elder drill

[jamie]

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

[Justin Snyder]

You did a good job of cropping the dewalt cordless that is spinning it.  OOPS I mean: Lets see how you are motoring it.  Justin

[jamie]

heres a pic of the power tool

[Hillbilly]

That's quite ingenious, Jamie.

[Justin Snyder]

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

[Pat B]

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

[Hillbilly]

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.

[Far East Archer]

Thats cool! Hey Jamie where can we get one of them power tools? Home Depot?? 

-Alex

[jamie]

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

[Kegan]

SWEET. But you make it look too easy .

[duffontap]

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.

[jamie]

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

[possum]

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

[Kegan]

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 . I still have to use the little bow .

[jamie]

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.