When I was a kid growing up in England, my dad told me how the Aborigines in Australia started fires using a bow and a straight tree branch. I thought I might give it a try and so I fashioned a bow from a tree branch and cut another one to form an arrow of sorts. The string went around the arrow. Placing the tip on a block of wood covered in paper kindling and holding the other end with an egg cup I began to work the arrow back and forth. To my surprise it actually worked. The friction created was enough to ignite the paper in no time. I thought I was going to burn down the addition but I got the fire put out in time. Never tried that again indoors.

Howie