Well I was closer than ever to getting a bowdrill fire going yesterday, I actually got an ember..but the wind was sick and was blowing my tinder everywhere..and that coal was oh so tiny....I was wondering if you can use the same hole several times or do you need to start a new one before each fire, also should you scrape the surface of the hole, and the spindle after each attempt? it would seem the frinction smoothe the both out and reduces friction...Thanks.
Congratulations, Mr. Fire Making Riley. Getting your first coal is a major deal. It is, certainly, #1 highlight of this thing we do. (That make sense? I just got up.)
First of all, in reference to your 'tiny' coal, use a 'coal enhancer' such as True Tinder fungus (Inonotus obliquus), False Tinder fungus (Fomes fomentarius) or plain old punky wood. (Note, not all punky wood works, you have to experiment). This allows you to increase the size of your coal and also makes it less fragile. If you drop your coal while transferring it to the tinder bundle, it will probably fall apart - the enhancers won't. (This is assuming you're not placing your tinder bundle under the hearth.)
You're correct in regards to reducing friction with a previously used hole and drill. A lot of survival books advise you to carve off the end of the drill to get to fresh wood. The problem with doing this is you are usually left with a bunch of small facets on the drill. These facets have to be worn off before the friction maximizes. Rather use a piece of rough stone, sandstone is ideal, but just about anything will work, and 'sand' off the burnt surface while closely maintaining the original shape of the drill tip. Do the same with the hearth.
As far as using sand, as kvaughan suggests, I've tried that a few times but found that the drill pushes the sand out before it does any real good. That's just my experience, though. Certainly worth trying.
The foregoing, not withstanding, and depending on the type of wood you're using, a lot of times you can 'burn' your way through the burnt surfaces but you have to put a bit of beef into it. This is faster than 'sanding' off the surfaces.
If there is enough board thickness left, you can reuse that hole, but before starting again, widen the top of the hole so your drill does not 'socket'. What I mean by this is, as the drill works its way through the board, more and more of the
side of the drill is rubbing on the hearth, therefore dissipating the friction you are creating, over a larger area. The result is you have to work much harder to get the coal, if you get it at all.
I think this answers your questions. I'll check back after work when I'm more wide awake.
Doc
