Bow Drill

Talfuchre said:
If you are brown - not black - A little more pressure downward. If you have a buddy with a lazer temp guage - you can have him shoot the notch and see the temps you are generating. You need about 700 degrees.

TF
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What he said.

When I was learning I used to get the brown dust a lot. You need it to be black for it to work as an ember. I always seemed to get the brown stuff on my first attempt, after that the hole was dug in sort of and I found it easier to apply pressure.

If I remember correctly it was 60 strokes with more downward pressure then ease up a little and 60 more with faster bowing (try to avoid the sweat dripping on the coal). Make sure you have your nest or ball of material ready but I was told to take a couple of breaths to steady myself before moving to the next stage - the coal will be fine.

For learning I suggest the nest be made of dry straw that you use for rabbit hutches and at its core use fluff from a tumble dryer. My bundle usually had some brown dust from my first attempt in there as well :) - later you can move to natural materials knowing your technique is right.

The other problem I had was not making the V notch big enough and forgetting to put something under the hearth to catch the coal and to protect it from the damp ground.
 
Like many of the other guys said, I think you have to be careful with your wood. Too hard or too soft (pine, fir, spruce) probably won't work, and it has to be bone dry. Willow, a species I think includes poplar, seems to work best. You can try the fingernail test - if your fingernail will make no mark it's too hard, and if it makes an easy mark it's too soft. It also seems to me, just by hanging around, that willow kinds of trees grow in the valleys near streams. So you may want to look in those places for your fire board and spindle. But I'm on the east coast, other places may be different.
 
When I was a kid I tried to learn how to do the bowdrill with pine cause I didnt know any better. The resinous sap in conifers just hinders the whole process . I would sit there and bow-bow-bow-bow till my freaking arm was about to fall off and it loooked like the house had caught fire from all the smoke.

The first time I tried some cottonwood I was like :What the HELL!!:eek::eek::mad::D:D
 
Thanks for all of the great info! You guys Rock. I will grab some other woods around my house. Here is a list of woods around me now: Fir, Maple, White Oak, Willow, Alder, Apple, Cherry, Hazelnut and a few Pacific Madrone trees. Unfortunately I haven't got any cedar trees growing around me. There are though about 15-20 minutes from me. I have lots of Cedar wood though. I would prefer to get it going with just what is on the surrounding 2,500 acres.
 
Runsalone said:
When I was a kid I tried to learn how to do the bowdrill with pine cause I didnt know any better. The resinous sap in conifers just hinders the whole process . I would sit there and bow-bow-bow-bow till my freaking arm was about to fall off and it loooked like the house had caught fire from all the smoke.

The first time I tried some cottonwood I was like :What the HELL!!:eek::eek::mad::D:D
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All southern yellow pines are a no no, except eastern white pine (Pinus strobus). White pine is an awesome bow drill wood.
 
Apologize for smartass answer earlier - I forgot to ad that I usually add some sand or drit to increase heat per handpower.
 
raybadge said:
and it has to be bone dry.
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Ray,
Not trying to be contradictory but in this video (at about the 52 sec. mark) Ray Mears uses what looks like willow to make a bow drill. It's green limbs he cuts and uses.
Do you think they cut the film and switched woods?
Like I say I'm asking honestly because when I first saw this , it stuck out immediately that he was using green wood and I thought that was a no go.
Thanks in advance for the info,
Iz
 
Look more closely. He reaches into the bunch and grabs a dead standing one. He pulls out that stick and you can see it has no buds where the rest do. I tell you what else I like about this one is that he uses one stave for the hearth, spindle, bow, and perhaps the handhold as well.

There are two theories out there. Doc's theory where you find the easiest and best materials in a controlled environment and then use them to get success - because many quit before they get success.

Second theory is to try with poor materials until you get fire - because once you get it with crap - you can get it with anything.

TF
 
I dunno, bindlestich. But Ray Mears could probably do it under water. He's darn good at this stuff. Me, I have a heck of a time even when the material is really dry. :)
 
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Oregon guy which side of the mountains ya on?
I am over here on the wetside...
http://www.stoneageskills.com/images...Fire_Woods.doc in this document Storm rates Fir on fir pretty good and fir on Maple even better I think. This is from his time up on the Olympic Peninsula, so the habitat is not "that" different from where I am. Quite a bit of the info he compiled is "unexpected", but stuff comin from the folks of the SPT is always done very scientifically and reproductions are museum quality, as is their research. Abos with computers, gotta love it!! I have had great respect for them since the mid 90s when I got the chance to train with Jim Riggs over at the High Desert Museum in Bend for a few days. That was when the society had just formed and produced their first journal. Now there are 30 some journals and a couple books...
be safe... Ted
 
Talfuchre said:
Look more closely. He reaches into the bunch and grabs a dead standing one. He pulls out that stick and you can see it has no buds where the rest do. I tell you what else I like about this one is that he uses one stave for the hearth, spindle, bow, and perhaps the handhold as well.


TF
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Aha. Didn't even notice that. Sharp eyes , Talfuchre.

raybadge said:
I dunno, bindlestich. But Ray Mears could probably do it under water. He's darn good at this stuff. Me, I have a heck of a time even when the material is really dry.
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I hear you , Ray. Mears knows his stuff.
Later,
Iz
 
Ted- I am in McMinnville. I love in the foothills of the coast range. Thanks for the info! I will have to give that a try this weekend with fir and maple. Where in western Oregon are you?
 
When I got it to work I used Cedar from the same dead tree for all my parts except the bow.I used maple for that.
 
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Knife guy, It's very nice up in the wine country where you are. I am down the valley from you. West of Eugene on the second major ridge into the coast range. Here's a couple pics of my camp.
be safe... Ted
 
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Nice looking camp! It is a great area for wineries... I work in the wine industry. Actually starting a wine shop in McMinnville.
 
I figured I'd finally give this a try! Worked very well the first time... though no flame. But the pieces all went together well, and I was making lots of smoke before I ran out of time. I'm terrible right now at identifying wood, so I have no idea what I'm using. I made two different boards and two different spindles. I made my bow way to short I feel.

It was fun!
 
You don't need to know what wood you have. Simply do the thumbnail test. Too soft - it crushes - too hard - no indentation. It should make a firm indentation.

The bow should be about armpit to finger tip long.

Keep us up to speed.

TF
 
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