A Guide to Fire by Friction - Firebow/Bowdrill

[Lambda25]

Something that really helped me: There are two stages, 1) Slow with hard pressure to make very nice dust 2) Very fast and sustained with medium/soft pressure to create lots of heat and smoke and hopefully an ember. With this tip I was able to make flame on my second day of trying and with my first (pretty amatuer) bowdrill set. As an aside, an icecream scoop makes an amazing bearing block haha.

[01liquidfires]

very cool video body

[scottiblasto]

@NaturalBushcraft I think he means what kind of wood, as in type. Not to tag along with you.

[NaturalBushcraft]

@scottiblasto Thanks for alerting my to my mistake! I shall apologise.

[CiaranRooney125]

Ashley just curious what was the spindle & harth made of? I've been trying to get an ember for the last week now, my hands are blistered and my shin destroyed xD I've been trying Sycamore on Pine, Hazel on Pine, Hazel on Sycamore, Sycamore on Hazel e.t.c Really would appreaciate if you could help me out with the correct woods, Thanks bud :)

[CiaranRooney125]

Very helpfull Ashley, Can't wait to give it a go this weekend!

[Highway116]

The reason its squicking is because you dont have enough pressure, pressure is key with fire by friction. And for the thing to hold the drill into place at the top,(thunderhead) i use thick wood so its easier to grip. Use natural material for everything, exept the rope of coarse

[asramsy1]

@NaturalBushcraft Thanks 

[asramsy1]

what woods do you use please as i keep failing and does it have to be dead thank you

[alraider100]

@asramsy1

use linden as base wood and elder for spindle :)

[asramsy1]

@alraider100 Thanks i dident get a good reply from Natural Bushcraft

[alraider100]

@asramsy1

sometimes is "hard" to write an answer......use what i tell you and in max 30 sec you will have ember.

happy bushcraft :)

[asramsy1]

@alraider100 true ill try it next time i go out and thank you again.

[NaturalBushcraft]

@asramsy1 I must apologise, I misinterpreted your message before, forgive my rudeness! As far as woods, try using dead/dry Sycamore or Ivy wood works well for the hearth-board, when I say Ivy wood that is just a real big peice of ivy vine. All the best,

Ashley Cawley.

[asramsy1]

@NaturalBushcraft Thank you, not your fault. All the best to you too.

[asramsy1]

what woods do you use please as i keep failing thank you

[TheDragonhuntr]

Welches Holz muss das untere sein? Das härtere oder das weichere?

Which wood should be the lower one? The harder or softer one?

[NaturalBushcraft]

@TheDragonhuntr About equal in hardness is fine, you don't need one harder than the other.

[jandatv27]

how do i make/get the socket thingy?

[942doc1]

the stick that rope goes around does it have to be fat?cuz i tried with skinny and first it did but then it stopped spindling,y cuz it bends or what?

[NaturalBushcraft]

@942doc1 Yeah you don't want it so thin it bends.

[aTellerOfTruths]

I've been unsuccessful in getting a fire going with this method. I recently learned that a huge mistake has been my using wood with a high sap content (pine). Now, I'm looking forward to trying it again with the right wood.

[NaturalBushcraft]

@aTellerOfTruths Good luck bud, you'll get it in the end. I know I've made an instructional video but there's nothing quite like having the experience and help of someone who's done it before there with you. So if you've got a friend or someone you could get in touch with you to give you a hand on some pointers give that a go.

All the best,

Ashley Cawley.

[dereinzigwahreaff]

hey ashley, great vid! what is that tinder you are using exactly? i don´t mean the charcloath but the other stuff...

greets from germany!

[rous8198]

The first time I successfully got a spark off one of these sets I was 13years old and only about 100 pounds... It was a proud day. Yesterday when I was bored I got out my set with a very dry yucca wood spindle and decided to pump. Surprised that my form was still fine I pumped for about 10 seconds, because I was pumping on the floor of my room and didn't want to burn my house down. Much to my surprise, when I lifted the spindle from the notched hole there was a spark burning there... I felt lik

[m005kennedy]

What types of woods are best?

[superossi]

thx for the video!

[PineMartyn]

Very well explained.  Thanks.

[Canon60d]

You need to spring for some new shoes, nice video, thanks.

[ashcaw]

@Canon60d Got some now thanks ;D

- Ashley.

[scarz1951]

Good vid! I've found in my 59 years on this ole planet that if the spindle (drill) is on the outside of the cord the cord has less tendacy to burn thru or cut itself. Love your vids fella. Keep em comin!

[NaturalBushcraft]

@scarz1951 Thanks for the tip and I'm glad your enjoying our videos :)

Just to let you know that Justin & I are refining our skills on the hand-drill, so more than likely in the future we will probably make a hand-drill video (and probably will re-make a better bowdrill video also) Cheers,

- Ashley Cawley.

[942doc1]

@scarz1951 hello and u know what i just learned from you sir,to put it on the inside thank you..God's soon gonna come

[ballygeale1]

what wud happen if it raind

[NaturalBushcraft]

@ballygeale1 I would find or build an appropriate shelter and then proceed as normal. There are certain techniques to dry tinders, or even make your own on a damp day, see our recent Feather-stick video.

- Ash.

[86thmountmerrion]

Great demo Better than mine...lol,Fire by friction is such a hard skill to master and you are really talented!!!

5/5

[ldn0224]

Way more difficult in high humidity and without the char clothe. I would rather see this without the char clothe. I did this once as boy scout. Takes much practice!

Good points for technique though.

[iamnetminder]

Check out my vid for the bowdrill I don't use char cloth and it was about 85% humidty (if that's high to you).

[sdursley]

Very clear and well explained

[AlbinMyren]

I get a loud squeaky noise when I drill, why?

[NaturalBushcraft]

Often this can be a result of your drill or socket becoming to polished/smoothed, if this happens to the wood it wont produce the best friction & hence heat, so you need to rough up the end of the drill or socket, try just roughing it with your knife or introduce a small bit of sand/grit to the socket. Hope that helps, remember to visit NaturalBushcraft website for more tips.

[AlbinMyren]

Ok, thanks for the help!

[NaturalBushcraft]

Subscribe to my youtube channel aswell if you havent already ;) All the best.

[wildlifeed]

5/5 Great video thanks for this!!

ED

[SkogKniv]

Very well done. Great tutorial! 5/5

[KonstantinKuehn]

what wood do u use? cause im doing all of this and for some reason it just doesnt work and it takes me 5 times as long to even get it to smoke a little! i use pine mostly some poplar, and normally an oak spindle bearing block... any advice for woods to choose?

[bfxp63]

you wan't to stay away from pine and/or fir because of the pitch in them, I've had good luck with cedar...e-mail me and i'll send a web add for you to look at

[NaturalBushcraft]

Sycamore is a good one, you can use it for both the drill and the board. Ivy-wood is also makes a good hearth board.

[wildlifeed]

Can I use Birch? I do not have cedar or sycamore here. What other woods could I use?

ED

[hobbexp]

nice video 5/5