Bow drill fire

**rwc1969** · 09-07-2010, 03:52 PM

Well YCC, Atumn olive does work as a fire bow, spindle and fireboard. Made my first fire by friction and wanted to share it here first as it was YCC that inspired me to do this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9Z9RZOr_1E

**your_comforting_company** · 09-07-2010, 04:06 PM

That is really great RWC! Good job on the video and the fire!
I'm glad to know that an invasive plant can be used to our advantage. Practice with it often and burn it as much as you can!

I noticed your frustrations with the different components, and in my learning struggle with friction fire, I went through the same ropes.. one thing then another, till finally one day, poof! and it all made sense.

If I might make a suggestion or two, The burn in looked good, Once you have a good seat, put your notch in and put a "platform" under the notch. A piece of paper, or a dead leaf or something of the like, so that your ember won't fall out in transfer. I usually kick the ember on out of the notch and pour the whole pile of dust into my tindle. The second hole (first one used in video) I think would have worked if the notch had been in.. you were getting some nice black dust!

I do think that your bow might have been too flexible, having a little "give" when the spindle wanted to lock up. I think with a stiffer bow, you wouldn't have had the problem with the spindle. Pop out is common and happens with too much wobble up top, in my experience. Posture needs to be pretty rigid. I often have to spread my legs apart to be stable enough not to wobble. That might help with the popout and lockup. The socket looked to be lubed pretty darn well to me!

Other than the platform and wiggly bow I think you did a really great job. I like the list at the end explaining, and I noticed the wind-chimes in the background (I'm a lover of chimes too). One thing I really appreciated about the video was the attempts that were unsuccessful. Most folks would edit those out, but not us! Failure is just an opportunity to learn, a reason to tweak, a reason to keep trying. I'm glad you left those in there and talked about the adjustments you made. It should help someone in the future to see what it takes to figure out exactly why things aren't going your way.

I'm sure with more practice you will become more proficient in this skill and I can't wait till you start telling us about all the materials you've used successfully. I think you'll find that it really is all in the technique and mechanics, and once you have those become muscle memory, your firestarting will be at command.

The one thing missing from the video... The smile on your face when you made fire

Congratulations RWC. Great job all around!

**rwc1969** · 09-07-2010, 11:31 PM

THanks YCC, I was smilin' and the wind chimes gave me the calm needed. hahaha!

The main thing I noticed, by watching the video, was the difficulty keeping the bow on an even plane and not wobbling it.

I appreciate the review and tips. What length bow do you prefer? Long, short?

**your_comforting_company** · 09-08-2010, 07:22 AM

I have two bows. One long enough to use as a walking stick and one that's only a little over 2 feet. I prefer the long one because I can get a longer stroke with each pass. That equals more spin and pressure per pass, and less cooling time. Both are yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipfera), a very rigid, hardwood.

That said, I can get an ember just as quickly with the shorter bow. The main thing is it being stiff enough not to flex. The downward pressure is what is going to cause your spindle to lock up and it's up to the bow to have enough "grip" to keep it spinning relative to the amount of pressure you apply. The more pressure you need to use, the tighter the string needs to be and the stiffer the bow.

I've come across a few materials in my experiments that needed a double wrap around the spindle in order to get sufficient grip. In contrast a string that is too tight will cause pop-out because of the diagonal tension on the spindle. As with most all things in nature, there must be a balance

Just to clarify for any friction fire neophytes that might be reading: A fire bow is not at all like an arrow-shooting bow.

**rwc1969** · 09-08-2010, 12:37 PM

Thanks! I had a hard time keeping the bow level and keep it from hitting the ground. That's why I asked. But, it did seem to help having the longer strokes between changing directions.