So I have to say. The tea was way better than I expected, albeit a little bland. I made it using the whole needles just tossed into my GSI cup. While drinking it, I was reading an article about all of the health benefits of the tea and the best way to prepare it. Next time I will cut the little brown ends off, chop the needles into thirds, and bruise them with the flat of my knife blade so as to release the oils for optimum flavor. Even the kids liked it and they hate tea...
So I harvested some dry cedar, built a new friction set, and got a lot of smoke and char dust, but no coal. . Part of the problem is its hot and humid as bejezzus and I'm dripping sweat, trying to keep it off what I'm doing is distracting. Not quitting, I'm going to build a fire this way!!
Deepen your notch to close to center of your burn spot. Spindle the thickness of your thumb or less. Your bow should be the length of your arm from armpit to tip of fingers. Start slow using the entire length of the bow in a smooth fashion back and forth until smoke arises. Once you get smoke add the speed until you cannot anymore. Full burnout.
Lube the piss out of your bearing block. Think chapstick or bfat or any succlent type plant speared into that block. Id use a taller spindle. I like them to be about 9-12".
Went on a hike today with family and friends, decided to let the kids gather what they thought were good tinders while we hiked. My fire kit to ensure kids got a fire. My little girl getting tinder ready. Her buddy giving it a whirl I had to give them all a tinder tab to get the fires started, then I let them go Wild with jute twine.
Thought I had mentioned it but I might have forgotten, I jabbed the bearing block end of the spindle in the tube I keep my V/PJ cotton balls in, it worked really well, so well that in fact that there was almost no burn on that end.
Bro you need to put a **** load more love into the construction of your Bow drill set. 1. The diameter of your spindle is far to large. 2. The length of your spindle should be about 8-12 inches. 3. your notch should be about 1/8 of the circle and go to the centre. 4. Your bow is far too small. Best of luck bud, keep a it, It took me a few attempts and alot of experimenting with the spindle and notches etc to master it.
