
Friction Fire Making 
OTHER Nature has provided 
M suitable woods for friction fire 
making in all parts of the 
world. The illustrations herewith show 
three of the many ways of fire mak- 
ing still used. Fig. 1 is the apparatus 
used by our own American Red Man. 
His first requirement was a _ proper 
wood, one that was soft enough to 
grind out charred fibre yet not so soft 
as to crumble under the drill, or so 
hard as to polish with it. Our north- 
ern Indians used basswood, balsam and 
cedar; the western tribe Oregon fir, 
redwood and western balsam; while 
cypress served those of the south. 
Their outfit consists of four parts. 
First the fire board, cut with notches 
as shown and made of the same wood 
as the drill. Second the drill, whittled 
round or octagonal, with a rounded 
point at its lower end and a nipple 
at the top to take a drill socket. This 
socket is made to fit the owner’s hand 
and to hold the revolving drill. It may 
be as artistic as its maker wills, but 
it must be of hard resinous non-char- 
ring wood, and its recess should be 
Ke 4 
—®aARndGE Micren— 
728 
S 
Cx ae 
greased to prevent friction. The fourth 
implement is the fire bow, which is 
made of any pliant and springy wood, 
preferably short for ease in carrying. 
For a cord the Indians used deer 
thongs, but a rawhide lacing from our 
moccassins or hunting boots answers 
just as well. Even a plaited bast rope 
made of mockernut hickory bark, split 
up fine, will do but it will not last. 
To operate this fire drill, place the 
fire board on the ground, slipping a 
flat chip or piece of bark under the 
notch to be drilled into. The drill has 
one turn of the rawhide thong around 
it and its point is started drilling at 
the apex of the notch. Fit the upper 
end into the socket and hold in posi- 
tion with one hand. Grasp the bow 
with the other somewhere near the 
middle. 
E are then ready to make fire. 
Start with long, easy strokes as 
in sawing, gradually increasing speed 
as the charred fibre grows in a little 
pile in the notch. Smoke will come 
in clouds, and when the drill will no 
longer spin with ease, stop. Remove 
the fire board and drill. There will 
£2 ee 
remain a small pile of smoking char 
on our slab of bark. 
Fan this with the hand, or a hat, 
very gently until a living coal appears. 
Add a tinder of the inside bark of 
cedar, shredded, or a similar substance, 
and fan vigorously. It will soon burst 
into flame. Our fire is kindled! The 
Boy Scout record time is 22 seconds. 
The Camp Fire Club, 27 seconds; my 
own, 68 seconds with the Indian ap- 
paratus. 
SECOND method, used by the Ma- 
lays, consists of a joint of bamboo 
split in half. This is placed on a chip 
back up, as in fig. 2. The native takes a 
sliver of bamboo and saws quickly 
across the back of the round, until he 
has cut completely through. The fric- 
tion will be so great that the last of the 
char formed drops very hot, and a liv- 
ing coal soon forms in the dust under 
the joint of bamboo. This is blown tc 
a flame with tinder. 
The Papuans of New Guinea use still 
another method. They find a dry limb 
of soft wood, like our balsam or bass- 
wood, and split a cleft in it which is 
held open by a small stick forced in 

