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Fire / Re: Handdrill
« on: October 22, 2011, 06:06:25 PM »
Several years ago, I looked at a diagram someone made to explain the theory of floating. I started trying that and it felt pretty awkward... tilting hands up/down in opposite directions while spinning the drill.
That got tiring, so I started keeping the upper end of the drill in between my palms, helping to keep my hands from slipping down, without needing to use the hand tilting. That progressed into regular floating. It really is pretty effortless. Sometimes the hands slip down the spindle requiring a little more effort to walk the hands back up the spindle.
I've noticed it doesn't require as much effort because less down-force is needed. It's fun to just sit there and have a conversation with someone, or yourself, while twirling away. If it's a tougher material, I'll conserve energy by doing some easy floating for a while until I get some good smoke, then switch to some heavier down-force, making a few passes down the spindle to give the material a little extra motivation. I used to think that one needed calluses for hand drilling, but floating doesn't really put the hands under enough stress to cause blisters, so it's good that way too.
That got tiring, so I started keeping the upper end of the drill in between my palms, helping to keep my hands from slipping down, without needing to use the hand tilting. That progressed into regular floating. It really is pretty effortless. Sometimes the hands slip down the spindle requiring a little more effort to walk the hands back up the spindle.
I've noticed it doesn't require as much effort because less down-force is needed. It's fun to just sit there and have a conversation with someone, or yourself, while twirling away. If it's a tougher material, I'll conserve energy by doing some easy floating for a while until I get some good smoke, then switch to some heavier down-force, making a few passes down the spindle to give the material a little extra motivation. I used to think that one needed calluses for hand drilling, but floating doesn't really put the hands under enough stress to cause blisters, so it's good that way too.
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