Detailed firebow making and use instructions!

Codger_64

Codger_64

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I may not have mentioned it before, but I was the technical advisor for the Tom Hanks movie "Castaway". The tooth extraction by ice skate was supposed to be a hockey puck (well known for this application), but the production staff felt that it would be demeaning to our Canadian friends, so the skate was used instead.

Tom had a really tough time learning the friction fire methods, and insisted on reinventing the firemaking principals himself. All that blood in the socket made the tinder harder to ignite. A "corpuscle lube" of sorts. He would have done better making a piece of cordage from the palm fronds and using a firebow, but nooooo... And he really got p.o.'d when he lost his eyebrows. I guess we used a bit too much flash powder on the fireboard and gas in the tender. Heck, the makeup guy was there to add the beard anyway, so adding eyebrows was a cinch. Tom was still plenty pissed though. He does not have the best sense of humor.

Charlton Heston and Brian Kieth, now, were a different story. They took to using firesteels like monkeys to banannas. Just had to keep reminding them to watch the beards.

So anyways, I thought that maybe a real firebow maker/teacher might just give us all a pointer or two, and who better than the Wolf. He is making my firebow, socket and fireboard as I post this, but perhaps he can be persuaded to drop in and line us out on the how-to's and where-fores of firebow construction and use. Where are you Mewolf?

Codger

Hell, I thought Costner was never going to forgive me for the "Waterworld" idea. I thought it was great. He did too at the time. A better costume designer, and a few more action scenes, maybe another action hero too would have helped. Who knew?:D
 
I generally like Kevin Costner movies; but I wanted a refund of my money, time, and everything after watching Waterworld. That was way back in high school; but it still stands as one of the worst movies I've watched. Up there with Hair, Fargo, The Piano, and Pulp Fiction.

That said, I really liked Castaway. I thought Castaway was a very good movie. I even bought the video and have watched it numerous times. Good job on that one! :)
 
Codger_64 said:
...I thought that maybe a real firebow maker/teacher might just give us all a pointer or two, and who better than the Wolf. He is making my firebow, socket and fireboard ...
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who is this? what does one pay for such items??? Do people really buy them?:confused:
 
I think I've seen them before, but I don't remember where and would like to see some good detailed diagrams on how to build and use a firebow.

As an aside... I'm a fan of the show Survivor; but I just have to wonder why people don't immediately obtain all the survival training they can get and set down with a psychiatrist to develop a plan once they find out they've been selected.
 
LSkylizard said:
who is this? what does one pay for such items??? Do people really buy them?:confused:
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Mewolf1 is a forum member here. We are trading his skills for a knife he wants. Usually, firebows are made on the spot as needed. Ancient peoples made them sturdier, and kept them. The one he is making me is made from a buffalo (bison) rib bone, with a bone socket. Sure, I could make one from willow, or ash, or hickory. But I think his will be art/function. Something to keep and use. Ancient tools were also thought to be inhabited by the spirit of the maker. A bit of himself went into the tool. As it should be.

Codger
 
Hopefully, he will drop in and post a picture or pictures, and give us a lesson (yes, he does teach). He, like myself, is an "old school" survival enthusiast. Experimental archeology is one name I have heard, reenactor another. What it amounts to is relearning ancestrial methods of living in nature. I've made skin boats (no birchbark here), made caddo and quapaw pottery, knapped flint for darts and arrows, etc. Mewolf (Kent) does the same type things. That is the surest way to survive...make use of what nature provides. Prehistoric and Paleo peoples lived quite well that way. Having a metal knife is nice, but a flint, chert, bone, or fire hardened wood one works too.

Codger
 
Jagged said:
I think I've seen them before, but I don't remember where and would like to see some good detailed diagrams on how to build and use a firebow.

As an aside... I'm a fan of the show Survivor; but I just have to wonder why people don't immediately obtain all the survival training they can get and set down with a psychiatrist to develop a plan once they find out they've been selected.
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Howdy
The Society of Primitive Technology, has a book out called :Primitive Technology: A Book of Earth Skills. It does the a very, VERY indepth breakdown of fire by friction. Firebows, plows, hand drills, along with anything else that has to to with primitive living skills. If you really want to know about firebows pick this one up.

