It’s been a while, but I am still here and still passionate about fire. A few people have been in touch which has stirred the embers and brought a bit of life back into my inner fire!
I’ve posted a few things on my Facebook page recently. This is more a project, not a business so I do go through phases and have other things on too!
Anyways! Adaptability is the key to success!
Yes it is, and is one reason why us Homo Sapiens have done so well!
With the lockdown, I noticed a couple of people commenting that they couldn’t source materials.
I thought about this, and thought “well one just has to adapt” so I looked around the house and found 2 wooden coat hangers and an egg cup and made a bow drill set! It took a little experimentation but I managed to tease an ember 😀 Slow and steady worked best for me, and once done, you can hang them up for safe keeping ! And I discovered that egg cups make excellent bearing blocks!

​I am passionate about natural cordage and I feel that too much synthetic cordage is used within modern bushcraft for the bowdrill. Personally, I feel it is a bit of a cheat and you may as well use a lighter! (shock horror!)  This clip talks about natural cord alternatives and demonstrates 3 different ways of using 3 different types of natural cordage, and shows that it isn't that difficult at all. I hope this encourages at least 1 person to switch!

(a year of Bow Drill experimenting)  ... updated 12th Oct 2017

I learnt the bow drill a few years ago and in 2016 I did lots of  experimenting with  the bow drill so I thought I’d write a piece about my experiences. I am wary of people who say "you must" or "should" do it this way or that way, and those who say there is only one way. As with anything, there are usually many ways of achieving a result and that is the same with friction fire methods. So I try to say what I prefer to do rather than what you should do…. of course, there may be more efficient methods of achieving the same result, but also a lot comes down to personal preferences and what works for you, rather than what works for me! 

Efficiency and speed may not always be as important especially as part of ritual - where awareness and deliberation may be more important and the choice of wood may be more down to it's perceived sacredness (e.g. Oak) rather than it's efficiency! And with ritual, a bit of theatrics adds to the suspense so it may not be so important to get it right first time, the 3rd time however can be seen to be quite ritually symbolic! However in a survival situation, speed and efficiency may become more important. I do try to use awareness and be methodic in my practices, as rushing usually sets me back.
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So friction fire.... In short, the main aim of fire by friction is to create an ember\coal by rubbing two pieces of wood together to create dust which collects together, heats up, and ignites to form an ember which is then used to light a tinder bundle. 

The two main forces required to produce friction are the downward pressure of one wood on another and the speed they are rubbed together.  The more pressure applied then the more friction will be produced, similarly the faster the wood is rubbed (with pressure applied) then the more friction However, too much pressure\speed may also have a hindering effect, so it’s about learning and experimenting what works best.
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Also, concentrating the friction (and dust) in one place increases the efficiency, which is why the spinning of a spindle (hand drill, bow drill, pump drill) can be more efficient than push\pull methods (fire plough, fire saw) however the fire plough and fire saw can be effective using the right woods under the right conditions. The fire plough is commonly used in Australasia\Polynesia as the climate and some of their native woods are suited well to the plough, and in Asia the fire saw is commonly used as there is loads of bamboo!

For now, I will focus on the bow drill since this is where I’ve experimented the most. 

The bow drill, uses the spinning of a spindle (drill) into a piece of wood, by use of a bow to create friction. A bearing block is held at the top to allow the spindle to spin and pushed down to create the downward pressure.

​There are a few factors that I think affect the efficiency of the bow drill:

Position of spindle on cord -. With the drill on the inside, it may have slightly less cord to travel before it knocks into the bow. But this may only make a very small difference and some people prefer the drill on the inside and it’s not really an issue if using a curved bow or a longer bow. With a straighter bow, then I prefer if the drill is on the outside otherwise it can knock against the bow.

