Bowdrill - first attempt

[novembeRain]

had my first go at this today, I stopped pretty quick as it was more of a trial run than anything.

I started off by cutting a chunk of birch, about 4"dia and 5"long which I split about a third off for the hearth. I cut a notch at the edge of this and a notch right in the middle of the other part for the bearing block.

Then, I cut a drill from birch too, about as thick as my thumb (a bit under an inch), 7" long and whittled both ends to a bluntish point and de-barked the middle 3" or so leaving it rough for the string to grip.

The bow was a birch sappling about 10mm dia and about 2/3 the length of my arm.

After messing about with the tension I eventually got the drill spinning well and after about 10 strokes I had smoke and brown dust falling out of the notch, a little while later I had lots of smoke and darker dust. The way it was going, I'm sure I could've got an ember but I'd learnt enough for today.

so, although they say the drill needs to be softer, it seems to work with all birch parts. Hopefully I'll prove the point next time.

Anyone see anything I did wrong (apart from materials)?

[dwardo]

All good never tried birch so let us know how it goes. I have tried a few woods and have allways used the same wood for both hearth and drill.
My old CDT teacher used to say 2 materials of the same type will create more friction that materials of differing types.

[andywinkk]

Ye you didnt carry on and get an ember lol, i think you should try what you want i did it yesterday with bits of wood i found in the factory a bit of pallet wood and dowell,
no rules trial and eror,

keep it up it took me years of trying willow on willow for me

[bushyboo]

Hi
Ive been trying for what seems like ages to get an ember but finaly got one today
had been trying with willow but changed to sycamore and that certainly done the trick
i also found that blowing on the dust to make the ember bigger worked better when it was still in the notch , as every other time ive tryed it out of the notch it just when out

so what does everyone else do ? in the notch or out ?

cheers
Gordon

[andywinkk]

Hi
Ive been trying for what seems like ages to get an ember but finaly got one today
had been trying with willow but changed to sycamore and that certainly done the trick
i also found that blowing on the dust to make the ember bigger worked better when it was still in the notch , as every other time ive tryed it out of the notch it just when out

so what does everyone else do ? in the notch or out ?

cheers
Gordon

This is what i mean sycamore wouldnt work for me and willow didnt work for you, so try what ever you like and it might just work

[clownman]

has anyone ever tried using buddleia? I tried making a hand drill into a pine hearth board with no luck, though i dont think i have the righ technique as it was my first ever attempt. I know i have a few other types of wood in the garage (Oak, Beech and Mahogany) that I could use as hearth boards… what drills would be best to use with them?

[loz.]

Hi
Ive been trying for what seems like ages to get an ember but finaly got one today
had been trying with willow but changed to sycamore and that certainly done the trick
i also found that blowing on the dust to make the ember bigger worked better when it was still in the notch , as every other time ive tryed it out of the notch it just when out

so what does everyone else do ? in the notch or out ?

cheers
Gordon

I leave it to settle down itself for maybe 10 seconds - the dust then seems to gel together to make an ember, a few waves of the hand for a little airflow - then pop it out of the notch, onto my collector that was sited under the notch while bowing.

Loz

[bushcraftbob]

I havent tried Birch yet will have to gather some and give it a go.

My fave combo so far is hazel on lime, i found hazel on hazel and hazel on willow tricky until i used a smaller diameter drill where i found the embers easier to make.

I tend to leave the ember in the notch for a few seconds, give it a good waft with the fingers and then remove from the notch.

[John Fenna]

Hazel on Ivy is my current favourite - lots more to try though!

[bushcraftbob]

I've been looking for Ivy but the only Ivy i can find is Ivy that is still living, spiralling up a tree. Is dead standing Ivy hard to come by?

[gregorach]

has anyone ever tried using buddleia? I tried making a hand drill into a pine hearth board with no luck, though i dont think i have the righ technique as it was my first ever attempt. I know i have a few other types of wood in the garage (Oak, Beech and Mahogany) that I could use as hearth boards… what drills would be best to use with them?

Hand drill is blummin' hard. I hear buddleia works well as a spindle for it though.

Very dense hardwoods such as oak, beech and mahogany probably aren't ideal - the density of the wood conducts heat away from the drill tip. Not saying they won't work at all, but probably not the easiest, especially for hand drill.