Awakening the Spirit of Fire

Making and Using a Bow-Drill

by Susan Warren

Throughout time humans have been in constant relationship with fire. Many of the ways our ancestors used fire we still do today, if not in a slightly different way. As a source of heat, it warms our bones in the cold months and allows us to cook food that our bodies have fuel. It can be the focal point of a community gathering, where the sharing of songs and stories takes place. It heats the stones of sweathouses and claims the remains of the dead in cremation.

Fire’s process gives heat, light and transformation. And with transformation is potential for destruction. Because of its ability and nature to consume, it was used (and still is) in warfare, burning houses, villages and cities. It can quickly overtake huge tracts of forest or grassland, leaving nothing but the black bones of the land in its wake, fresh for new life and regeneration.

But what is the value, here and now with making fire through use of a bowdrill? I would have to say relationship. Fire is sacred, no matter if you are using it to heat your home or within ritual. With a bowdrill, one has to give something of the body to physically manifest the fire and of the spirit in order to awaken the flame. Working with a bowdrill kit that you yourself have crafted requires you to stop and reflect, to be conscious of the flame you are bringing forth. In doing this, you create space for relationship between your spirit and fire’s.

This article goes through the process of making a kit, and how to begin. Admittedly, there are limitations to this. There is a wealth of information and feedback that can only be passed on by someone teaching you the art. I learned at a workshop, making each part of my kit throughout the span of a day. But learning it on your own is not impossible – this is ancient art that someone at some point discovered for themselves. I would encourage anyone who would like further instruction to seek out a workshop – I will list some sources for these at the end of the article.

THE BASIC PROCESS

It is useful to understand how the pieces of your kit come together to work as a whole before making them. Simply, very fine wood dust and high temperatures are created by friction between two pieces of wood. (This wood dust will ignite at 427 degrees Celsius.)

One piece of wood, the drill, is put into motion by the use of a bow. The other piece, the hearth, will be on the ground held in place by your foot. When this is done properly, a small coal is created, which is your fire in its infant stage. This coal then has to be given food (tinder) and air (breath) to get a flame. Yet, much of the process is preparation, as it is vital to have the tinder and fire wood all ready to go before even attempting a coal. This will be covered more extensively below.

MAKING A KIT

Before beginning anything a good knife is a necessity and not a pocket-knife, unless it locks. You need to be able to carve with it and possibly use it to split wood with either a wooden or rubber mallet for your hearth. I have a survival knife I use. These can range in price from 8 quid to hundreds. (One inexpensive option is Ray Mears’ Mora Training Knife for £10.50 from http://www.raymears.com.)

BOW

For your bow, the size will really depend on you. The stick needs to have enough curve to hold a string, but that doesn’t mean it must be an enormous and perfect arch. A longer bow gives you more rotations of your drill per pull, but this needs to be balanced with weight and energy required to pull the bow. I am small, so mine is quite wee, because I can handle it better. (It is about 43 cm long and has a diameter of about 2 cm.) But others will experience this differently. The string needs to be loose enough to put it around the drill, but really taut once you have it in place. You can use string or leather for this. You may have to retie it a few times as it will stretch.

DRILL

I am currently working with a hazel drill, but you can vary this. It is important, with any type of wood, that it is dry and seasoned.

The size is approximately the length span of your hand and the thickness of your thumb. There is some give and take with this. But, either through finding a stick this way or carving it into shape, the drill needs to be perfectly rounded, smooth and straight to be most effective with the bow. Once you have the piece of wood you want to use, you also need to carve both ends to look a bit like crayons - not pointy like a pencil, but having a good cone on either end.

HEARTH

Currently I am using an old pine floorboard. Same as above, the wood needs to be dry and seasoned.

As for size, the thickness of your thumb and large enough that you will be able to hold it with your foot (it will rest in the arch). When considering the length you want, think about what is easiest to carry but it needs to be long enough for you to hold it securely with your foot. Currently the one I use is about 7.5 cm in width (to fit in the arch of my foot) and 18 cm long.

Next you will need to carve the beginning of your first burn hole. I start a hole approximately 1.5 cm from the edge of the wood, carving a good indention to ease getting the burn hole started with the drill. Once you have the notch, you can use your bow to really burn a good hole before cutting the “keyhole” shape that will allow you to build a coal and transfer it to your tinder.

The notch should be about a 45 degree angle in width, the centre point not quite to the centre of your burned circle. Basically, if it is too wide, and you run into problems of there being too much air getting in…too narrow and the reverse happens.

OTHER NECESSITIES – HAND HOLD AND CATCH FOR COAL

You will also need a hand hold and catch for the coal.

The hand hold can be a piece of wood that you carve to hold the top of your drill. I use a limpet shell, as this is easiest for me to hold. You want the hold to be comfortable and to be able to use it to put focused downward pressure on your drill. Whatever you do use, make sure to provide some sort of lubrication or there will be two fires and one burned hand. Grease, oil, spit, (and even snot (!!) in a pinch) will work.