I tried out for Survivor. I made it pass the first stage but didnt make the final cut. Its seemed to me that they were more interested in my sexuality and personal habits then any survival skills I have. I guess it wouldn't be a good show if people knew what they were doing. ;)
 
Jagged said:
I generally like Kevin Costner movies; but I wanted a refund of my money, time, and everything after watching Waterworld. That was way back in high school; but it still stands as one of the worst movies I've watched. Up there with Hair, Fargo, The Piano, and Pulp Fiction.

That said, I really liked Castaway. I thought Castaway was a very good movie. I even bought the video and have watched it numerous times. Good job on that one! :)
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Are you on crack? :D You didn't like Fargo or Pulp Fiction?!? :eek:

What is the world coming to? ;)
 
Codger_64 said:
Hopefully, he will drop in and post a picture or pictures, and give us a lesson (yes, he does teach). He, like myself, is an "old school" survival enthusiast. Experimental archeology is one name I have heard, reenactor another. What it amounts to is relearning ancestrial methods of living in nature. I've made skin boats (no birchbark here), made caddo and quapaw pottery, knapped flint for darts and arrows, etc. Mewolf (Kent) does the same type things. That is the surest way to survive...make use of what nature provides. Prehistoric and Paleo peoples lived quite well that way. Having a metal knife is nice, but a flint, chert, bone, or fire hardened wood one works too.

Codger
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Codger , with all your highpowered connections you could get someone famous to "enlighten everyone:p
 
Alas, after Waterworld, the elite seem to have abandoned me. Ah well. By the way, for those who don't know me better, the first post was tongue in cheek. All but the part about Mewolf's expertise with the firebow. And the trade. If he'll grace us with some wisdom, I'll see if I can expound on some subject of interest in the future.

Maybe flintknapping, the art of making edged tools from rocks. Not every local has appropriate stone available, but with a bit of imagination and searching, midden piles and hunting camps can be found where the ancients discarded suitable flakes, and pot/relic hunters had no interest. I found a lot of such village and hunting camp sites along the Saline River in Arkansas, and along the Ouchita and Caddo rivers. Sometimes a sizable spall can yield several good darts, or a usable scraper, or even a dart/arrow shaft shaper if you are enthusiastic enough. A lot of these flint spalls were imported into the area by the hunters/ villagers from a great distance, showing the importance of intertribal trade in early America.
Codger
 
Yall are gonna have to wait til Codger gets his fire bow and drill for pics. I don't have a digital camera. It is fun to make things that will last a lifetime in this game of survival and it becomes something to be proud of too. It's true I do teach when the questions arise. I'm I an expert? Not in my opinion. To me this means that I don't have much to left learn and that attitude closes too many doors for me. I have been at this all my life and there aint much I can't do anymore ,but I keep looking for new info all the time; that's why I'm here!
Now days with the Internet, I wonder if people are just trying to make conversation when asking questions about this or that when all ya havta do is "Google it". First hand learning is the best way, but for the info to start with, it is all at your finger tips. My only suggestion is when you get the info, PRACTICE IT. All the hidden "tricks" reveal themselves and it doesn't take long to become second nature.
 
Codger_64 said:
Tom was still plenty pissed though. He does not have the best sense of humor.

Charlton Heston and Brian Kieth, now, were a different story.
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Tom Hanks? No sense of humor? What do you expect from a bleeding heart, left wing, arrogant, elite Hollywood liberal??

Heston and Keith?? First rate gentlemen who can (or could, in Keith's case), laugh at themselves. Because they have/had "class."

Hanks has none.

(And by the way, I've met all three of them.)

Codger 64, I grew up in North Arkansas in a tiny town. We used to find arrowheads all the time. Unless they were perfect, we would toss them, often skipping them across ponds or a cove at the lake. Had ancient stone grinding bowls and "pestles," etc., and would use them for door stops in the summer. How I wish I'd saved all those!!

L.W.
 
