Success, a big thanks to TonyM, and a 56k warning!

[FortyTwoBlades]

So I finally got the time today to give the whole bow-drill thing a go, and thanks to the excellent white cedar hearth board and spindle that tonym was generous to send me, things went great! Actions speak louder than words, however, so here come the pics!

The excellent aforementioned board and spindle.

After only about a minute of minimal effort I had produced a nice solid coal! It was all I could do not to jump around with excitement.

I then deposited the coal into a bundle of dry pine needles and blew on it like nobody's business! This was the result.

I had prepared a lot of matchstick kindling ahead of time, and it caught quickly.

After adding a few slightly larger pieces it was burning pretty well under its own power. And who's that funny-lookin' guy, anyway?

Now to transfer the fire. I would have built it on the shovel in the first place, but it was damp from being outside.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Building the fire back up again after the moisture on the shovel knocked things down a bit.

My RAT Cutlery Izula did all the batoning during the entire process. It's a real champ!

Another transition--but now into a large bucket. Time to work on heating some water!

Heating water for tea in my GSI cup!

It got hot pretty quickly! In went the tea bag!

And victory at last!

Thanks again, tonym! Wouldn't have been able to do it without ya! My next project is to find some suitable local wood to make my own board/spindle assembly.

 

[SpookyPistolero]

Cool man! Good stuff, bet that felt awesome. :thumbup: :thumbup:

That Tony guy is a friendly weirdo indeed.

 

[Diomedes Industries]

Dude that is Bad assed. Good work. The reality is, though, that your practicing on crappy wood, probably made your form better!

TF

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Cool man! Good stuff, bet that felt awesome. :thumbup: :thumbup:

That Tony guy is a friendly weirdo indeed.

Making fire the primitive way was a real rush! Can't wait to do it some more!

Dude that is Bad assed. Good work. The reality is, though, that your practicing on crappy wood, probably made your form better!

TF

That's probably true! And I forgot to thank you for the excellent videos you posted previously! They were a big help!

Edit to add:A trick I found is that spit works quite well for lubricating the bearing block. Whenever it started squeaking I would stop just long enough to re-wet it and things went super smooth!

 

[tonym]

Congtats man I am glad it worked for you. I think TF is absolutely right about the practice.

I recognize that big fat cheesy grin; 10 of us were sporting it at the WLC when we got our first bow drill fire!!!

 

[BarberFobic1992]

it is definatly a fun way to start a fire. i try to fo it about once a week, just for the practice.

 

[Big Mike]

Cool man!

That Tony guy is a friendly weirdo indeed.

:thumbup: :thumbup:

My kind of weirdo. :thumbup:

 

[raylaconico]

One of these days I'll have to try this. Good job!

 

[Rockywolf]

Awesome. Tony is a class act. Congrats on the fire!

 

[KuRUpTD]

Yeah man that's gotta be a great feeling ... congratulations !

 

[RescueRiley]

Congrads Bro That's freakin awesome.

 

[tknife]

Right on man. Doesn't it make you feel like Tom Hanks in Castaway?

 

[Masteroffajitas]

Sweet, what canteen did that stove go to? Not a USA canteen right?

 

[CUTS LIKE A KRIS]

I hope that I can follow this spring, I think my legs are good enough to handle being bent down, and I think I have the right supplies to try. That smile is enough to see what kind of task it was- did your neighbors see you (I wonder what mine will think?).
Congrats

 

[PB Wilson]

Edit to add:A trick I found is that spit works quite well for lubricating the bearing block. Whenever it started squeaking I would stop just long enough to re-wet it and things went super smooth!

I've had success using "nose grease" to stop the squeaking. I just rub the non-fire making end of the spindle on the side of my nose. Works like a charm.

Congrats on the success you had! It's a great feeling, huh?

 

[Loosearrow]

Congrats on your success! Nice use of the shovel, should have made some hoe cakes or fried and egg! Nice pics.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Sweet, what canteen did that stove go to? Not a USA canteen right?

Stove? Canteen? The cup is a GSI Glacier I got from TwoWolvesOutdoor to fit on the bottom of my guyot stainless bottle. The large tub I had the fire in is an ash container for the wood stove, though I think it was intended as some kind of rustic planter pot thingy.

That smile is enough to see what kind of task it was- did your neighbors see you (I wonder what mine will think?).
Congrats

I don't think that the neighbors saw, but maybe they will today. My father-in-law is planning on burning a big pile of pine boughs and branches that were knocked down when we had the winter ice storm, and I hope to start that up with the bow drill too!

Thanks for the kind words, all!

 

[Diomedes Industries]

CutslikeaKris.

Don't bother with bending over like that. When I am feeling lazy - I simply do a bow drill fire on a large stool or the bench of a Picnic Table. It works JUST as well - in fact - I can see the coal a little better.

42Blades: I am glad you got something from the vids. There should be a tattoo we all get when we get fire from friction. It is that bad assed in my opinion.

RayLoconico: How about this - I send you wood - make a custom set for you and send you literature and videos on the process - you get fire and trade me one of your BAD ASSED knives for it!

I am hoping the Jedi Mind tricks works on that last one!

TF

 

[Jason B.]

What a good thread for learning Bow and drill? I tried a few times last year but I think I was using the wrong wood.