- Joined
- Feb 28, 2007
- Messages
- 9,786
I know its a little redundant. I post lots and lots of bowdrill pics all over the place. Mainly because it is such a fun thing to do. Far more fun than carving a spoon (for me) and a really good workout of your knife skills. I really enjoy the ESEE-3 for its size and nimbleness to accomplish this type of task. Yes, you can do it with the 6 or any other ESEE blade, but the RC-3 really shines here. That small blade length means easier drilling and more precise carving. Its thinner edge bites the wood better making for easier notches.
Plus, I decided to make a new head piece using a rock I found in around the landscaping of my work building. It fit my hand nicely and I used a dremel with a pointed grind stone attachment to drill out a divot. The grind stone ensures a smooth divot and it produces little friction without the 'burn-in' that wood head pieces suffer from.
Some cheating here. I pre-gathered my wood. This was a deadfall eastern cotton wood tree. I gathered a bunch of wood from it this weekend on my hike. The bow was pre-made from a piece of oak and the string a piece of paracord.
My intention was to make the hearth and drill (or spindle) out of the same piece of cottonwood. This is my preference. You can mix woods, but I almost always have the best luck when the two pieces come from the same piece of wood. So using the RC-3, I first baton it in two.
There was a natural split in the wood and it split a bit uneven.
The thinner piece was still thick enough to use as a hearth, so I opted to carve my drill out of the larger of the two pieces. This takes a little while, usually about 5 or 8 minutes or so depending on how much shaping you have to do. What you want is a drill a little bigger than your thumb in thickness. You want your drill to be nice and straight (no bends) and round in shape, but not perfectly round. More like octangonal, with some flats in it so that the string has edges to grab onto.
Then using the tip of your knife, drill a starter divot in the hearth. I also like to shave off a flat spot underneath the hearth so it sits flatter to the ground.
I wish I could have other people take shots of the posture, because that is important. Also the way in which you string your drill up to the bow is very easy to do, but it helps to see it done in video. You want your string nice and tight on the drill.
After bowing with moderate downward pressure on the headpiece you will soon start to see smoke. That new stone headpiece is working perfect btw! This is the burn-in stage. Once you've enlarged the hole in the hearth to the size of your drill it is time to notch it.
I prefer a small knife for notching and for me the RC-3 is just the ticket. Handle ergos are comfortable and that blade is just so easy to control and sharp as the dickens. Now, it is easier to notch with a SAK saw, but remember that your bow drill wood is soft so a knife does well in a touch. A small blade like the RC-3 does this pretty safely, but I've bitten myself a couple of times with larger knives on this step. So be careful, this is the most injury prone step.
I indicated earlier that I shave the back part of the hearth flat so it sits on the ground. Usually there is a large enough piece from that task to provide a nice little wedge that I place under the notch to catch the coal dust.
Now we are all set to produce the coal.
To be continued...
Plus, I decided to make a new head piece using a rock I found in around the landscaping of my work building. It fit my hand nicely and I used a dremel with a pointed grind stone attachment to drill out a divot. The grind stone ensures a smooth divot and it produces little friction without the 'burn-in' that wood head pieces suffer from.
Some cheating here. I pre-gathered my wood. This was a deadfall eastern cotton wood tree. I gathered a bunch of wood from it this weekend on my hike. The bow was pre-made from a piece of oak and the string a piece of paracord.
My intention was to make the hearth and drill (or spindle) out of the same piece of cottonwood. This is my preference. You can mix woods, but I almost always have the best luck when the two pieces come from the same piece of wood. So using the RC-3, I first baton it in two.
There was a natural split in the wood and it split a bit uneven.
The thinner piece was still thick enough to use as a hearth, so I opted to carve my drill out of the larger of the two pieces. This takes a little while, usually about 5 or 8 minutes or so depending on how much shaping you have to do. What you want is a drill a little bigger than your thumb in thickness. You want your drill to be nice and straight (no bends) and round in shape, but not perfectly round. More like octangonal, with some flats in it so that the string has edges to grab onto.
Then using the tip of your knife, drill a starter divot in the hearth. I also like to shave off a flat spot underneath the hearth so it sits flatter to the ground.
I wish I could have other people take shots of the posture, because that is important. Also the way in which you string your drill up to the bow is very easy to do, but it helps to see it done in video. You want your string nice and tight on the drill.
After bowing with moderate downward pressure on the headpiece you will soon start to see smoke. That new stone headpiece is working perfect btw! This is the burn-in stage. Once you've enlarged the hole in the hearth to the size of your drill it is time to notch it.
I prefer a small knife for notching and for me the RC-3 is just the ticket. Handle ergos are comfortable and that blade is just so easy to control and sharp as the dickens. Now, it is easier to notch with a SAK saw, but remember that your bow drill wood is soft so a knife does well in a touch. A small blade like the RC-3 does this pretty safely, but I've bitten myself a couple of times with larger knives on this step. So be careful, this is the most injury prone step.
I indicated earlier that I shave the back part of the hearth flat so it sits on the ground. Usually there is a large enough piece from that task to provide a nice little wedge that I place under the notch to catch the coal dust.
Now we are all set to produce the coal.
To be continued...
Last edited:
Caveman style!
As for my Rock head piece. Its the 2nd one I've done and I have to say I like them better then my beef bone which was my favorite even over the moose tine. This thing works as smoothly as a shot glass without making me feel like schmuck when I'm using it 
