After returning from school, I decided to try my hand at making a new bow drill. While my RMD or my yet-undelivered DMDC would have been ideal for this, I wanted to use my RD7. I had recently reprofiled the edge and wanted to give it a nice workout. I idea a bit of pine left over from a 4x4 I had been splitting, and set to work. I batoned slabs off of the piece until it squared off and ready to be turned into the spindle. I had made a bow-drill before, so things went pretty smoothly. Here is the rough block I began with.



Once this was done, it was a simple matter of rounding the edges until it was cylindrical. While I used very little of the RD7's 7.5 inches of blade for this task, the choil really helped me choke up on the blade and get a lot of control despite the knife's large size. At this point, I had done most of the rough rounding work. For some of the larger cuts, I could use the weight of the blade to chop lightly and remove chunks



The tip shaping was done largely with the light chopping method I had mentioned earlier, and then smoothed with a SAK. Here is, pretty much, the finished spindle



my dog, Bailey, volunteered to offer moral support


More to come, this was just step one


As for the RD7, i have a few thoughts and comments. The blade shipped with a very obtuse edge that bordered on blunt. Using a V-style sharpener to put a higher angle on it, I've dramatically improved its cutting abilities. Its still nothing like my RMD, but successive sharpenings will help. The grip was comfortable (it was custom molded by Justin, the maker, and I applied my wood-working skills to make it even nicer). I'll need to round the top edge of the micarta slabs near the ricasso because thats where my thumb and part of my palm ended up while using the choil. The choil itself is very handy, but it also digs into the hand a bit. Its not entirely ground out of stock steel, so part of the choil thins out with the primary grind (its the same as on the RMD, for that matter). This ended up being a bit uncomfortable, but my fingerless gloves ameliorated this to some extent while enabling me to retain my dexterity. All in all, the RD7 performed beyond my expectations and accomplished fine work like whittling with considerable ease, relative to its size.

thanks for reading, more pics to follow when I finish the rest of the bow-drill and test it.

Great Pics, CnD! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Just curious, are you saying you made the spindle from a 4x4? If it's from a commercially manufactured 4x4 it contains chemicals that are harmful if inhaled from burning, and you'll most likely inhale some smoke in primitive fire making.

Just wondering, I may have misunderstood.

nice!
I thinned out the edge on my rd9 and I'm really impressed with it and enjoy using it alot more now!
glad yours is seeing some use.
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

this would be something I would love to try, if there was any dry hard wood around here!
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I can't wait to see the rest.
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Oh, really rainwalker? Yeah it is from a a construction site nearby, so perhaps I'll be making another one LOL

just more practice, right?

anyway, the edge on the RD7 seems fine, and the patina is holding up much better than the satin

I'm really glad I said something now, Arsenic is commonly used to preserve and treat wood as well as other chemicals. Here's one website that's an example and an excerpt from the page.

http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/eh/hlthhaz/fs/TrtdWood.htm

Never burn treated wood. Burning releases toxic fumes into the air and has been associated with serious arsenic poisoning.




I always use only natural untreated wood for primitive firemaking and for any fire for the most part, because I love to cook directly on the coals. Nothing like a steak cooked right on the coals of a fire especially when you've done everything the primitive way.

Jeff is right, lose the processed wood and got something natural.

Thank's Rainwalker, I never new that.

Anyways Let's see the next steps!

It's kinda funny, but I always knew it wasn't a good thing to burn treated wood. Never really knew why in any detail though...

Then, I read a fictional book series years ago, "The Warlord" series I think, where they came across a house full of casualties due to burning treated wood, and for some reason after reading that it really stuck with me.

Sweet job Cloak. You know, if you can get your hands on some elder berry, you might want to try that.

I also can't wait to see the rest of this.

I've tried the bow drill technique but with the wrong wood. Slightly dry, slightly wet, and definitely not good for burning.

Keep us posted. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

okay here is the next steps, sorta



The wood for the bow is a branch from a laurel bush, and the other components are whittled from branches of red oak (not the easiest stuff to shape). I haven't yet gone any further than the fabrication process, so we'll see how things go.

I handled a RD9 once in a passaround, I was maybe the 5th person, but the person before me sharpened the knife reallllly sharp. I think the Ranger RD knives generally come with a obtuse angle, but reprofiled correctly, they can be extremely sharp and hold an good edge.

Cool pictures. Another thing I gotta try now.

I didn't know that about treated wood either, but it makes sense.

I've heard that pressure treated wood (the green tinted wood with all the small holes in it) is bad to burn because of the "anti rotting" chemicals pumped into it. This is the lumber used for posts that are placed into the ground for, say, a fence post. As far as standard lumber, I didn't know there was a problem with burning it. I could be wrong, but that is my understanding of the matter.