One directional friction fire

Today I was playing with the #firebrace to experiment with uni-directional friction fire - to see a clip on IG click here

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Checkout #crookedstickfrictionfire on IG to see @wur_thaz_smoke nail it! (Photo 1 below) All kudos to Rich as it's not easy!
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@phyredojo also posted an excerpt from Charles Darwin yesterday (photo 2) where apparently according to Darwin the Gaucho’s deployed a method similar to the fire brace (as I am terming it!) - all credit to phyredojo for finding and posting that fascinating #fireancestry snippet (I must read that book.)
The advantage with one-directional is that the spindle rotates continuously without stopping - the disadvantage - how do you get the speed!? It is easier to spin spindles fast with cord or hands but not so without! You need to apply a lot more pressure to make up for lack of speed. I’ve tried before and my experiments today failed which I knew they would. My first stick was too thin and snapped as you need to apply a lot more pressure. The 2nd one using my dad’s old woodworking brace failed as I couldn’t go fast enough - the handle too wide so taking too long to turn. Like I say checkout Rich’s #crookedstickfrictionfire as he nailed it - a good sturdy crooked stick with the correct crookedness 😀 and applying enough pressure by putting bearing under his armpit. As I discovered it’s actually not as easy to find the right crooked stick when you want a crooked stick! This is another one on my to do list 😀

Sir James Fraser (19th c anthropologist) mentions another uni-directional method by using a cart wheel for neid fire - the spindle goes thru middle - it is stood upright and spun via the wheel by a few good strong people apparently. You’d probably need a fire churn apparatus but instead of the rope you use the wheel to turn the spindle. This is another on my to do list 😀

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