Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Cave Men only "Oooga Booga" => Topic started by: jamie on August 06, 2007, 09:49:05 pm

Title: elder drill
Post by: jamie on August 06, 2007, 09:49:05 pm
justin asked to see this thing work so here it is. first pic is of a horse weed stalk scored with a piece of flint. second is the piece broken where it was scored and ready to replace the old plug. 3 is fit and spinning in a cedar board. smoke and coal. i'll fit a stone and bone drill later. sorry the pics werent better

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/coyotebow/oldlyme001.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/coyotebow/oldlyme003.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/coyotebow/oldlyme004.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/coyotebow/oldlyme006.jpg)
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: Justin Snyder on August 06, 2007, 10:11:27 pm
You did a good job of cropping the dewalt cordless that is spinning it.  ;D OOPS I mean: Lets see how you are motoring it.  Justin
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: jamie on August 06, 2007, 10:28:42 pm
heres a pic of the power tool ;D

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/coyotebow/oldlyme007.jpg)
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: Hillbilly on August 06, 2007, 11:41:52 pm
That's quite ingenious, Jamie.
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: Justin Snyder on August 07, 2007, 12:06:28 am
Remind me again what the drill was made of.  I figured that was the motor. I have heard some people saying it cant be done by hand.  They think it requires a bow and drill.  I just wanted the proof so I could tell them they smoke crack, because I saw it. Justin
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: Pat B on August 07, 2007, 12:20:00 am
Jamie, What is the wrap on the end of the shaft? Is the horse weed going directly on the fire board or is there a fore shaft?  ERC or Northern White Cedar?    Pat
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: Hillbilly on August 07, 2007, 12:45:20 am
Justin, actually, I find the hand drill a lot easier and less aggravating than a bow drill. I've spun up probably hundreds of coals with a hand drill-once you figure it out, it's pretty easy. Best combo I've found that grows here is a horseweed spindle on a tulip poplar hearthboard.
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: Far East Archer on August 07, 2007, 04:24:25 am
Thats cool! Hey Jamie where can we get one of them power tools? Home Depot??  ;D

-Alex
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: jamie on August 07, 2007, 08:09:09 am
the shaft is elder wrapped with sinew on the end so the plug wont split the shaft when you are applying pressure.
the plug itself is horseweed and the board is erc sapwood. like hillbilly said i prefer the handdrill. the nice thing about this piece is it only requires a short piece for the plug. ive cut golden rod horse weed and mullen stalks green in the morning and by late afternoon spun a fire with em. jim dina showed me this years ago . we dug a willow root from the bank and spun a fire using a plug and the rest of the root as a fire board an hour later. trick with damp wood is taking a minute to just spin the drill, warm it up and push out the moisture, then go for it. if you try the hand drill . first you should just practice spinning to get the feel and toughen up the hands. plus it will help build up the wierd muscles you use when doing this. peace
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: Kegan on August 07, 2007, 06:45:58 pm
SWEET. But you make it look too easy ;D.
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: duffontap on August 07, 2007, 07:01:11 pm
That does look doable.  What I need it a pic of the plug and a pic of the board where the fire spills(?) out.  Very interesting. 

               J. D.
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: jamie on August 08, 2007, 09:57:19 am
jd i'll do a step by step and post it. kegan i get that a lot. ive taken handdrill sets  that were in the rain overnight and achieved a coal. its patience and confidence any one of us can do it. peace
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: possum on August 08, 2007, 02:01:38 pm
what are some other wood combos for the board and foreshaft plug?  I'm not sure what horseweed is let alone if it grows here.

possum
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: Kegan on August 08, 2007, 02:03:23 pm
jd i'll do a step by step and post it. kegan i get that a lot. ive taken handdrill sets  that were in the rain overnight and achieved a coal. its patience and confidence any one of us can do it. peace

...And lots and lots of practice ;D. I still have to use the little bow :D.
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: jamie on August 08, 2007, 02:42:04 pm
possum for long drills you can use muulien, horseweed, goldenrodetc. for short pieces just try any of the soft woods or weeds large enough to fit in the plug. like hillbilly said poplar works great for boards.
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: duffontap on August 08, 2007, 03:41:17 pm
jd i'll do a step by step and post it. kegan i get that a lot. ive taken handdrill sets  that were in the rain overnight and achieved a coal. its patience and confidence any one of us can do it. peace

Looking forward to it.  I have to do this.

        J. D.
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: jamie on August 08, 2007, 06:27:55 pm
jd if you are gonna do this try it with just a drill made entirely of the plug. like a mullien or horseweed stalk or whathave ya. that way ya dont have to build anything but grab the materials ya need. not that the drill is difficult to attain. below are pics for reference. shows the drill in my hand for reference. how i started the hole in board . i run the drill over the hole to burn it in before cutting the notch. then cutting the notch. notice the finger . rocks are sharp :o. a knife can be used for all of this obviously. again though there is a certain zen type thing going on when natural materials are worked in natural methods. oh yeah i usually make the plug about an inch long. that allows enough material to be in and out of the drill. peace and have fun. one other thing make sure the fat end of stalk is on the bottom and the drill is smooth. no bark.

p.s. buy blister pads. lol :D

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/coyotebow/what%20the/pic001.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/coyotebow/what%20the/pic002.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/coyotebow/what%20the/pic004.jpg)
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: Justin Snyder on August 08, 2007, 06:45:13 pm
Jamie, isn't horsweed kind of a high fiber low strength stalk?  I guess that is why you use a drill and plug?  If the horseweed is what I think it is, you probably don't wear the hearth board much.  Justin
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: jamie on August 08, 2007, 07:03:08 pm
 imake arras from it so it has some strength. its a tall weed with a large plume of insignifigant white/green flowers on it this time of year. i could get 10 or 12 fires from a hole but i spend the time to build up the coal material rather than just get a small coal so it uses the board up and i get around 6-8.
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: michbowguy on August 12, 2007, 09:02:55 pm
hey jamie...have you found that cutting slight 'flats' in the rod so it doesnt slip in the hand ???
also, try putting some thinnnnnnnnn wiped on layer of pitch withOUT ash in it on the rod too.
this stays hard until you start spinning then it gets a 'ever so slight tackiness" to it and i bet you spin time decreases to about 1/2 to get a coal.
big grog.

[ its realy me jamie..a.k.a.michbowguy...i just dont want to confuse anyone when i bid goodbye with the name jamie!]
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: jamie on August 12, 2007, 09:53:55 pm
jamie dont want to sound cocky but i can get a coal in about 30 seconds i just prefer to let the coal build up fiirst. a lot of the fellas i know do that with the pitch. plus the roughness of the shaft keeps my hands like rawhide. ive used the flats on the bow drill when using the hardwoods like oak , ash ,hickory,  and osage. peace
Title: Re: elder drill
Post by: michbowguy on August 13, 2007, 05:40:29 pm
thats just plain awesome jamie.
i just creat a bunch of smoke!
ill be coming across the right combo pretty soon tho.
i like the idea about using the twu dry sticks wrapped together to form hearthboard.
ill try to get some pics up.
jamie