No Knife/Modern tool bow drill

[jcl-MD]

IA Woodsman posted up a bow drill challenge over at BCUSA, and this is my GO!!

Mullien stock

No Knife Bow Drill 001 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 002 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 003 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 004 by jclservices, on Flickr

White pine split on a rock down the check.

No Knife Bow Drill 005 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 006 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 007 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 008 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 009 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 010 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 011 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 012 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 013 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 014 by jclservices, on Flickr

Spindle was not straight enough(recut)

No Knife Bow Drill 015 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 016 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 017 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 018 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 019 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 020 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 021 by jclservices, on Flickr

Lost 1st coal !! 2nd I added a mullien leaf coal extender.

No Knife Bow Drill 022 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 023 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 024 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 025 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 026 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 027 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 028 by jclservices, on Flickr

No Knife Bow Drill 029 by jclservices, on Flickr

We could use a shoelace on the bow!!

No Knife Bow Drill 030 by jclservices, on Flickr

Thanks!!

 

[mtnfolk mike]

right on.. very cool..

 

[grunt soldier]

damn brother you did better than i do w/ a knife and all you had was rocks. lol i need to step my game up. nice presentation on it too.

 

[mcjhrobinson]

awesome job man im truly impressed! we got a ton of mullien up on the volcano...its just tough finding a hearthboard.

 

[skab8541]

Good stuff J!

I too, took the challenge, instead of starting a new thread on it I'll piggy back off of JCL_MD, I know he won't mind.


Well, I was still out in the bush on an overnighter with my son, and had time to knock this out. I will say, it took alot longer to do this way then with a knife!

Gathered my spindle and hearth from this downed Cottonwood, all I had to do was break them off by hand.

Then did some very, very grude knapping to get this edge on what I think was flint??

Cut my spindle to length

abraided the ends with another stone

Some how I didnt get a picture of the hearth, but it had some dry checking cracks in it, I used that for my notch.

Cutting my bow, this took some time, but was easier then I thought it would be.

All ready to go:

I had to play with the spindle a bit to get it to work right, scraping it until it would work with the bow.

Here's the whole set up, cottonwood hearth, cottonwood spindle, cottonwood bark bearing block, and the bow was some small sapling.

And the coal, after a little farting around with the spindle. The crack worked like a charm for the notch!

(sorry no video, as I knew it would take me forever and I really didn't want to mess with the video camera)

Thanks for the grea challenge Terry! I do believe I will try it again soon, but using something other then wood. Like Mullen or hemp stalk.

 

[IA Woodsman]

Good job boys. I mentioned this in the original thread at BCUSA, Rick Marchland is the one who challenged me on this. He has a great technique for this skill set.

 

[tonym]

Great stuff guys!! I never attempted a no knife bow drill, but it's definately on my lists.

Thanks for your posts!!

 

[The Warrior]

Good stuff.

 

[Rick Marchand]

Good job boys. I mentioned this in the original thread at BCUSA, Rick Marchland is the one who challenged me on this. He has a great technique for this skill set.

Thanks bud... great idea for a contest. It gets folks to step out of their comfort zone.

Now, I'll have to post up pics of doing it with found natural cordage... then you'll be totally primitive. You guys with flint in your area have it easy, man... lol.


Rick

 

[jcl-MD]

awesome job man im truly impressed! we got a ton of mullien up on the volcano...its just tough finding a hearthboard.

Try useing the mullien in a 2 strck hearthboard metod. Mullien for spindle and hearth!!

Thanks bud... great idea for a contest. It gets folks to step out of their comfort zone.







Now, I'll have to post up pics of doing it with found natural cordage... then you'll be totally primitive. You guys with flint in your area have it easy, man... lol.


Rick

Ha !! There is no flint that I know of in my area!!! I used flint because I could!!! I am doing one with knaped glass which is everywere!!( Not sure if that is OK in the challange or not?? ) Also doing one with done FUN STUFF!!

THANKS!!

 

[IA Woodsman]

Thanks bud... great idea for a contest. It gets folks to step out of their comfort zone.

Now, I'll have to post up pics of doing it with found natural cordage... then you'll be totally primitive. You guys with flint in your area have it easy, man... lol.
Rick

If I have to go all of the way primitive I would go with a hand drill. I got out today and did a coal with materials I gathered on site. I did use some steel, but it was minimal. The hearth board is Basswood and the spindle is a weed(aster????).

 

[SaturatedShadow]

A very good reminder that skills are more important than equipment

 

[skab8541]

Well I gave it another go today, but this time around I used bone and Mullen, but the same gathered Cottonwood hearth and bow.

The bone, I'm pretty sure it's a turkey bone, but not 100%, found it just off the trail.

