My Firebow

Well i finally went out to the bush & found the right bent stick for my firebow. Its cedar and about 5/8 thick.
My firedrill is maple, dead & dry. Its 3/4 inch thick & 10 inches long. And my fire board is bone dry cedar as well.
I have another fire drill as well, it's 1/2" thick & 8" long. I was on line & found there are many ways to make your firebow & accesories, so im trying them all. But my first try with my stuff worked good Very Happy

in no more than about
20 seconds i had a good amount of smoke. I stopped cause i was in the house. And a good tip i read from another source was to put pine needles on your holding block, it acts like a lub for the spindle. And i found that mine did heat up & start to stick & get harder to spin, so im going to try the pine needle Lub test. Oh, my holding block in mahogany.
So far with my testing, its not that hard to do i found. Get the right materials & you can make fire easy Very Happy

.

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
We are Known By The Tracks we Leave Behind
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Last edited by Drummer Dave on Fri May 25, 2007 9:48 pm; edited 1 time in total

Tell me if the pic worked guys. imageshack has been messing up latley. Thanks.

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
We are Known By The Tracks we Leave Behind
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

I see your pic Drummer Dave Very Happy

Looks cool!
I haven't got a fire going yet but what helped me to get closer is to narrow the top of the spindle and make the bottom wide and blunt.
It kind of looks like you did that already Very Happy

So did you set the smoke alarm off yet Laughing

eric

Very cool! I don't know enough about wood to make my own yet. Embarassed

So you have my respect. Cool

_________________
Where the Eagles fly, and the Caribou lie is where I want to be, the Wolf waits there for me.....
-Les Stroud

	Azarcher wrote:
	Very cool! I don't know enough about wood to make my own yet. So you have my respect.

Hey thanks guys. Azarcher just to keep it simple, for the bow use fresh cut if possible, so its more springy, and leave the bark on so it doesn't dry out as fast. Use Cedar or Maple.
And for holding block use a hard wood, Any ! hard wood. And the fire board use soft wood. cottonwood works too.
And the spindle, you must use hardwood there are many mentioned to use, one was maple & i had lots of that around here so that was my pick, strait, dead, & dry. I now have more spindles made of differant lenghs & diameters. I read one guy uses
a 15 inch spindle, and another guy uses nothing less than 5 inches, so it really varys to the person from what im reading. And of course, practice,practice,practice. Shocked

Ive yet to make fire, but getting my hot ember doesn't look like it will be to hard to do. I'll post more of the fire starting part. Wish i had a Video Cam. Mad

Cheers.

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
We are Known By The Tracks we Leave Behind
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Great work Dave, being successful in the firebow really boosts your confidence, expecially when you are in the woods. I also got my first ash this year Smile

useing a cedar fireboow I made. I am now testing differnt rope/strings because most of the ones I used before arnt very good.

Nice job Dave Cool

_________________
"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

The spindle slipped a lot for me too, so I scratched it up real good with the saw on my wave and then it didn't slip any more Very Happy

eric

Yeah. I used cedar, and its really hard to get a straight piece. So it was hard to find a good spindle. The first one I worked with was really annoying, but I did end up finding a better one

_________________
"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

	turd wrote:
	The spindle slipped a lot for me too, so I scratched it up real good with the saw on my wave and then it didn't slip any more eric

Yes, mark up the spidle well, that was a right away prob i had, smooth spindle BAD Confused

.
Good point turd.

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
We are Known By The Tracks we Leave Behind
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

	TrooperMax wrote:
	Yeah. I used cedar, and its really hard to get a straight piece. So it was hard to find a good spindle. The first one I worked with was really annoying, but I did end up finding a better one

Ya i was hunting for an hour looking for a dead fall with a strait spindle i could use. And i found a nice piece of maple.
I did have a piece of cedar at first and found it to soft on the cedar fireboard, could not get enufe friction.
The hard maple, like i said got the cedar fireboard smoking in 20 seconds. Very Happy

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
We are Known By The Tracks we Leave Behind
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

I haven't had much luck with the firebow. So many things have to be right in order for it to work. Confused

But if you know what you are doing, then it's not that hard. Smile

The hand drill is much simpler, although it takes the most patience and skill.

The fire plow is by far the simplest, but it takes lots of endurance and strength.

Very Happy

_________________
Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. - Prov. 27:17

	flashlightfreak9 wrote:
	I haven't had much luck with the firebow. So many things have to be right in order for it to work. But if you know what you are doing, then it's not that hard. The hand drill is much simpler, although it takes the most patience and skill. The fire plow is by far the simplest, but it takes lots of endurance and strength.

Ya thats for sure Flash, thats a tuff one. I tryed it acouple of time and the work involved i think is to much.
But hey, it does work, & it is good to learn it. I will go at it again later on. I mworking with the firebow now, i got good results with it, so, ...... i will continue till i get FIRE !!!! Twisted Evil

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
We are Known By The Tracks we Leave Behind
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

You do that. Laughing

_________________
Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. - Prov. 27:17

Dave can you post some pics of what the fireboard and spindle look like when you're done. close ups would be great. Don't disturb the dust or anything... the ends of the spindle and the hearth of the fireboard tell alot. Maybe I can help... if you'd like?
Rick

_________________
"Arrogance, I'm above that sort of thing."

Ya sure Rick, will do. I should be trying it again here soon. Thanks & Cheers.

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
We are Known By The Tracks we Leave Behind
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Can't wait! Very Happy

_________________
Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. - Prov. 27:17

I shall post mine soon too. Cool

Its not as nice as daves but it gets the job done.

_________________
"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

Here are the close up pics of fireboard & spindle. I get smoke fast, but the dust seems to cool fast ? Not pushing hard enufe ? to hard ? etc, lol. Cool

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
We are Known By The Tracks we Leave Behind
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

I think Askdamice to me go faster and with less pressure because my dust was to light Very Happy

eric

Ah... I see my friend... you are drilling holes not making fire... i should have noticed this from your first pic Embarassed

... I think this one will be an easy fix.

Your spindle tip is much to sharp... which is why you're drilling and not getting hot enough.
Once you get your spindle seated you don't even need a sharp point on it. I'm excited for you to try it again

Here is a diagram.

some pics from my friend Woodsman

_________________
"Arrogance, I'm above that sort of thing."