Horseweed question Part 2

[ricktrojanowski]

Thanks for the advice on the horseweed. I collected quite a bit then dried and straightened it.  Tonight a tried to get a coal but only managed smoke, a nice round hole in my fireboard and some brown cool dust.  I was using a piece of red cedar board about 3/8" thick and a drill about 3/8" round.  Do you think the board is too soft?  Or does my technique need some work?  Again any advice would be greatly appreceated.  If anybody is in need of horseweed and can't find it locally I would be glad to send you some, like all invasive species it seems to really thrive here on eastern Long Island. 

[jamie]

put the cedar board aside for now. get a piece of red oak and use it for a board. practice with this. itll help develop a feel for spinning the drill. then try the cedar board. if the dust is not dark brown you arent getting it hot enough. in the beginning it should be chocolate colored then get real dark as the heat builds up. once you are getting consistent smoke and dark char give a couple of high pressure fast spins. that should get it glowing.  one other thing is the notch. it shouldnt go too deep into the hole and it also cant be too wide or too thin. once you get the feel for everything you'll get it. peace

[Hillbilly]

I usually use a tulip poplar hearthboard with horseweed.

[ricktrojanowski]

I don't know if I have ever seen tulip poplar in these parts, but I'll give a look.  Also is the oak board some sort of sick joke experienced fire makers play on newbies like myself?  Luckily my hands are already beat up and calloused from work.

[Kegan]

I don't know if this counts as a true hand drill, but you can get it going by notching the top of your drill and reinforcing it (like an arrow nock) and hanging a piece of cord with two thumb loops over top. This keeps the pessure on the whole time, allows you to keep spinning, and is easier than the hand drill and bow drill. Two weeks of practice with it and I can get the hand drill going consistently (even easier than the bow drill) and my younger brother got it going on his first try without having gotten any other type fo friction fire going before. Just make sure the loops hang about halfway down the drill, and a little pitch on the drill gives you a little extra grip when it gets smooth. I have a video if I could figure out how to put it up.

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[jamie]

kegan get a photobucket account and itll post pics and vids.

rick oak is definetly a sick joke but it will help. ive given green pieces of oak to students attendees of my workshops. and watched them sweat. then i would give them cedar or basswood and they would get a coal. try it.

[ricktrojanowski]

Jamie when do you have your workshops? Any this winter post hunting season.  I'm pretty sure we met at the Primitive skills gathering in Ct.  That was only about 2 hrs from where I'm at in LI. Thanks for the help but I think I'll reallly give myself a workout and use a piece of Ipe .

[jamie]

no need for a workshop. anytime you want to get together this winter let me know. usually in january or early feb i have a get together at the club . we work on bows or whatever and eat and b.s.. ill keep you informed when we plan that one but like i said anytime. peace

[ricktrojanowski]

Thanks for the invite I will definatly take you up on the offer, hopefully I'll have some venison to bring.  I got 3 good coals tonight using the cedar but like the fool I am,  I didn't gather any good tinder. I guess I just planned on smoke and blisters.  Hopefully it wasn't just luck and I'll be more prepared tomorrow.