How to Make a Bow Drill Kit : Introduction

How to Make a Bow Drill Kit is one of the skill-sets I am most proud of. There are few events in my life that I will never forget. Spinning out my first glowing, red-hot bow drill ember is one of them. There is something truly magical about the experience of rubbing two sticks together and creating fire. Without getting too philosophical, carving and using a bow drill kit takes us back in time. It connects us to our distant ancestors who walked the earth thousands of years ago. When we make fire from the most basic of natural tools, we can’t help but wonder what it must have been like to depend on such primitive technology for warmth, cooking, protection and our very survival.

How to Make a Bow Drill Kit: The Components in the Bow Drill Kit

To understand How to Make a Bow Drill Kit, you must understand what function each component in the kit performs AND what types of wood/material they should be made from. We’ll start with the two most important components of any bow drill kit: the spindle and hearth board.

How to Make a Bow Drill Kit: SPINDLE & HEARTH BOARD

A string and bow are used to rotate the spindle into the hearth board. The fast-rotating spindle generates a fine dust at the point of contact with the hearth board. As this dust collects (and friction heat builds) it will develop into a smoldering ember.

Although I have successfully used many different types of wood for spindles, certain varieties work best. While I want you to be familiar with specific trees and plants that make excellent spindles, it’s important that you first understand their key properties. Soft and lightweight woods are preferred over hard and dense varieties. A popular rule of thumb is that you should be able to use your fingernail to make an indentation in the wood with little effort. While soft is preferred, the wood should not be ”punky” or rotted. It should be firm. Any wood you choose should be as straight as possible and free of knots or cracks. Finally, it should be BONE DRY.

Specific Wood Species for making a Bow Drill Kit

Below is a list of tree/plant types I love to use for the Bow Drill Hearth & Spindle. While there are others that work, I find these to be best for beginners.

Basswood (American Linden)
Cottonwood
Eastern White Cedar
Alder
Sycamore
Willow
Staghorn Sumac
Aspen
Tulip Poplar
Yucca (dead dry center woody flower stalk)
Sotol (dead dry center woody flower stalk)
Elderberry (Sambucus)
Mullein (dead dry center woody flower stalk)

For a very detailed article about the BEST BOW DRILL WOOD (with photos), see the one I wrote here: https://willowhavenoutdoor.com/fire/best-wood-for-bow-drill-how-to-choose-the-perfect-wood-for-your-friction-fire-bow-drill-kit/

In my experience, the best length for a bow drill spindle is 8 – 10 inches. The diameter should be similar to that of your thumb—, roughly half an inch to an inch wide. It should also be straight and free of knots, cracks, bark, and forks.

The spindle needs to be round. If a carefully selected straight branch is used, very little carving may be required along the length. However, if the spindle must be split from a larger piece of stock then it must be carefully carved into a round, dowel shape. If a piece of stock at least 2 inches in diameter can be sourced then it can be split in half; one side will serve as the spindle blank and the other as the hearth board.

One end of the spindle should be sharpened like a pencil (this won’t be possible with stock that has a pithy center). The other end should be rounded, like the end of a hot dog. Try to make it as perfectly round as possible. It won’t work if it is flat or jagged in any way.

This video is a great demonstration of BOW DRILL TECHNIQUE.

The sharp end will be the top of your spindle. This is where pressure is applied from the hand-held bearing block. The top is sharpened because you want as little friction as possible. The least amount of wood spinning against the bearing block, the better. The rounded end is the business end of your spindle. It moves against your hearth board, where you want as much friction and surface area on the board as possible to increase heat.

Like the spindle, the hearth should also be straight and free of knots, cracks, bark, and forks. Hearth boards perform best with soft woods that are between half an inch and three-quarters of an inch thick. The length of the hearth board can vary greatly, but around 12 inches is ideal. The ideal width of a hearth board is 2 inches or greater, although I’ve used boards many times that are about the same width as the diameter of the spindle. The hearth must be flat on both sides so it can rest securely under one’s foot and on the ground. A hearth board that is not flat may rock or twist while you drill, which is a common rookie mistake.

How to Make a Bow Drill Kit: BEARING BLOCK

The bearing block is held in the palm of the driller’s non-dominant hand to provide downward pressure on the spindle as it spins into the hearth board. Since you want the friction to occur in the hearth board and not the bearing block, measures must be taken to reduce friction between the pointed spindle top and the recessed divot on the underside of the bearing block where the spindle top fits.

An ideal bow drill bearing block is cut from a round of very hard (and preferably live) green wood. Remember, you want the top of the spindle to rotate with as little of friction as possible in the bearing block divot. A soft, dry bearing block will only cause the top of the spindle to heat up and smoke at the point of contact. The bearing block has no reason to be dry or soft. In fact, it performs best when wet, slick and hard.

How to Make a Bow Drill Kit: THE BOW

The bow, when fitted with a bow string, allows you to rotate the spindle. When the spindle is wrapped on the bow string, a pushing and pulling of the bow causes the spindle to turn with impressive velocity, creating the friction you need to get a hot, glowing ember. The bow offers a mechanical advantage for rotating the spindle much faster than if you were to rub the spindle between your hands, and it takes a lot less energy.

