Bow & Drill Chapter 2: "I can taste it"

[SkunkWerX]

Here's one possibility - "damn, look at that smoke, time to give it s**t. What, no coal???????? " It's possible that once you see the smoke, you're so enthused that you push down harder on the drill and go like hell. If you put too much pressure on the drill, you increase the size of the 'grindings'. This increases the ignition temperature. Next time, increase the speed, if you want (probably not necessary if you brought it from no smoke, to smoking pretty good), but do not increase the pressure on the drill. Also, you may want to try a different material. Cedar is not too bad a material, but Basswood (Tilia americana) and Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) works better. Keep us updated.

Doc

You know, now that Doc has weighed in, I can say I do increase speed after getting smoke, but not so much the pressure. I think of fast=heat.
Too much pressure, speed drops off fast, thus creating less heat, plenty of friction, but much less heat.

I'm no expert, far from it, but I'd suggest once you have good smoke, don't try to "go like hell" , if you can speed it up a little, do so, but don't get crazy with much more additional pressure or much more additional speed.

Thicker smoke indicates to me I am doing just fine, and then it's matter of keeping it up so as to help ensure an ember.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

You know, now that Doc has weighed in, I can say I do increase speed after getting smoke, but not so much the pressure. I think of fast=heat.
Too much pressure, speed drops off fast, thus creating less heat, plenty of friction, but much less heat.

I'm no expert, far from it, but I'd suggest once you have good smoke, don't try to "go like hell" , if you can speed it up a little, do so, but don't get crazy with much more additional pressure or much more additional speed.

Thicker smoke indicates to me I am doing just fine, and then it's matter of keeping it up so as to help ensure an ember.

Well said, grasshopper. Another step in the endless journey to self enlightenment.

 

[chickenfried]

I got an ember just now ! But I didn't get my practice tinder, a cotton ball, to light up on fire. The ember just burned holes through it :grumpy: .

But hey I'm ecstatic that I managed to get an ember. I was surprised how big it was and how long it stayed around (that's what she....... ).

Your tip really helped Doc, thanks.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Congratulations on your ember. Glad I could be of help. If you have any other questions, feel free............

I've never used cotton for tinder, so I can't help you there. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard of using cotton for tinder for friction fire. Are you possibly confusing its use as such, with its use with spark ignition (a la ferro rod and cotton)? I would think cotton should work, though. You'd want to open up the cotton to make it less dense (more airy). Make a big nest of it, with the depression in the centre - this is where you put your ember. Fold the cotton around the ember, but not too tight. Blow into the cotton with nice steady breaths. This is done for 2 reasons - first, it helps to increase the size of the glowing member, and, secondly, it raises the temperature of the glowing member much like a bellows in a forge. When it gets large enough, and hot enough, it burst into flames. You may have to manipulate the cotton to keep it, constantly, in contact with the glowing member, taking care not to crush the glowing member. It's all a matter of practise. If I get time tomorrow, I'll try cotton.

Some natural materials to try - the shredded, fibre-like inner bark of Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) [my personal favourite]; shredded fibre-like inner bark of the Junipers; the flower head of Phragmites communis; very fine, wispy pieces of Birch bark (Betula papyrifera), not as easy to use as the aforementioned; or any bark like material that will produce fibrous material when worked (buffed). To get a better handle on this, where, approximately, do you live? If we know this, people in your general area can help you with natural material choices.

I should add, that when using materials such as Cedar bark, it helps to add some accererant like Birch bark to help keep it burning.

Doc

 

[ninjajoe]

I got an ember just now! But I didn't get my practice tinder, a cotton ball, to light up on fire. The ember just burned holes through it

congrats on getting a coal! sounds like cotton might act like cattail down and spread the ember well, but not burst into flame, just a thought. for man-made tinder, shreaded jute twine (hardware store) works better than anything I've used. The other thing I do when the tinder is not flaming up (I use lots of cattail down here, its everywhere) and I cant find any dry inner bark / etc. is scrape some verry fine shavings of the fireboard I'm using into my bundle.