.. Great stuff!
Click to expand...

Cedar hearth and Mullein spindle. The 11 year old was a great kid and a real natural. As a father, I took real pleasure in seeing my boys make their own bow drill sets and then actually get a coal with them. I've ordered each of them an Izula for Christmas. Cheaper than an X-Box and better for them.
 
Hand Drill was one Of my First thing I leaned about 15 years ago. I Still work on the Skill
a great thing to Know!
 
That is the idea. I got the kits in to study and start using. From there I am going to build my own.

This is different from Ranger Beads, I studied on Ranger Beads for a while and then made my first set, never ordered one, will never order one. I am on my forth design now and I am happy with it.

Primitive fire is a little beyond me so I thought it best to get the kits in and learn, then make my own and adapt from there if needed.
 
tonym said:
JK, Were they using red cedar for both hearth and spindle for the bow drill? White cedar is my favorite bow drill wood by far, with Basswood a close 2nd. I never tried Eastern Red cedar before, I would guess they were using the sap wood and not the heart wood.

That 11 year old sounds amazing. Some just have the gift.. Great stuff!
Click to expand...

Do you have any whte cedar you might mail to a brother? ;)
 
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