Broke it with the same hammer stone I used on the other attempt.

Mullen stalk prepped this far by hand

Worked my way around with the bone, once I got to the pith I just broke it

Almost looks sawed, But I guess it kind of was.

Then smoothed out the spindle by scraping with the bone

Drilled a hole for the spindle

Burned it in,

Cut the notch this time using the bone, kind sawing it. That really tore this turkey bone up! Should have notched the bone with a rock to act more as a saw, but then again I didnt have the stone to use!

And went to town,

After the 2nd try got a coal, but it was hard to photograph as it's windy as all get out and I didnt want to lose it, you'll have to trust me that's a coal.

I have to say that this is almost harder then just busting out a hand drill coal with that mullen stock!

 

[bindlestitch]

Great stuff, guys.
Iz

 

[jcl-MD]

If I have to go all of the way primitive I would go with a hand drill. I got out today and did a coal with materials I gathered on site. I did use some steel, but it was minimal. The hearth board is Basswood and the spindle is a weed(aster????).

Is it me or does Iz,s blade look like some poisonous snake!!

Well I gave it another go today, but this time around I used bone and Mullen, but the same gathered Cottonwood hearth and bow.

The bone, I'm pretty sure it's a turkey bone, but not 100%, found it just off the trail.

Broke it with the same hammer stone I used on the other attempt.

Mullen stalk prepped this far by hand

Worked my way around with the bone, once I got to the pith I just broke it

Almost looks sawed, But I guess it kind of was.

Then smoothed out the spindle by scraping with the bone

Drilled a hole for the spindle

Burned it in,

Cut the notch this time using the bone, kind sawing it. That really tore this turkey bone up! Should have notched the bone with a rock to act more as a saw, but then again I didnt have the stone to use!

And went to town,

After the 2nd try got a coal, but it was hard to photograph as it's windy as all get out and I didnt want to lose it, you'll have to trust me that's a coal.

I have to say that this is almost harder then just busting out a hand drill coal with that mullen stock!

That kicked @$$ skab!!

Great stuff, guys.
Iz

Iz I know you can bust this out!!!

 

[Mistwalker]

That's pretty awesome guys. This is something I've played around with here and there but not really seriously went to it. I know I can...so I guess I need to prove it to myself. Maybe after monsoon season passes...

 

[j williams]

Great show of skills......you guys impress the hell out of me.

 

[Ferrousknight]

awesome job man im truly impressed! we got a ton of mullien up on the volcano...its just tough finding a hearthboard.

Try using mullein as the hearthboard. Find a mullein stalk that is very thick and somewhat woody at the base and split it lengthwise. Use a more narrow mullein stalk as the drill. That was my first hand drill coal.

If I had to do something like this, almost no way I'd go with a bow drill when it's much more effort to make than hand drill.

 

[kgd]

Excellent work guys. That took some dedication and time to do. Much appreciated sharing your experiences. I'd like to try this some time!

As Rick points out, it is great to try and get out of your comfort zone sometimes. I never quite know what that really means, because there are a lot of variables to being in the comfort zone. For example, I'm not sure which I feel more insecure about.....Whether or not I get to use modern tools or whether or not I have some fore knowledge of the bush/forest I'm in. As I was recently walking an unfamiliar landscape while on a business trip this weekend (had a couple hours to spare), I found myself looking at sets of trees that were unsuitable for friction fire. I think what worried me the most is that I didn't know what was around the bend and around the corner...More of the same, something different? Even though I had a decent knife and a fire kit I couldn't help but wonder if I would be able to find the right wood and tinder in this foreign environment. Clearly, not having the tools with me would make it that much worse. But if push comes to shove, I think I'd be more happy with a basic stoned edge, my shoelaces in my favorite forest than I would with a good knife in a foreign landscape.

Not trying to distract from the thread, which I think is excellent. Just submitting some of my random thoughts for the moment (while I sit in my comfort zone with a drink in hand). Thanks for the great pictures and sharing your awesome experience! Like I say......I'll have to try that sometime and you guys already demonstrated it!

 

[jcl-MD]

This is my knapped glass GO!!

Find Glass


Knapped glass bow drill 001 by jclservices, on Flickr

Bust it up.


Knapped glass bow drill 002 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 003 by jclservices, on Flickr

Start knapping.


Knapped glass bow drill 004 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 005 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 006 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 007 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 008 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 009 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 010 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 011 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 012 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 013 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 014 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 015 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 016 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 017 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 018 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 019 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 021 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 023 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 025 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 026 by jclservices, on Flickr


Knapped glass bow drill 027 by jclservices, on Flickr

This make me really love my knives!!!!

THANKS!!