Thickness of spindle – the thicker the spindle then the more cord is used to wrap around and so you will get less spins of the spindle per stroke, so by using a thinner spindle you’ll get more spins. However, if the spindle is too thin it could work against you as it may eat through wood quicker, and could snap under the pressure. I typically use a spindle 1.5cm to 2cm wide but larger spindles can work, they just require a bit more effort and pressure - there will become a point where too much pressure is needed by 1 person to achieve the necessary friction. And I can notice the difference when using a thicker spindle (e.g. 3cm)

Friction at the top
The spindle is held in place at the top by a bearing block so that it can spin. You want as little friction at the top as possible, so all the friction is at the bottom. Too much friction at the top, will reduce the efficiency and speed and more effort is required to spin the spindle.

Top of Spindle - To reduce friction at the top, you want as little surface area as possible hence why the spindle is carved to a point.

Bearing Block -  you want to try and use a bearing block which causes little friction – hence why some people use stones and limpet shells as they tend to have polished surfaces hence little friction. Wood bearing blocks do work, but ideally you want as hard a wood as possible which will polish off such as blackthorn or hawthorn or holly (other woods are available :) ) If you use too soft a wood, it will start to produce too much friction. Softer wood bearing blocks can work, but just less efficient than a hard wood  and may require a bit more effort.

 Friction at the bottom
To achieve more friction at the bottom, you need to apply more downward pressure onto the bearing block.  Using my contraption (see photo), and adding weights I determined that I needed about 15lbs of weight  with a 1.5cm hazel spindle and a lime baseboard (and over 20lbs with a 2.5cm spindle) to produce enough downward pressure to create an ember. I’m sure there is probably an optimum amount of pressure which will vary depending on the wood combinations but I’m not going to get that scientific! I was just playing around - basically you may need to experiment with how much pressure you need to apply depending on woods, bearing block and drill size -  If the drill is squeaking, no smoke, or dust too light brown then apply more pressure. If you are having difficulty spinning the drill, or dust is chunky then try less pressure. 

 Speed
The speed at which you spin the drill also makes a difference but this can also depend on the amount of pressure. You don’t need to go like crazy, a steady pace can work, and with more downward pressure you may find you don’t need to go that fast, increasing speed towards the end can help.  There probably is an optimum speed depending on type of wood used, but again this is all about experimenting and what works best for you.  
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A few things can affect the speed:

 Wood Combinations – Ask 100 bow drillers what their favourite\usual combinations are and you’ll probably get lots of different answers! I say ignore  those  who say you must use the same wood for both drill&board or from the same tree – this is not true and limits your choice! Yes if you are lucky to find a piece of dry dead standing wood which you can use for both the drill and board then brilliant, go for it, but you don’t have to and can use different woods or same wood but from different trees\branches. I have! And I’ve found some woods don’t work too well on themselves e.g. Ash but there are others who do use Ash on Ash so may depend on stage of seasoning\quality. In most UK native woodlands there are a wide variety of trees, and hopefully you should be able to find wood suitable for the drill and board. I prefer to use wood which requires less work if it’s available, so tend to use hazel for the drill as there’s lots  of it in my local woods and grows straight and in the desired thickness with little work  but that’s my preference . Here are a few combos I’ve had success with: willow on willow, hazel on willow, willow on ivy, hazel on lime, hazel on ivy, hazel on hazel, hazel on ash (though Ash can be fickle!), hazel on birch, birch on birch, hazel on pine, hazel on oak, oak on oak. There are more though! I tend to find hazel on lime\ivy\popular the easiest but others may disagree! 
What is fascinating is that the ancient greeks were writing about this very subject over 2000 years ago! See this post here about Theophrastus Enquiry Into Plants where the Greek botanist writes about the best woods for the fire drill!

Conclusions
Ok so I may have confused some people, as I've shown that there's many ways of achieving an ember, ok so some may be less efficient than others, but I also feel it's also down to personal preference and what works for you....

Now I could conclude that the most efficient method is ...... but I'm not going to! ​

​And lastly…I like to learn and gain knowledge from others and experiment with the gained knowledge to see what works for me, and share my experiences with others  - and I’m still experimenting and learning ...

​For me fire by friction is a journey and I've still lots to learn…..