Pre-punk Hand Drill Fire Boards, and When to go for the Burn-in and Ember Simultaneously

My Mullein, Goldenrod, and Horseweed Spindles... and Tulip Poplar Fire Board were ALL, dried out. Nothing to brag about here. It really doesn't take a lot of skill to produce embers with such materials!
Today I wanted to give you a better explanation about what I mean when I say that any wood highly degraded, pre-punk, and dry works well for hand drill fire boards. You get to see my piece of Tulip Poplar branch, how it has degraded, how it whittles, and how easily it produces embers with the various spindles mentioned.
I also wanted to show you, when I think it's alright to go for the burn-in and ember at the same time. You know... That's when you cut the divot and notch at the same time.... When I'm sure that the fire board is so soft or is so thin that I'll drill all the way through it before getting the ember, this is when I use the technique. It makes use of the superheated dust that normally cools off while you're cutting the notch. After cutting the notch, we have to use up more of the Fire Board just to get back up to temperature.
I do not recommend using this technique all the time though. Until you do your burn-in, you can never be sure where the divot is going to end up. It's common for it to drift from where you planned for it to be.
Come have a look at what a good morning of practice I had today!!! Please SUBSCRIBE at the end of the video. Thanks!
OTHER HAND DRILL VIDEOS YOU WILL ENJOY:

The Horseweed Harvest is ON!!! Choosing the right plant for a GREAT hand drill spindle
Hand Drill, Bow Drill, What SOME of the experts aren't telling you.
Friction Fire 4 Ways... Fire Roll, Hand Drill, Bow Drill, and Bamboo Fire Saw
Easy Hand Drill Ember In The Rain... it's all about DEW POINT not humidity... Tips and Advice
Hand Drill, My First Ever Use Of Pine Sap for Grippage, WOW!!!

[DavidWestBgoodppl]

My Mullein, Goldenrod, and Horseweed Spindles... and Tulip Poplar Fire Board were ALL, dried out. Nothing to brag about here. It really doesn't take a lot of skill to produce embers with such materials!
Today I wanted to give you a better explanation about what I mean when I say that any wood highly degraded, pre-punk, and dry works well for hand drill fire boards. You get to see my piece of Tulip Poplar branch, how it has degraded, how it whittles, and how easily it produces embers with the various spindles mentioned.
I also wanted to show you, when I think it's alright to go for the burn-in and ember at the same time. You know... That's when you cut the divot and notch at the same time.... When I'm sure that the fire board is so soft or is so thin that I'll drill all the way through it before getting the ember, this is when I use the technique. It makes use of the superheated dust that normally cools off while you're cutting the notch. After cutting the notch, we have to use up more of the Fire Board just to get back up to temperature.
I do not recommend using this technique all the time though. Until you do your burn-in, you can never be sure where the divot is going to end up. It's common for it to drift from where you planned for it to be.
Come have a look at what a good morning of practice I had today!!! Please SUBSCRIBE at the end of the video. Thanks!
OTHER HAND DRILL VIDEOS YOU WILL ENJOY:

The Horseweed Harvest is ON!!! Choosing the right plant for a GREAT hand drill spindle
Hand Drill, Bow Drill, What SOME of the experts aren't telling you.
Friction Fire 4 Ways... Fire Roll, Hand Drill, Bow Drill, and Bamboo Fire Saw
Easy Hand Drill Ember In The Rain... it's all about DEW POINT not humidity... Tips and Advice
Hand Drill, My First Ever Use Of Pine Sap for Grippage, WOW!!!

[DavidWestBgoodppl]

Is it any wonder why so many beginners just give up on Friction Fire? "IT SEEMS SO EASY FOR EVERYONE ELSE... I JUST MUST NOT HAVE WHAT IT TAKES"... It's time somebody starting telling the truth about all this EASY Friction Fire that we keep seeing on YouTube. Most of the time the sets are unnaturally dry, lubed bearing blocks, sticky on hands or on the spindle, heat reactive chemicals being used (not talking about gun powder), editing tricks like only showing the one successful scene even though it took several tries to get it... and many many more deceptive practices.
If you are one of those that has gotten discouraged and given up trying, I encourage you to come back and give it another try. This time use some of the cheats listed above just to get started and improve your skills from there. If you do make videos during this time, always reveal the cheats you are using.

[jupyjones]

It was my birthday when this was posted!!

[thomasgold-]

Three successful hand drill demonstrations in a row - wow!
Respect David... 👍 (you deserve to brag a little bit 😉)

[RicardoGhirlanda]

Parece tão fácil!..
(Seems so easy!..)
🤪

[LK-fzvr]

Do you ever use pine wood as a fire board? How about the part that is orange? I think they call it fatwood?

[justiningersoll]

Just curious if you have ever tried wild rose for a spindle?

[josephb]

That was an interesting video. I didn't know you could do that. Nor have I seen it done or talked about. A very enlightening video

[Jonboyr]

Great timing with this video. Got my ass kicked last night. Will use this recommendation for my next attempt.

[agnosjr]

Another awesome video, thank you David.

[palindrome]

I have tried the fire plow method and failed many times after days of practice. But I am going to start the hand drill method now. Your videos are encouraging sir.