FIRE! And the Bow Drill

[Dee]

I have seen this fire making method all my life on the movie and tv screen, and yes I was a Boy Scout, but no, they didn't teach it in my troop. I was the expert there in makin fire, even as a kid, but only in preparation with a one match used fire. I guess I have a little of the pyro gene in my ancestry.
But seriously. I have been interested in my Cherokee Culture ever since I was able to understand that I was Cherokee. My father on the other hand, although full blood, was into slick cars, air conditioning, and being a workaholic.
Well I have fooled with this bow drill concept for years, off and on, and could make the smoke but that was all, and I never put any real effort into it, until about 2 weeks ago. I started watchin youtube demos until I dreamed about them, and they all were pretty much the same UNTIL. I had just about decided that it was not meant to be. Then I decided to watch one more, and once again this smart ass youngster came on the screen that was about the same age as my youngest son, and he immediately announced that he was an instructor for some primitive skills school. Oh brother, here we go again.
He started the lesson by telling me what I already knew about different woods, spindles, hearths, ect, you know the drill but then! He made a comment that no one in the DOZENS of videos ever made. How to test the hearth wood for correctness in texture.  WOW!:o Nobody ever done that before, let's pay attention.
Willow is best for the hearth, and if its dead enough, and just right, you should be able to easily score it with you thumb nail. It's just that simple, along with a slightly bigger V-notch cut into your hearth board.
So! To the creek I went with the saw, found a dead limb about 2" thick and cut it. Got back to my shop, split it with my tomahawk and shaved it flat with same tool. Got my cedar spindle, my leather stringed bow, and after gettin a hole started, and cuttin the V-notch had fire in under a minute. My my, just one little comment turned a frustrating endeavor into a success.
Now it's on to flint and steal. Think that's gonna be easier though.

[Almtnman]

Very interesting info Dee, I haven't ever tried that myself. I think that I'll just stick with a small bottle of Purell hand cleaner and a match for getting my fire going. 

[Dee]

Almtnman, I have carried a Zippo most of my life, and quit smokin about 25 years ago. Folks ask me why, if they see the lighter, and I tell them, I've always been a boy scout. Most don't get the "be prepared" connection. I also am never without a good knife whether it's a sheath, or a Case trapper, or most of the time both if I'm woods runnin.
I also carry a fanny pack with Vaselined cotton balls in a sample bottle, cordage, a small (about 2 1/2") magnifying glass in my small first aid kit, book matches and a magnesium fire starter. Now, I will put in a bow drill kit, and if I conquer the flint and steel, (and I will), I will carry it also. OPTIONS Almtnman!
A few years ago, I found out just how handy and useful a well balanced quality carbon steel tomahawk was. Easy carryin, and handy. I keep mine "shavin sharp".

[Almtnman]

I don't have a tomahawk, but always wanted one. I did find a roofer's hatchet without handle at a yard sale, bought it for 50 cents. Got it home cleaned it up as it had a little rust on it and found that it was an old Craftsman hatchet. Bought a new handle for it and spent about an hour or two fitting the handle just right. I sharpened it and it has an edge like a razor and sort of resembles a tomahawk. I need to have a leather sheath to hold it in so I can carry it on my belt when out in the woods. It sure comes in handy for doing many different types of chores.

You need to add one of those little bottles of alcohol base hand cleaner to your kit, they make excellent fire starters. Just pour a small amount out in a depression and light it. You can even heat up a can of soup or a cup of coffee with some poured out where it will stay in place in a few minutes.

[Dee]

Instead of the alcohol, I opted for a newspaper rolled up as tight as possible to about a 1 1/4" rod. Then I wrap it in thread about every 2 inches, and saw them into sections. Next I drop them into really hot canning paraffin. It will fry like bacon. Then just take them out with tongs and lay them out on a board and let them cool and dry. They are as hard as a rock, and won't melt in your pack. When you need a small fire for heating soup or water, just peel about an inch back, and light it. The small roll will burn about 10 to 15 minutes, ANYWHERE. Also good for lightin fires in wet weather. They weigh almost nothing.

[blind ear]

Dee, by the time I got to the willow hearth I gave up. Thanks. Does your tomahawk have a brand. I always have a hand ax or hatchet handy, My little car has a tool box, folding limb saw, butcher knife, hatchet, grill grate, tow strap, 2lb shop hamer, etc. Doesn't do much for gas milage but I always seem to need something I have in the trunk. (Boys never outgrow thier toys  ) eddiegjt

[Dee]

Cold Steel "Frontier Hawk". The head will slip off the handle end and can be used for everything from skinning an animal to cooking. It will take a shaving sharp edge, and is so well balanced it can be thrown and buried in to a tree trunk with little effort at all.
I don't sharpen mine with a file, I sharpen it with a stone and knife edge polishing wheel. One of the most useful tools for woodsing I have ever had. Instead of carrying a saw deer hunting I use it to cut the pelvis when field dressing ect. It would also made a dandy weapon by the way, provided you have the stomach for such.

[S.S.]

a tiny pinch of sand increases the friction in a fire drill.
also, use a much harder wood for the drill.

[Dee]

I got it down now. I can get a fire in less than a minute every time. I use a cedar drill, and either dead willow or some kind of poplar tree like cottonwood or sycamore.

[snapcrackpop]

Great! Now you can make your own youtube video so I can learn! 

[Dee]

Nuthin to it once you get the concept.

[pab1]

Good info Dee! If your using char cloth, the flint and steel will be a snap.

[Dee]

Char cloth isn't the problem, I just have located the right carbon steel for a striker. I eventually will stumble over it though.

[myronman3]

how about the back of that tomahawk? 

[Siskiyou]

When in the survival mode using flint and steel I like bark from an old cedar tree.  A piece of it can be broken down into hair like fibers.  In the dense Pacific Coast forest these trees can be found scatter among the firs.  Dead lower limbs will provide the next layer of fuel in the combustion ladder.

I first used flint and steel at a scout meeting in the church basement.  Fuel was fine steel wool.

During the same period my best buddies and I practice the bow and string method in the family garden area.  We had some success but we did not have Dee there to tell us the trick.  There was a willow jungle about a mile from the house with all the right fuel and we did not know it.

I now I find out the Indians get their tricks from YouTube.  Like the rest of us my Indian buddies did not have YouTube in 1955.  There might have a reason the willow jungle was on their farm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuja_plicata

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callitropsis_nootkatensis

A couple of items we did have were a good supply of large broken files, and Obsidian.  We made knifes out of the files, sheaths out of the tops of old leather boots, and our pet rock was Obsidian.  That was our flint and steel.

[Dee]

Well I have got the bow drill down. I can have fire inunder a minute everytime. I'm still lookin for a good striker on the flint & steel though. I guess I'll have to order one.

[The Hermit]

Dee, try a piece of file for your steel. I have also used the back of my axe (opposite from the cutting edge) to get a good shower of sparks. I also admit to carrying magnesium, a magnifying glass, BIC lighters, etc.
I'm now going back and retry the bow drill. Thanks for peaking my interest again.


   The Hermit

[mechanic]

Dee,

Take an old file, mount it in a vise and break it off, leaving about 2" of file, and the tang.  Heat he tank a little and shape it so it will curl around your little finger, leaving the steel in your hand flat.  Now you just need some flint.

Ben

[Dee]

That's a good idea mechanic. Reckon an old horse hoof rasp would work, I got one of them?

[mechanic]

That's a good idea mechanic. Reckon an old horse hoof rasp would work, I got one of them?

Probably better than the file.

If you want, I can forge you a stiker from high tensile, but to be honest, the file works better.  It just doesn't look right to reinactors.  At one time I sold a lot of the strikers.  If you want one for free, just let me know and give me a week or two until I have time to fire the forge.

Ben

[Dee]

Wow that would be fantastic. Let me know when your gonna fire it up, and I'll give you an add. I tried the file thing but all I have is propane. It does throw the sparks but doesn't look like yours.

[blind ear]

MECHANIC, can you do a video?    eddie

[efremtags]

I watched a guy do a hand drill fire (no bow, just the sides of his hand) about 30 times during a festival some years back. He taught at a local native american museum. He made it look SOOO easy.

the key is materials. Indians did not just pick up a stick they found, they carried fire making materials like we carry matches, so the wood is dry, the right type, and ready to use.

he told us willow branches or mullen plant stems make the best rod materials, and white cedar planks make the best friction block materials. Tinder can be any good material (fragmites tops, shredded straw or wool, shredded birch bark etc).

I can't do it by hand becasuse I don't have the Calluses on my hands, but with a simple bow, I was able to make a fire in like 30 seconds. I keep a cedar plank, a leather shoestring and a mullen branch in my car with my matches for emergencies.   

[mechanic]

MECHANIC, can you do a video?    eddie

I don't have a video camera, but I bet if you google it, you will find someone has already made one.  Check the ABANA website, it's a blacksmith's association that has several demos available.

Ben

[blind ear]

Mullen: is that the none native plant also known as Joseph's Staff? What I have seen of that doesn't seem that it would hold up to the job. Too light and flimsey, but I havent tried it. eddiegjr

[srussell]

Well I have got the bow drill down. I can have fire inunder a minute everytime. I'm still lookin for a good striker on the flint & steel though. I guess I'll have to order one.

use a old file heat it to soften it shape it  the way you want then retemper it

[briarpatch]

Im going to have to look at Dee's material. I have had the thing smoking like a cigar in a stunt mans butt and didnot get a good coal.
I will try willow and cedar and see if I can get it to work.