Bow Drill
The bow drill is useful for drilling small holes in wood, and may easily be made by a child. First, procure an ordinary thread spool. Push a round stick six inches long thru the hole with a tight fit. Shape the top of the stick to a point (Fig. 3). Drive a nail into the other end of the stick. Cut the head off the nail, hammer it flat at the end, and sharpen it with a file. In this way a drill of any size needed for the work can be made. The bow is made from a slender, flexible stick, about twenty inches long. A notch is cut at each end where the ends of a strong string are securely tied. Slip the bow string once around the spool and spin it. The top end of the spindle is guided in a shallow hole in a piece of wood as shown at H in Fig. 3. This block of wood is held in the left hand while the right moves the bow back and forth, spinning the spindle and drilling the hole.