bowdrill

[wolf]

hi just asking who can rec the best wood for bow drilling here in uk,ive been trying sycamore but the embers not forming...any suggestions...thanks..

[Bernie Garland]

Hi Wolf the combination i use is, hazel drill Poplar hearth board :)

Bernie

[jason]

teak on teak a good one, and bogwood on bogwood good.sorry just jokeing goat willow is good I like use a stone bearing block.

[JP]

Sycamore's ok bud, i used it the weekend before last for a demo, whats happening then, whats the symptoms?
There are lots of differnt woods and combo's you can use but it seems you have a problem with one that works well, interested to find out why?

[dspain]

speaking of bow drills could anyone help me here in spain with wich wood would be the best. olive is readily available a plenty of pine ,birch, are any of these any good. we also get eucoliptus.
any info would be more than i have.

[JP]

Hmmm Olive mind you if you start bow drilling Olive popeye will get the hump eh lol ;)
Try Olive for us buddy that will be interesting to find out whether it works..

[Kepis]

Willow on Sycamore works well for me

[dspain]

Hmmm Olive mind you if you start bow drilling Olive popeye will get the hump eh lol ;)
Try Olive for us buddy that will be interesting to find out whether it works..
i must admit alive is like iron i carved a spoon from it that was fun, but i will give it a go and let you know how i get on, will get some and season it. i guess seasoned wood is prefered.

[steve]

For wood comparrisons there is no better than the work done by Storm,
hand drill http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/handdrill/storminquiry/index.html

bow drill
http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/bowdrill/storm_inquiry/index.html

[wolf]

Sycamore's ok bud, i used it the weekend before last for a demo, whats happening then, whats the symptoms?
There are lots of differnt woods and combo's you can use but it seems you have a problem with one that works well, interested to find out why?
my symptoms doc r lots of black powder smoke residuehanging around in hole and under board but no ember,drilling for 25 secs and bearing down well.

[dspain]

sounds like your not drilling long enough or the conditions are damp and its not alowing the ember to form. no expert tho so dont quote me.

[spiritofold]

I've got some six thousand year old bog oak. That'd be interesting to try friction firelighting with :biggrin:

I've always had success with poplar drill and sycamore hearth, sycamore with sycamore and hazel on hazel. The wood was always dried out then shaped for use... And paracord for the bowstring...

[JP]

Id start at a lighter pressure to get the heat into your set to drive out any moisture, then once you have a nice smoker going and a good amount of dust then increase the pressure till the smoke is thicker and spiraling up your spindle when you think you have it grit your teeth and do as many bows as you can 20 if you can, if you havent got an ember then buy a bic lighter lol ;)

[bushcraftbob]

Im a hazel on lime chap myself

[Leon]

Hazel on Hazel ;) sounds like movie i would like to see :rolleyes:

Seriously though it works great even when its a damp day. When bowing for want of a better word you need to have atleast two speeds as has been said above. First off start easy and take your time, say atleast 40 seconds, once you get a deacent amount of smoke starting,, go like the clappers for the last 15-20 seconds!

Once you do get an ember started CHILL !! go slow when removing the ember from the hearth. I have waited atleast a minute or two in the past to let the ember compact and heat up.

Dont give up dude but loose that sycamore, i have managed it in the past but its been slow..

good luck.

[Spamel]

I had a mystery wood that was later identified as Rowan, works like a dream. I think I was using a hazel drill at the time. Getting a set to work straight from materials in the woods is a challenge. A set dried at home will work a lot better but using wood from a damp forest can be really difficult.

[spiritofold]

I've never thought of trying rowan, next on the list :)

[wolf]

thanks

[Leon]

I had a mystery wood that was later identified as Rowan, works like a dream. I think I was using a hazel drill at the time. Getting a set to work straight from materials in the woods is a challenge. A set dried at home will work a lot better but using wood from a damp forest can be really difficult.

Good thing about Hazel its its easy to find dead standing. Find a hazel coppice/bush and tap/listen the shoots with the back of your knife, more often than not there are loads that are dead standing as they tend not too fall far ;)