Pleasant Ridge
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I started my boiler on September 28. I can't recall exactly how I did it....
Fire starter debate
- Thread starter Walt41
- Start date
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dingeryote
Blueberry Baron
It lays flatter than wadded up, so you can build a proper tinder/kindling pile in lasagna fashion.
These details are important to the ritual..lest the tinder Gods be offended.
More importantly, my wife hates newspapers laying about the house...or any paper stuffs, so the newspaper gets twisted and folded into a "Tennesee twist", and placed into one of those antique tall skinny milking buckets outta sight outta mind.
Stay safe!
Dingeryote
jburlingham
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I agree, resurrecting the fire from hot coals, is not starting a new one. A new fire requires an outside source of ignition.
dinger--me thinks his bil--has neither $$$ nor sense----not much for brain-but plenty of mouth--people like that,aint got a clue........... i dont have to keep restarting my woodstove--soooooooooo. once lit in fall,dont shut off till warm out--Couple sheets of twisted up newspaper, a handfull of twigs, a Handfull of thumb sized squaw wood, and a couple chunks of wrist sized squaw wood.
Let it go for about 10Min, and toss in small splits of Sassafrass with the regular splits.
I also use table saw scraps when available.
2x4 ends kick things off real nice.
Walt,
Your BIL obviously has more $$$$ than sense.
Go easy on him. He dosn't know Chainsaws have a safe lifespan of 3 years... ya read it in consumers report magazine.
Stay safe!
Dingeryote
Don't tell him about my wax soaked sawdust cakes... he'll likely call these guys on me. --Ian
you got to be kidding me--for real???
mostly pitas---i have bro thats gots tooo much edumacation-----
Austin1
Addicted to ArboristSite
+1 on the top down method. I do not use kindling anymore as I tried Blue Ridges Wax produce boxes trick( everyone rep him for that) a year ago and it works so good.
Happy New years!
I have to go flip the back bacon I have frying on the wood stove for breakfast
I noticed that one fire starter sold in the stores is an alcohol gel (and it was quite expensive)....
So I tried some cheap 80% rubbing alcohol and it works great. Not too flammable, but will help to get kindling and papers going.
The alcohol I buy has a foil cover over the opening when you remove the cap. I take a ballpoint pen and make a tiny hole in the foil. Then when I squeeze the plastic bottle, a tiny stream shoots out. Thus I can use just a little and the bottle lasts longer.
Because this is not a gel, there is a danger of squirting on too much and it leaking out the bottom of the stove (and causing a fire under the stove). Only squirt the liquid on the wood / kindling / paper. And just a little is all that is needed.
And don't ever squirt it into a hot woodstove. Cold only. If you squirt it into a hot stove, then light it, there will be a BIG fireball which will come out of the woodstove and burn your arms / hands / hair on arms.
Only use the 80% rubbing alcohol. This has a bit of water in it making it safer. Don't use ANY OTHER type of alcohol as these can be VERY flammable.
Might want to experiment with this outside in the BBQ first and have a fire extinguisher handy.
So I tried some cheap 80% rubbing alcohol and it works great. Not too flammable, but will help to get kindling and papers going.
The alcohol I buy has a foil cover over the opening when you remove the cap. I take a ballpoint pen and make a tiny hole in the foil. Then when I squeeze the plastic bottle, a tiny stream shoots out. Thus I can use just a little and the bottle lasts longer.
Because this is not a gel, there is a danger of squirting on too much and it leaking out the bottom of the stove (and causing a fire under the stove). Only squirt the liquid on the wood / kindling / paper. And just a little is all that is needed.
And don't ever squirt it into a hot woodstove. Cold only. If you squirt it into a hot stove, then light it, there will be a BIG fireball which will come out of the woodstove and burn your arms / hands / hair on arms.
Only use the 80% rubbing alcohol. This has a bit of water in it making it safer. Don't use ANY OTHER type of alcohol as these can be VERY flammable.
Might want to experiment with this outside in the BBQ first and have a fire extinguisher handy.
gwiley
Addicted to ArboristSite
Please write us WHEN that foil seal fails and you squeeze 1/2 a bottle into your stove - keep a camera handy too
Seriously though, would it be too hard to put it in a squirt bottle, the kind with a trigger that can shoot a stream?