When learning how to make a bow drill kit, the bow should be approximately the length of your fingertip to armpit. It should be cut from either green or seasoned wood approximately 1-inch in diameter. Look for wood that is very sturdy and solid. Many people assume it should be flexible, like the kind of bow you use to shoot an arrow, but that is not true. You actually don’t want the wood to flex at all. I prefer a bow that has a slight curve to it, similar to the shape of a parenthesis “(”. I’ve also used nearly straight bows on many occasions, but first-time success rates seem to be a little higher with curved bows.

Like most of the other bow drill components, the bow should be free of knots, branches and cracks.

A functional bow shouldn’t require much knife work. At most, two string notches will need to be carved. A carefully selected bow with a small y-fork at top will eliminate the need to carve one of them.

How to Make a Bow Drill KitL BOW DRILL FORM, TECHNIQUE AND PROCESS

Once all of the components are collected, processed, carved, and prepared, it’s time to assemble your fire-making kit. The following steps are right-handed instructions. For left-handed drillers, simply switch the words RIGHT and LEFT from here forward.

Step 1: Carve the Seat Divot

Before you start rotating the spindle you will need to carve a small, rounded depression in the hearth board. This is where the rounded end (bottom) of the spindle will sit. Without a seat divot it’s extremely challenging if not impossible to keep the spindle turning in one place when drilling begins.

The seat divot should be carved approximately 2 inches in from the right side of the hearth board and 1-inch back from the front edge, as shown in the illustration. It should be at most a quarter-inch deep and close to the same diameter as the bottom of the spindle.

Step 2: Burn in the Seat

Now you are ready to spin the spindle against the hearth board, but your goal in this step is not to achieve an ember. You are simply burning in a better seat in the small divot that you carved in Step 1.

With your spindle wrapped and your hearth board on flat, solid ground in front of you, place your left foot on the hearth board and crouch down. Put your right knee on the ground. The carved divot on the hearth board should be on your right side and facing away from you.

Now pick up the bearing block in your left hand. Your left hand will come around in front of your left knee and shin and the bearing block will be used to apply downward pressure on the wrapped spindle, holding it securely into the carved seat on the hearth board.

Pinning the wrist on the front of the shin.

As you feel more comfortable, increase speed with the bow. Be sure to utilize the entire length of the bow string, drawing it all the way to the front and all the way to the back. The bow is your mechanical advantage. USE IT. As you increase bow speed, apply slightly more pressure on the bearing block.

If you’ve chosen your materials properly you will start to smell and see smoke within 10 – 15 passes of the bow. You’ll also notice a change in feel and sound as your spindle begins to char and burn the divot in your hearth board. Once your kit starts to smoke, continue for 5 more passes and then stop.

Step 3: Carve the Hearth Board Notch

As the spindle rotates against the hearth board it creates a fine, charred dust. You’ll see it at this point in the process if you look closely. When you’re trying to achieve an ember, this dust will ultimately become your ember as the temperature increases enough to ignite it into a smolder. At this point you need to create an area on the hearth board to collect and contain this charred wood dust. You can do this by carving a pie-shaped notch into the center of the freshly charred hearth board spindle seat.

The tip of the notch should extend to the exact middle of the charred circle. It should be cut all the way through the hearth board and should be cleared of shavings, splinters, or any debris that would interfere with char dust collection.

DOWNLOAD MY FREE Bow Drill Carving Template

Step 4: Go for Ember

With a proper charred seat burned in and the ember catch in place (something flat placed under the notch), it’s now time to go for an ember. Reset as before. Don’t forget to brace that wrist! Also, you need to have a tinder bundle at the ready before proceeding. Follow the steps below:

Position the kit; spindle in bearing block and on hearth board. Left wrist should be braced against front of left shin.
Start to push and pull the bow, slowly at first to build a rhythm.
Utilize the full bow, drawing it all the way to front, all the way to back.
Begin to speed up. After 10-15 passes the kit will start to smoke like before. You should start to see a little dust begin to collect in the notch.
When your kit starts to smoke, push and pull the bow faster and apply a little more downward pressure with the bearing block. Be sure to keep the bow PARALLEL with the ground so the bow string doesn’t ride up or down the spindle. Continue for 10-15 more passes.
IF ANYTHING DOESN’T FEEL RIGHT, STOP, ADJUST AND RESET.
By now, you should see quite a bit of dust collecting in your notch. It should be light-to-dark brown in color. You need it to be dark-brown-to-black in color.
Now, for 5 – 8 seconds, push and pull as fast as you can, giving it all you have, while maintaining steady downward pressure with the bearing block. You will see dust pouring into the notch and darkening in color. Then slowly stop and remove the spindle.

How to Make a Bow Drill: CONCLUSION

Bow Drill ember waiting to be placed into tinder bundle and blown into flame

In my experience, once a student has tried and failed at the bow drill three times in a row, the success rate drops significantly. If you try for an ember three times and don’t get it, take a break and try again after you’ve had time to rest, catch your breath and decompress. During that time, reevaluate your kit or carve a new one. Then give it another shot.

How to make a Bow Drill Kit and fire from sticks one of my greatest life accomplishments. It has taught me much about fire principles and my own personal capabilities and limitations. I hope you, too, will add the bow drill to your list of survival skill sets. I also hope that the bow drill is just the beginning in your friction-fire adventures.

Remember, it’s not IF but WHEN,

CR///EK

How to Make a Bow Drill Kit (Free Carving Template)