SACRED HEARTH FRICTION FIRE
  • Home
  • Events
  • Sacred Fire
    • Sacred Fire Overview
    • Ancestral Fire
    • Ritual Welcoming of Fire
    • What is fire?
    • Fire Dieties
    • Stories >
      • Myths - China - Sui
      • Myths - Aztec - New Fire Ceremony
      • Myths - Evenki - Fire
      • Myths - Navajo - Black God
      • Myths - Polynesian - Maui1
      • Myths - Polynesian - Maui2
      • Myths - Slavic - Living Fire
    • Symbolism
  • Methods
    • History of Fire
    • Friction Methods
    • Fire Plough UK
    • Bow Drill >
      • Overview and Principles
      • Method
      • Demonstration
    • Hand Drill
    • Celtic Fire Churn >
      • Neid Fire
      • Need Fire
      • Force Fire
      • Teine eginn
    • Vedic Fire Churn
  • Blog
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Links

Bow Drills for Children

25/1/2017

 
Picture
My current experiment (I'm always experimenting!) is making a bow drill set suitable for kids to use - my two daughters (6.75! and 5) like playing with my sets and want to be able to use the bow drill but due to their size and age it's proving difficult. So I'm now experimenting with sets suitable for use by kids and I'm using my daughters as test subjects! One issue is with applying enough downward pressure and co-ordination of holding the bearing block and the bow so for now, it needs assistance from me to hold the bearing block to provide the required amount of downward pressure and to hold the base board firm so they can concentrate on the bow action.

In my experiments, you need about 12-15lbs of downward pressure with a 1.5cm hazel spindle on lime. My daughters can't physically apply that amount of pressure. However, this is less pressure than I usually apply so it's slightly easier for kids to rotate the drill as opposed to under heavier pressure. If the drill starts squeaking I apply slightly more pressure but not too much as to make it harder to rotate the drill. The other consideration is using easy wood combinations, such as Hazel on Lime (or Ivy) and having a spindle which isn't too wide so there is less surface area (so not as much effort is required to rotate the drill as opposed to a wider drill.) My current spindle is 1.5cm wide but that may need to be made a bit thinner. I'm also using a longer spindle so it doesn't matter as much if they don't keep the bow straight as there is more spindle for the cord to travel up and down.

I'm also using multiple twists of the cord (at least 8.) The advantage of this is that the cord doesn't need to be tight and there is less chance of slippage.It also doesn't matter as much if the bow isn't kept straight. Another advantage of this method is that you can use thinner cords that are more prone to breaking with a taut cord.

​And finally, I made a smaller sized lighter weight bow with enough space for two hands to grip - my daughter is scared of touching the rope and it's easier if she uses 2 hands. The only thing now is getting my daughter's attention span for long enough - the first attempt was promising but it was cold and they soon disappeared indoors! .... watch this space..... I have successfully welcomed an ember with this setup, applying less pressure than usual, but it needs at least 5 minutes of a daughter to really test it out!


Comments are closed.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    October 2022
    September 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    May 2021
    January 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    August 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016

    Categories

    All
    Africa
    Agni
    Agni Manthan
    Ancestral Fire
    Ancestry Of Fire
    Ancient Greece
    Arani
    Bow Drill
    Bow Drill Experiments
    Bow Drill Tips
    Connecting With Fire
    Cordage
    Earliest Fire Drill
    Fire Brace
    Fire Ceremony
    Fire Churn
    Fire Plough
    Fire Plow
    Fire Ritual
    Fire Steel
    Fire Wood
    Foraging
    Force Fire
    Friction Fire
    Hand Drill
    Heathen
    Inuit
    Legends And Myths
    Mouth Drill
    Natural Cordage
    Need Fire
    Neid Fire
    Oak
    Oak Bow Drill
    Pagan
    Pagan Friction Fire
    Pump Drill
    Roman Empire
    Samhain
    Sparks Of Possibilities
    Stone Tools
    Teine Eigin
    The Sacredness Of Fire
    Tinder
    Tinder Nest
    Vedic Fire Ritual
    Wet Bow Drill

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Events
  • Sacred Fire
    • Sacred Fire Overview
    • Ancestral Fire
    • Ritual Welcoming of Fire
    • What is fire?
    • Fire Dieties
    • Stories >
      • Myths - China - Sui
      • Myths - Aztec - New Fire Ceremony
      • Myths - Evenki - Fire
      • Myths - Navajo - Black God
      • Myths - Polynesian - Maui1
      • Myths - Polynesian - Maui2
      • Myths - Slavic - Living Fire
    • Symbolism
  • Methods
    • History of Fire
    • Friction Methods
    • Fire Plough UK
    • Bow Drill >
      • Overview and Principles
      • Method
      • Demonstration
    • Hand Drill
    • Celtic Fire Churn >
      • Neid Fire
      • Need Fire
      • Force Fire
      • Teine eginn
    • Vedic Fire Churn
  • Blog
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Links