The catch for your coal could be a scrap of leather, a wee bit of leaf, a piece of bark. The important of this is to have something that your coal can be caught in. Some people even use a bit of tinder.Currently, mine is a piece of leather, about a 6 cm square.

TINDER — Food for the Coal

Tinder is dry matter that will have enough carbon and airspace to get a flame started. There ways to classify tinder - coal extenders and coal igniters. While classifying every type of possible tinder isn’t important, understanding the relationship of carbon and air within tinder is very useful. You need goodies that will smoulder due to having less air space and more dry carbon called coal extenders. Examples are milkweed fluff, thistle fluff, wood punk. Then you also need fire igniters for instance dry brown grass bunched up. This type of tinder has more air space and less carbon and so burns rapidly. The balance you need to strike between these two when starting a fire depends all numerous things like air moisture, the moisture content of your tinder, your style of starting a fire. Simply trying it, experimenting and listening to your intuition is the best way to learn.

When collecting tinder, keep in mind that for one fire you will need about 10 times more tinder than you expect. If you skimp on tinder and don’t feed the coal, it will go out and then you will have to start over from the very beginning. To make a nest for the coal, it is best to work with five varieties of tinder - for example, dry grass, pine needles, thistle fluff, dried out dry-rot wood and the dry out-sides of a garlic bulb. Diversity is key and provides a solid foundation in which to nurture your coal from.

Once you have the coal, (explained below) you will need to gently get it into the tinder. Then you need to breathe life into it. You need to ensure there is some distance between you and the tinder bundle. You are trying to get the extender to continue burning from the coal and the igniter to became hot enough from the coal to awaken the flame – and from here start your fire.

FORM, MAKING FIRE AND TROUBLE SHOOTING

This is one of those situations where a picture speaks more than words, but unfortunately getting this position in one picture, clearly, is very difficult. So go slowly and use your inituition. The information below originated from my teacher, Kate and I have added to it from experience.

• You will hold the board with the arch of your foot. Which one depends on which hand you write with and therefore bow with. So if you write (and so bow) with your right hand, you will use your left foot.
• Your foot needs to be bare, or at most in socks and about 2 cm from the drill on the board. The reason behind having a bare foot is twofold. First, it is a better way to focus your intention and connect through honouring the fire spirits. Second, you have much firmer control to grip the hearth with your toes.
• Your front leg, the one holding the hearth, must be straight up and down. Your knee should be right above your ankle, not lunging out over your foot. Your rear knee is on the ground underneath you.
• Your front heel should line up with your rear knee and turn out your rear foot.
• Your wrist of the arm in which you are holding the drill will need to be locked against your shin of the same leg. (ie left wrist to left shin.)

MAKING FIRE

• Make sure to set your intention clear and wise! Fire is not a spirit to be toyed with and very powerful. Make sure wisdom factors not only into the fire spirit itself, but your reason for awakening it.
• Start with smooth, fairly slow strokes
• Increase with downward pressure until smoke is billowing out – you need to build up your dust to the top of the notch.
• Let off some pressure and bow faster – you will get tired and that is one way to know you are doing it properly!
• Once you have smoke, do not stop until you are sure you have a coal-
  otherwise the energy and heat will be lost and your coal cools so much that you you will have to back to the beginning of the process again.
• Very very gently, move the hearth away, using your knife to ensure your coal does not stick to the hearth
• Place coal in pre-prepared nest of tinder

TROUBLE SHOOTING

If you have problems…..

• Where is your intention? Are you thinking about where you actually are in the process or just the end result?
• Check your form. Having this wrong can cost you great energy and frustration even if you do manage a coal.
• Is your wood seasoned and dry?
• You need to use lots of pressure in the beginning! This is a hard thing to get used to, but give it all you’ve got in the beginning with pressure.
• Make sure you hold the handhold so it is flat…not at a slant. You risk your drill popping out.
• If you get squeaking or glazing (shiny black/brown on the drill or hearth) – first clean it off with a bit with your knife and then use more downward pressure.
• When all else fails, use your intuition and ask the fire what it needs.

IN THE END

The best thing to do is get out there and try it. The more you work with your kit, the more the process will become part of you. Your kit will become an extension of your body and you will find new magic in starting a fire, that I feel is lost in the flick of a match or lighter. It creates a strong connection between you and the spirit of Fire, if you set out with clear intentions.

I would like to thank Kate Hedges for her input into this article and support on my journey with fire-starting. She is a wonderful teacher and can be found up here in Scotland (and sometimes in Wales) with Blue Skies (contact details below).

Contacts:

Trackways, East Sussex.
contact: Thomas Shorr-kon
email: trackways [at] btinternet [dot] com
web: http://www.trackwayssurvival.co.uk

Primitive Skills, Llanberis, N. Wales.
contact: Keith Matthews c/o Blue Skies, Edinburgh.
Kate Hedges email: kate.hedges [at] edin-home [dot] fsnet [dot] co [dot] uk
web: http://www.edin-home.fsnet.co.uk

Susan Warren
RedRobin [at] OakandApple [dot] org