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.