Newbie bow drill woes
It's getting cold here and after trapesing through the woods and coming up empty handed on bushytails I got the bright idea of trying my hand at making a fire with a bow drill. Plus, I found some old hornet nests and tinder fungus on the hunt.
The cold weather, tinder, and the video that was posted here of the guy, who's name escapes me, trying to start a fire with what's at hand got me thinking.
So, with the wheels a turnin' I cut a small 1/2" ash sapling, grabbed a wrist sized peice of well seasoned fallen oak branch and grabbed some 3/8 to 3/4" dead, but not punky branches of ash or possibly box elder and a dry mullein stalk. I figured this would make a good first effort at primitive fire using what was immediately available.
When I got home I split the oak branch in two, about 1-1/2" thick, for a fire board, tied a tennis shoe lace onto the ash sapling for a bow, and wittled the 3/8" dead ash branch into a foot long spindle. I figured I'd cheat a little and use a concave bottomed wine bottle for a bearing block/ handhold.
The spindle wasn't perfectly straight, the ash sapling bow was flimsy, the shoelace was thin and weak, the bottle was awkward to use, and the oak was, well oak, very hard to work. It was difficult starting a hole, splitting, etc. But, I had everything I needed to make fire, or so I thought, all layed out in front of me on a piece of fiberboard to protect the living room carpet.
The thin spindle broke, the mullein stalk collapsed, the bowstring broke, and trying to hold the bottle as a bearing block was a real pain. It was very awkward to hold and couldn't be braced against my shin like I see people do in the videos. After crafting a thicker, straighter and shorter 5/8" x 8" piece of dead ash for the spindle and twisting the shoelace to make it stronger I finally managed to burn a hole and notch the oak fireboard.
All together I worked on the project 3 or 4 hours. I managed to get a lot of smoke and fine brown/ black grind from the oak but no ember. Right about the time I thought I'd get an ember the shoelace would start slipping on the spindle. Eventually, my bow broke!
At this point I was beat, but felt I learned a few lessons from the experiment.
1) I hear people say mullein and cattail stalks make good spindles, I'm not so sure that's the case. They seem awful thin, flimsy and pithy to me. They are very straight though so maybe there's a trick. I don't know! for now I'll stick to wood like ash because it is abundant and very straight.
The spindle slips much less if it's thicker and seems to build up a grind and smoke quicker even though it's spinning slower than a thin one.
Also, the spindle can become a deadly projectile if it slips out of the bow. I would almost bet if it's your first attempt it will slip. Don't poke your eye out.
2) Oak is not the best material for a fireboard. It takes a lot of work to fashion into shape and must take an extreme amount of heat to ignite an ember/ make a coal. I hear people say it works and with practice is a good material, but not for me.
I think the fireboard was too thick as well and maybe kept the grinds from being able to build up and produce an ember.
3) Shoelaces are not ideal bowstrings. For one, they are too thin and slip on the spindle. Mine frayed almost immediately and broke twice before I spun it. After spinning to put a twist it lasted a long time, but eventually broke.
If you're in a survival situation you'd probably be best off twisting and overlapping it if possible. Or you'll be walking around the woods without fire and without a shoelace. Kinda like putting yourself up sheets creek and throwing away the paddle.
4) Something small about the size of your fist is probably best for a bearing block. I suppose if I broke the bottom out of the wine bottle and glued it to a bearing block it'd make a great socket, but the bottle is just too big and awkward to be functional.
5) A bow should be very sturdy with a slight bend built into it. Finding thick, live branches with a slight bend around here is real easy. It should not bend easy or else it will just continue to weaken and the string will slip and eventually the bow will break.
I think any material will work as long as it's at least as long as your forearm, very sturdy and has a slight bend.
So, after all that learning?, today I went to the shed and got some thicker, 1/4" or so, braided nylon rope, seasoned cottonwood log for fireboard and a 1" thick cherry bow. I'm now using the oak fireboard as my bearing block.
I got the bow strung, split the cottonwood fireboard down to 1/2 to 1" thick, started a hole, lubed the bearing block with crisco and continued my quest for fire. LOL! The rope didn't slip or break, the bow didn't bend, the bearing block was comfortable and stable, the cottonwood fireboard burned a hole and started smoking immediately. But, after cutting the notch and going for broke, the cottonwood fireboard split apart at the notch. It might be too punky! We'll see.
I figured I'd give my arms and legs a break and type this, now I'm going back to the carpet to try again.
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Originally Posted by your_comforting_company
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