I have created fire.

[the-swexan]

ok lets go thru it frist try a ceder fireboard then get rid of that oak fire drill you want something fiberous a piece of rose stem from the garten 1/2" thick will work well or a mullen stalk dried works well too,. start by turning the drill a 1/2" away from the edge of your fire board untill you get a small depresion in the wood then cut a pie wedge around 20° into the center of the dent you just made, this will collect the dust that will turn into your coal. now start slow untill that pie wedge fills with dust then turn up the rpms not too hard downward presure keep the speed up untill you get a lot of smoke you should have a coal now if not work longer in hot dry weather it should take around 1 min. to get that coal burning good luck

 

[blood_constellation]

yes doc, the book is "camping & wilderness survival", by paul tawrell

 

[DOC-CANADA]

yes doc, the book is "camping & wilderness survival", by paul tawrell

Thanks bc. I have an older edition of Tawrell but I checked and it's in there.

As you said, he lists, in descending order:
dry balsam fir
cedar
cypress
tamarack
basswood
cottonwood
Generally, I like his books, but I don't agree with this list unless he means in descending order of difficulty, meaning Basswood is easier than Cedar, because it is. I've never tried cypress - we don't have any - but I did try Tamarack (AKA Larch - Larix laracina) and I got skunked badly. Mind you that was a lot of years ago, so maybe I should try it again. I have used (from the list), successfully, Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis), American Basswood (Tilia americana) and Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) and IMHO, Basswood is the easiest, followed by Cottonwood, and then Cedar. Of course, HMMV.

Mewolf, what's your take on that?

Doc

 

[mewolf1]

Easiest stuff I've used is White Cedar, then Red cedar, but Basswood is a great one as it is so accessable to me when I'm out and about.
The red Cedar that I tried was from an old piece of split rail fencing, WOW, it went easy!
Havn't tried Tamarac.
Cottonwood hasn't got much time outa me, and Cypress is really hard to find here in Minnesota.

I want to try some Walnut some time too.:thumbup:
As for willow, I've had a heck of a time getting fire with it, but I'm sure it's me.

Wolf

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Easiest stuff I've used is White Cedar, then Red cedar, but Basswood is a great one as it is so accessable to me when I'm out and about.
The red Cedar that I tried was from an old piece of split rail fencing, WOW, it went easy!
Havn't tried Tamarac.
Cottonwood hasn't got much time outa me, and Cypress is really hard to find here in Minnesota.

I want to try some Walnut some time too.:thumbup:
As for willow, I've had a heck of a time getting fire with it, but I'm sure it's me.

Wolf

Could be the species of Willow. I've heard other people say they've had a problem with it. I've used it both for bow drill and hand drill and I don't remember any particular problems, but then that could just be my 61 year old memory.

Do you have Black Walnut up where you are?

Doc

 

[mewolf1]

Could be the species of Willow. I've heard other people say they've had a problem with it. I've used it both for bow drill and hand drill and I don't remember any particular problems, but then that could just be my 61 year old memory.

Or good Juju

Do you have Black Walnut up where you are?

Doc

Yes we do, and being what I call a "medium" hardwood it shoud work.:thumbup: