fire starters
- Thread starter cat-face timber
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Cheesecutter
Addicted to ArboristSite
I melt candles in an old frying pan then mix in dryer lint. I tear newspaper into 5"x5" squares and use them to line an old cupcake pan. it looks like something the cat gagged up after eating a mouse, but they sure do work. They are even waterproof, so they work great for camping. My buddy dips pinecones in candle wax, that also works. I like the paper cup idea. I've used cupcake liners but newspaper works just as good and its free.
jimbojango
ArboristSite Guru
my wife uses cardboard egg cartons and dryer lint. then pours old candle wax on top. break the carton apart and use 2 eggs worth every time with 2 fatwood stick (waste of money!) and some kindling
aaron
ArboristSite Operative
Super cedars
BillNole
ArboristSite Operative
I rake up after cutting and save the mess in tubs for kindling. Bark, chips, sticks, noodles, shavings, splinters and all.
I drop and handful in the fireplace and stack a few well place logs on top/around the little pile and hit it with a self starting torch, after pointing the lit torch up the chimney for 10-20 seconds to get a draw started. A good combination getting to the quickest, easiest, most effective method I've found.
My wife doesn't like the sound of the torch and prefers the old newspaper under the grate method her parents have used for half a century. Her's often start out a bit on the smokey side, but I dare not tell her she needs to heat the flue...
I drop and handful in the fireplace and stack a few well place logs on top/around the little pile and hit it with a self starting torch, after pointing the lit torch up the chimney for 10-20 seconds to get a draw started. A good combination getting to the quickest, easiest, most effective method I've found.
My wife doesn't like the sound of the torch and prefers the old newspaper under the grate method her parents have used for half a century. Her's often start out a bit on the smokey side, but I dare not tell her she needs to heat the flue...
mainewoods
Addicted to ArboristSite
Dry pine cones- dead pine limbs and egg cartons. Big wood on bottom, graduating to kindling on top. A few pine cones and half an egg carton on top of that. Light, and go get a cup of coffee.
stepup
ArboristSite Lurker
Toilet Paper Rolls stuffed with dryer lint.
fat lighter but if not available locally resinous pine cones work pretty well. Think I've started 2 fires this year, one before I went on vacation and one after!!! If you drain your bacon on paper towels they work pretty well also
woodchuck357
Addicted to ArboristSite
After watching yet another young stove salesman unsuccessfully try to demonstrate the kindling on top of logs method, I went home and did a little experimenting. The result is that to get a fire started that way requires use of enough kindling to raise the temperature of the fire box and contents to over 600 degrees fahrenheit so the wood gives of combustible gases. It works, but uses a lot more kindling than putting the kindling and fire starters under or between the logs.
One of the first demonstrations we were shown early in fire fighting class involved lighting two pieces of paper at the same time, one at the top and one at the bottom, to show the way fire naturally travels. Guess which paper burned up first.
One of the first demonstrations we were shown early in fire fighting class involved lighting two pieces of paper at the same time, one at the top and one at the bottom, to show the way fire naturally travels. Guess which paper burned up first.
Really???? I use splinters from splitting, pieces of bark, and maybe a old sales paper and a match. top with small splits and then bigger splits. I can usually pull enough splinters off the wood pile to have a roaring fire in just a few minutes.
Whenever I come across any cedar in shingles or in siding, I grab it and run. I cut it into about 10" lengths, have the kids split it into strips with their hatchets, and fill 5-gallon buckets. A small handful on top of newspaper does wonders.
brenndatomu
Hey you woodchucks, quit chucking my wood!
The top one?
my wife is always using the candle melt things (tea lights ??). I take those and put them in an old glass candle jar on the outer heat jacket of the stove and melt them down. I pour that over lint or sawdust in egg cartons. I did it 2 times this winter for a total of about 2 dozen eggs and they worked great.
cat-face timber
Knot Bumper
I tried my firestarter last night, and WOW, it sure worked good.
Very happy with the results.
Very happy with the results.
firebrick43
Life is all about big saws
We just purchase Fatwood. 4.99 of pure easy fire starting bliss. 2 little stick and 30 seconds with the propane torch. Suggested Fatwood to a Gentleman at work and at first he was happy. Couple weeks later he was causing me. His wife loved it and absolutely refused to start a fire any other way. Problem was she was using a handful for every fire, sometimes two. The amount that lasted us a month lasted them less than a week. Which reminds me. The stories I hear about others wives makes me realize I am the luckiest guy on earth for a beautiful woman that's got great common sense to boot!
I'm a dryer lint and egg carton guy. Looks ugly, but it's cheap.
I collect scraps of candles/wax/etc. and when I have enough, will make a few carton's worth.
It usually just takes one egg holder to start the fire.
I collect scraps of candles/wax/etc. and when I have enough, will make a few carton's worth.
It usually just takes one egg holder to start the fire.
Not sure what is "big bucks" in your world... but I spend something less than ten of 'em a year, and spend nearly no time on it at all.
No kindling, no noodles, no candle wax, no news paper...
I simply load the box with full-size splits, shove a golf-ball sized wad of lint between a couple bottom ones, squirt a couple tablespoons on the lint, flick the Bic... slam the door.
Requires all of 6-8 seconds, and ain't never failed to start a fire yet...
*
mainewoods
Addicted to ArboristSite
The day I pay for kindling or fire starters will be the day I quit burning wood. The forest is covered with it and it doesn't take much effort to collect it.
Fat lighter from LLbean or Plow & Hearth. Wait for the sales. LLbean ships free.
