Main Discussion Area > Primitive Skills
Friction Fire
bubby:
I figured I'd give it a shot its not a real hard wood
Forest_Farmer:
At this years Elm Hall Event, Tony "Nakedfeet" did a great job of teaching several us us how to use the bow drill and hand drill methods.
He had a bow drill kit made with a basswood hearth board and spindle. We also found the shredded inner bark from white cedar to be great tinder. We had about seven in our group, and everyone was successful and making a fire. We also made several fires using a mullein spindle hand drill, with a basswood hearth board.
After the Elm Hall event, I traveled to the UP of Michigan and made a bow drill set out of a dead white cedar log. Both the spindle and hearth board were split and carved out of the same log and it worked great. I've attached pic of that set. I have now also successfully made a set from red cedar and taught my 14 boy scout nephew how to make a friction fire.
I'm still a novice at this, but It seems like the key besides having dry soft wood for the hearth and spindle, is to not apply too much pressure in the first part of the "drilling" sequence. Wait until you have a good bit of powder built up in the hearth board notch. It seems like the powder needs to be in contact with the hot spindle face in order to make an ember.
Also, if the wood is too hard it will smoke a lot and produce a burnt black powder, as opposed to a toasted brown powder. The black powder seems to be already burnt so it will not carry an ember well.
Hope this helps.
Ed
Scallorn:
Awesome! It's always so fulfilling to make fire with friction like that with equipment that you made yourself. Way to go man! The set looks really good too.
Forest_Farmer:
After dinner tonight I had to use my set and show off for my wife. I was able to make an ember in about 40 seconds and quickly blow the tinder bundle into flame. It's a cheep way to entertain myself, lol.
I saw a you tube video of a guy that made a point to always build a new bow drill set every time he made a fire, then burn the set in the fire he built. This would force himself to get better at not only making friction fires , but also finding the correct materials in many different locations and conditions.
I will start to do the same in order to test myself, but I will keep that kit shown above to do demos at my home in suburbia. The neighbors will think it's magic, lol.
Scallorn:
Yep, I completely agree. I always burn my sets for that reason. I'm pretty much able to make a friction fire in any conditions my area can dish out.
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