The good news is that alcohol is very volatile and will evaporate quickly, in the event of an overdose give it a few minutes and alls well.
WadePatton
ArboristSite Guru
Please write us WHEN that foil seal fails and you squeeze 1/2 a bottle into your stove - keep a camera handy too
Seriously though, would it be too hard to put it in a squirt bottle, the kind with a trigger that can shoot a stream?
The good news is that alcohol is very volatile and will evaporate quickly, in the event of an overdose give it a few minutes and alls well.
for dozens of years i've used drilled tops on rubbing alcohol and witch hazel and hydrogen peroxide etc. type of toiletries. the foil-only method will work, but i simply keep moving the old cap to the new bottle.
80%? never seen it. all i've seen is 50, 70, and 91% strengths of rubbing alky. i use 91 in place of deodorant, and in the shop.
a heated wire or nail will "drill" a nice hole in the top. experiment with different sizes and number of holes.
another trick for slowing bottle flow is to simply loosen the cap a bit and let fluid trickle over the cap. this is how i water my dogs on the trail when a bottle is what we have.
and heck yeah, keeping a few coals and refiring with a hunk of knotty cedar or two-by scraps is my preferred method.
zipper1081
ArboristSite Operative
I get all the scrap from a local saw mill that I want for FREE. But I have found that 2 squirts of hand sanitizer on the middle of a piece of wood works great. I also keep some in a squirt bottle. That stuff will light with one match.
PLAYINWOOD
ArboristSite Guru
Diesel fuel is much less volatile and but more aromatic.
Spray directly on the wood and let soak for a minute or two. I light a piece of rolled up newspaper and shut the door.
Works well
Spray directly on the wood and let soak for a minute or two. I light a piece of rolled up newspaper and shut the door.
Works well
gwiley
Addicted to ArboristSite
alderman
Addicted to ArboristSite
I get oven dried chips from the paper mill. Works great.
Rickochet
ArboristSite Operative
Walt41--- Is your BIL related to Clark Griswold's Cousin-in-Law on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation...... just thought there might be a correlation there!
Hilarious quote form CV----I can just imagine you saying this to your BIL on his visit------
Clark: Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?
Eddie: Naw, I'm doing just fine, Clark.
.:bang:
.
BlueRidgeMark
Addicted to ArboristSite
You got that right! I finally tried the top down method last week, and I don't think I'll ever go back!
I'm getting.... (are you ready for this?)
16 hour burn times!
That's with my Grandpa Bear Fisher, which can hold a LOT of wood. But by stuffing the thing full enough to leave me just a bit of room on top, then putting the coals or starter on top, I get it going and put a few more pieces on top of that. Damp it down, and in 16 hours I have a good bed of coals to start again. Shove the big ones to one side, clean out some ash, and start loading from one side.
It works GREAT!
I can only do that once a day. If I do the same in the morning, now I run out of wood at an awkward time of day. So, I do it once in the evening, then just load wood on top of the embers as needed during the day. Come evening, the cycle repeats.
Classic!! I am thinking of inviting him over to test the ice on my pond
WadePatton
ArboristSite Guru
speaking of rubbing sticks together...
today i was out there and saw an old dead cedar near a fencerow and thought--hey, more kindling. so i knocked a few chunks out of it.
put the saw up. went over and picked the pieces up---wtf??? it was heavy as hickory. and not red. smelled funny too---just like turpentine.
pitch pine? very rare here. burns like kerosene soaked socks. i'm going to "harvest" all of this stuff.
further research leads me to longleaf pine "fatwood" as most probable. don't known much about them piney trees...i've always lived in the redcedar hills. pine grows here, but only if you plant it.
today i was out there and saw an old dead cedar near a fencerow and thought--hey, more kindling. so i knocked a few chunks out of it.
put the saw up. went over and picked the pieces up---wtf??? it was heavy as hickory. and not red. smelled funny too---just like turpentine.
pitch pine? very rare here. burns like kerosene soaked socks. i'm going to "harvest" all of this stuff.
further research leads me to longleaf pine "fatwood" as most probable. don't known much about them piney trees...i've always lived in the redcedar hills. pine grows here, but only if you plant it.
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WadePatton
ArboristSite Guru
i borrowed that from an old southern smarty commentary that usually goes something like this: "kerosene soaked socks to keep the chiggers offa your candy arse."
:hmm3grin2orange:
