Main Discussion Area > Primitive Skills
Friction Fire
stickbender:
Have any of you tried the Egyptian bow drill? It is a short bow, with the string tied to the spindle, and there is excess string, so that it can be wrapped around the spindle, by twisting the spindle, and you use like a regular bow drill, with a sawing motion, but the string is not being rubbed back and forth on the spindle, so not much friction wear on the string.
Wayne
Stringman:
I've seen it, but yet to duplicate it on my own.
Forest_Farmer:
Never seen the Egyptian set up, if someone makes one please post a pic.
I have been working on the hand drill technique, and trying to figure out how to be more consistent. Here are a couple of tips that I discovered, or found while watching youtube videos.
1) if your spindle starts to get burnished on the fiction face, add a very small amount of sand, or ground stone to the divot on the hearth board. This will help you to generate dust much faster, and save your strength. This was a big discovery!! it really helps, especially when damp, or using less than ideal materials. Just don't use too much or you will quickly drill through your hearth board.
2) A good alternative to using pine pitch on the spindle to make it less slippery, is bees wax, or bow makers string wax. I figure most people on this site have some laying around.
These two tips have greatly improved my success rate on making embers with a hand drill. In fact, I have not failed using these tips, even tried them this AM which was very moist out.
Hope this helps,
Ed
Forest_Farmer:
Outback Bob,
On your post below, you mentioned that you saved chaga for tea. Can you explain how you made the tea, and are there any risks with this. Oh, and does it taste good?
I'm always looking for new type of foods that are foraged, hence the name "Forest Farmer"..
Thx,
Ed
Re: Friction Fire
« Reply #30 on: September 17, 2015, 12:18:24 pm »
Quote
Dakota Kid, true tinder fungus or Chaga which grows on the birchs will catch a spark like char cloth or can be used to extend your coal from friction fires, it will not burst to flame by itself needs to be in a tinder bundle, other coal extenders are cap cracked polypores which grow on locust, there are many things used to extend coals but very few things which can catch low temp flint and steel sparks, the only ones that i know of other than char cloth are true tinder fungus and milkweed ovums, I don't build many flint and steel fires so I save my Chaga for teas and build my fires with coals created from bow drill or hand drills, I have been gathering a few plants as fall approachs, horseweed, mugwort and mullien, like to find a few yucca also. Later Bob
Outbackbob48:
Forest, You can take a pc of chaga and simmer for an hr in say a qt of water or so, strain and drink with a little honey for sweetner. Can also be ground and just pour water over grounds and steep, I f you use the chunks you can resimmer until tea gets to weak, save chuncks redry and use for flint and steel. Chaga tea is very mild to drink, The only side effect for me is sometimes makes me dream ;D Look up benfits on search. Hope this helps Forest. Oh some make ice tea after brewing :D Bob
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