-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Help with bow drill.
- Thread starter trailbum
- Start date
Try any tree but the pines and let us know how it turns out.
Here is some that I have tried in my area.
Try for your soft woods first, If you do not know what you look for in the dead stuff cut some fresh and then carve and split and make up your set and then let it dry a few days. then cut you divit and then start drilling to see how dry your wood is. If you see smoke in 10 seconds or so then cut your notch and drill some more and spin a coal out.
The thing is get out there and make the bow drill set up and practice it and try it out. when I try a new wood I make the spindle and the hearth wood out of the same wood and then mix and match the spindles on different heart woods.
It will give you a great idea on how easy ( using softer woods or how much more spining( using med. to hard woods) is done to creat your coal.
If you are going to try and use a wood bearing for your first bearing I highly suggest you cut a fresh green piece form hard wood ( it will be less friction on the top of the spindle) put some grease in the divit and or a some type of lube that will help in being as friction free as possible, later on you can use other bearings that you fine or make. like antler, bone, or even a rock.
Also mark the spindle and the hearth wood too so you know what you used.
Hope this helps ya.
Bryan
Here is some that I have tried in my area.
Try for your soft woods first, If you do not know what you look for in the dead stuff cut some fresh and then carve and split and make up your set and then let it dry a few days. then cut you divit and then start drilling to see how dry your wood is. If you see smoke in 10 seconds or so then cut your notch and drill some more and spin a coal out.
The thing is get out there and make the bow drill set up and practice it and try it out. when I try a new wood I make the spindle and the hearth wood out of the same wood and then mix and match the spindles on different heart woods.
It will give you a great idea on how easy ( using softer woods or how much more spining( using med. to hard woods) is done to creat your coal.
If you are going to try and use a wood bearing for your first bearing I highly suggest you cut a fresh green piece form hard wood ( it will be less friction on the top of the spindle) put some grease in the divit and or a some type of lube that will help in being as friction free as possible, later on you can use other bearings that you fine or make. like antler, bone, or even a rock.
Also mark the spindle and the hearth wood too so you know what you used.
Hope this helps ya.
Bryan
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2006
- Messages
- 5,944
Poplar
Willow
Autumn olive
white cedar
Adams needle (if you can find it) maybe in sand areas
are some of the best woods going, get ready for frustration, don;t give up, and good luck.
Willow
Autumn olive
white cedar
Adams needle (if you can find it) maybe in sand areas
are some of the best woods going, get ready for frustration, don;t give up, and good luck.
Mistwalker
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 19,037
As for drill shape, I like my spindles sort of a flattened point so it drills into the hearth but doesn't drill too deep too quickly. I like the top of my spindle rounded so that it doesn't drill into my bearing block very quickly if using a wooden bearing block. Rather than copy'paste the picks I'm just going to post a link. This is in another section here, and while it is actually a review of a knife starting at about the 14th picture down there are several photos that go into the bow drill.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/897927-TOPS-Knives-USMC-Combat-Knife?
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/897927-TOPS-Knives-USMC-Combat-Knife?
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2007
- Messages
- 9,786
Foraging for wood on site takes almost as much practice as the technique itself. I usually tell folks who are starting to learn to work on their technique and then try to find wood in the natural state. One of the easiest materials to practice with is cedar. At my grocery store where they sell fish, they usually sell little boards of cedar to make plank salmon. That stuff works great and the plank is usually one inch thick and about 8' by 4' or so. Just split one section off to make a drill and use the other to make a hearth.
Like RR says, you can zap a lot of strength at the top end. Try using a shot glass with some duct tape around it (in case it breaks) as the hand hold. Again, once you've racked up a few coals using these materials then progress towards finding wood on site. That way if something goes wrong you know its the materials and not your technique or a combination of the two.
Like RR says, you can zap a lot of strength at the top end. Try using a shot glass with some duct tape around it (in case it breaks) as the hand hold. Again, once you've racked up a few coals using these materials then progress towards finding wood on site. That way if something goes wrong you know its the materials and not your technique or a combination of the two.