Fire & Bowdrill Wood Questions

Iboschi

Iboschi

Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
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I was watching a bowdrill video today and have some questions about wood. The spindle should be HARD right? And the board should be SOFT and DRY right? What other important info should I glean before my second attempt? The first was quite a while back and I used pine for all pieces and it went terrible. This next time, I'd like to set up an opportunity for success. The video that renewed my interest:

[youtube]AEoMP-TDyEE[/youtube]

Thanks RR for making it look easy :grumpy::mad::eek::D
 
Man the guy in that video is butt ugly!

Anyway, if your drill is significantly harder than your board, you may wind up drilling through the board before you get a coal.

I use the same wood for both spindle and board.

White Cedar, Basswood, Sycamore work great. I have had sucess with white pine. Both spindle and hearth need to be completely dry!
 
The spindle should be HARD right? Not necessarily. Yucca is pretty soft and makes an excellent spindle.

And the board should be SOFT and DRY right? Again, not necessarily. If the board is too soft you'll drill through it before you get an ember. The board should be the same hardness as the spindle or slightly harder. Both need to be dry.

What other important info should I glean before my second attempt? The first was quite a while back and I used pine for all pieces and it went terrible. I've not had much luck with coniferous woods. Cottonwood, Basswood, Yucca and Paw Paw have worked well for me. Willow works as does Juniper, but with a lot more work than the others I've mentioned. Good luck on your quest.
 
As said, too hard or too soft with either fireboard or spindle will have negative results.


It is more about matching the relative hardness or softness of the woods.
Although, the denser the combo, the more exertion at times...


For California,
Yucca makes an excellent hearth.
Sotol makes great spindles and hearths.
Redwood makes great hearths.
Mulefat and Box Elder as well...


My combo as of late is California Buckeye on CA. Buckeye.
Can't go wrong...

Here's a link that lists all the successful wood combinations for California and the Northwest:

http://www.primitiveways.com/Fire%20Making%20Materials.html
 
paleojoe said:
As said, too hard or too soft with either fireboard or spindle will have negative results.


It is more about matching the relative hardness or softness of the woods.
Although, the denser the combo, the more exertion at times...


For California,
Yucca makes an excellent hearth.
Sotol makes great spindles and hearths.
Redwood makes great hearths.
Mulefat and Box Elder as well...


My combo as of late is California Buckeye on CA. Buckeye.
Can't go wrong...

Here's a link that lists all the successful wood combinations for California and the Northwest:

http://www.primitiveways.com/Fire%20Making%20Materials.html
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info and the links Joe. That looks to be very useful info. I'll keep working on it!
 
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