I saved a large box full of stone and bone tools over the years. I studied them and learned from them. I copied them, and used the copies, eventually sending the originals back to the decendents of the makers. The NA courrier I gave then to was confused, and didn't understand. The old man who received them understood and was pleased, and thought that the spirits of "the ones who came before" would also be pleased. I included sage, sweetgrass, and tobacco in the box. Hecheto. Wello, wello.

Codger
 
Pretty straight forward instructions, simple and easy to follow. So tell me, how do you think that a pre-made set with a ribbone and a bone socket would be an improvement? Remember the salient points he made.

Codger
 
Codger, I made one of these the other week and had some pretty good results (i.e. an ember each time)

I found the socket to be the most important thing. You want as frictionless a bearing as you can make.

Get a peice of Cedar for the board and some hardwood for the spindle.
I didnt make a particularly tapered point on the spindle, it was quite obtuse.
My bow was about 2 feet long and still green. It helps if there is some natutral springyness to the bow.

From scratch I would put a new point on the spindle, and lightly run it to get a very shallow burn. I would then cut the notch. I used about 3mm (1/8th) of an inch at the widest point and it goes almost to the centre of the hole.

I found that when 'bow'ing' that I could put more accurate power on the pull stroke.

So, I went lightly for about 10 seconds, then about 5-10 seconds of pressure (maybe enough to make the string slip now and then) and finally a high speed motion for about 20-30 seconds.

You should get smoke almost immediately, it will increase and increase and you will be breathing an lot of it in, but, when the coal forms there will be a slight chage of smell, its faint but there if you are familiar with fire and smoke. I usually do another 10 seconds more of light strokes after that smell becomes apparent and then slowly remove the spindle.

There will be bits of char on the top of the board, I usually push this on top of the ember and give it about 5-10 seconds to get established before moving it to the tinder ball.

I didn't find it all that difficult, but saying that its like a bicycle, once you have done it, its hard not to think its easy. The bearing is the one to work the most on though.

I found this web page better than the Tracker Trail article.

http://www.uq.net.au/~zzdlittl/aussiefirebow.html
 
Ahhh... you mention the importance of the bearing several times. What if you used a bone bearing, with lube worked into the socket over time, and fire tempered your shaped spindle to harden it. Old bowstrings are free for the asking at archery shops, as is flemish twist bowstring stock at a reasonable price. These do double duty in a kit because you can also use then as a...bowstring!

I'm glad to see people practicing the ancient arts of survival. Once you learn to do it with prepared materials, doing it with nothing but your wits and experience is a snap. And any manufactured article you can employ (steel knife, string, rope, wire etc.) is icing on the cake!

Codger

PS- I noticed the guy did not go in depth about preparing the tender nest and fire lay ahead of time... but maybe that was in an earlier section.
 
A bone socket would be the best IMHO, the near ceramic smoothness almost guarantee's sucess.

I tried my damndest to get a fire from just wood tinder. This was on the premise that I was alone in the wet woods, I had split a tree/branch to get the dry stuff and the only tinder was whatever I could make from the dry heartwood. I split some wood and whittled it so I could use a pencil sharpener to make some tinder. I gave it a couple of tries with just wood but failed both times. Grass and other trad tinder goes up pretty fast. Thinking back I think I could have gotten it to work if I had given the ember longer to heat the wooden tinder and removing any mositure. The other thing I thought about was to deliberately fail in 2 attempts on the fire bow in order to gather a lot of char that I could add to the third ember and therefor get about 3x the heat.

When I first started to mess around with blowing a small delicate ember into a live flame I was surprised by how much air pressure you actually need. I have found that I use as much pressure as one would when blowing out Birthday candles albeit with a little more control. :)
 
Do you think a small section of river cane, or hollow plant stem would have concentrated the breath and made the effort easier? What about waving the nest itself through the air while you catch your breath? Did you look for rodent nests in tree hollows or around rock outcroppings? These are the things that come naturally from practice. Just like the problems and solutions you are relating now. There are ten solutions for every problem you are confronted with. At least one of them will work in nearly every situation. Preparing the tender nest and fire lay BEFORE you expend the energy to make a coal is essential.

Codger
 
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