Using a Bow Drill

A couple of weeks ago I showed you some of my favourite things, some of my favourite and most used tools, all of which are older than I am and that I inherited when I first started my addiction to silversmithing. One of them, the one that people commented on, is my bowline (or bow) drill. One of the things that I love most about my craft is that I am using skills and techniques that have been used for, in many cases, thousand of years, and this type of drill has been around for thousands of years too. If you visit this page you will, along with a lot more detail about the history of drills that I am going to write about here, pictures of bow drills dating from the Romans. In that article the bow drill is referred to as a pump drill as to work it you pump the horizontal wooden handle up and down to spin the drill bit. Apart from the fact that my drill uses a drill bit rather than a sharpened stone the design has hardly changed at all!

So, I thought that this week I'd explain how one of these beautiful tools actually works! It can take a little bit of getting used to, but once you get the rhythm it really is like riding a bike - once you've got it you never forget! One of the reasons that I like this drill so much is that you only need one hand to work it, the other is free to hold your work still.

1. Firstly, no matter what type of drill you use it is always good to mark where you want the hole with a centre punch so that the drill bit doesn't slip.
2. Place the drill bit in the mark, hold onto the metal shaft and spin the wooden handle to wind the string around the shaft - it doesn't matter which direction.
3. Place two fingers on the wooden handle either side of the shaft so that they are also holding the shaft still. Move the other hand to hold you work.
4. Push the wooden handle down gently and the drill shaft will spin. When the handle reaches the bottom it will begin to rise back up the shaft, so allow your hand to rise with it before pushing back down when the handle has returned to the top. You want to let your hand "bounce" back up - if you put too much pressure on the handle it will stop once it reaches the bottom. This is the bit that takes the practice, but you will soon find a smooth flowing action and the drill will build up speed as you work.

I tried to take some photo to go with the steps above, but although the drill only needs one hand to operate it I still couldn't take the photos at the right angle, so I've found you a video instead - I hope it helps! It's very short, and the jeweller spins the drill slightly differently at the start than I do, but you can see how smooth the rhythm is.




I'd love to know - what is the oldest tool that you have? 

Jo Tinley
Daisychain Designs