How to Make a Bow-Drill for Starting a Fire

Understand that a bow-drill; consists of four parts: the bow, the hand-hold, the spindle or drill and the fireboard. The hand-hold and the fireboard are held on either side of the spindle, which is spun by the bow to generate friction, heat and, finally, fire. Rub your hand together back and forth to understand the concept of generating heat through friction.

Make your bow from a light sturdy sapling, slightly longer than your arm from shoulder to fingertip.

Tie a piece of nylon cord from one end of the bow to the other, like a bow for archery. If you don't have a nylon cord, you can use string, a shoelace, a strip of cloth or whatever is available.

Use a dry, soft wood such as cottonwood, willow, larch, cedar, sassafras, alder, aspen, poplar, box alder or basswood to make the other parts of the drill.

Make sure the hold piece fits into your hand snugly and firmly. Carve a small depression in one side of the hand-hold for the spindle to ride in.

Cut your spindle from a branch 3/4-inch wide and 6 inches long. It should be round and straight. Carve both ends of the spindle to a dull point.

Make you fireboard about a 1/2-inch thick and flat on both sides. Make a depression in it, like the hand-hold, for the other side of the spindle to ride in.

"Burn in" (see eHow "How to Start a Fire Using a Bow-drill") your apparatus before using it to start a fire.