fire starters

[taskswap]

We don't mess about with candles. I tried it once and it works great, but too much work for me. Besides, we never seem to have "old" candles. We use them a lot just for fun - winter games night with the kids.

Aside from saving the "splinters", I leave a "top" lying out in the sun until it's brittle, then the kids break it up into twigs. That takes a few hours and we're ready for winter. We fill a few Rubbermaid tubs of those and they dry out in a hurry. Believe it or not, elm seems to make the best here - its twigs are nice and straight and you can really fill a bucket with them. Oak and Maple get all scraggly. As the tubs empty I use them to save the (cooled) ash for the garden - and the cycle repeats.

For tinder, I LOVE shredded newspaper - it's 10x better than scrunched up. We get plenty of free newsprint from those circulars you get in the mail from the grocery store, and I own a small paper shredder anyway. A few papers will fill several boxes and it lasts a long time - at least twice as long as if you balled it up. And it only takes a few minutes to do.

Lighting goes real quick. A handful of shreds, handful of twigs, and a few thumb-thickness sticks, chuck that in and drop some small splits loosely on top. 30 seconds, and if there's even a single small coal left in there, she's lit without even a match.

Only trouble we've had is with this wacky winter: we're into less-seasoned wood and even wax firelighters are having trouble with it. I'm thinking of trying one of those Looftlighters - anybody ever use one? Not exactly free, but they look awesome and I could use it for the grill, too. I mean, I could sit there with a propane torch but I kinda like the idea of keeping propane out of the basement, you know?

 

[Hellbent]

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.

Ditto! they sure do work great.

I like the idea of noodling the pine though, maybe I'll try doing that with cedar and selling them as aromatherapy firestarters... HMM, a plan is forming

 

[reaperman]

Newspaper on bottom, split some splits into small strips, diesel fuel and a trigger torch. I light a new fire every day, this is by far the most efficient/quickest way to get one started. So far this winter I've only gone thru a 1 1/2 quarts of diesel, and no it doesn't stink up anything After about minute or two, I can add full size splits.

 

[MuskokaSplitter]

Egg cartons, newspaper,dryer lint, and Pine scraps.

Usually one or two of the above.

 

[reddogrunner]

The scraps from cutting, splitting and stacking and loading all provide m with the amount of starting material I could ever want. We have plenty of feed bags on hand from the dogs and horses, so I store that stuff in the barn high and dry with an open bag top. After several months I staple the mouth closed. Firewood customers get abag or two with every order. I have a bin in the house these bags slide right down in and all you need is ahandful or two with a couple crumpled up wads of newspaper. Free and abundant.

 

[Jredsjeep]

a few scraps, a shot of lamp oil and a hit from the propane torch.

i was making the fire starters from old candles, dryer lint, saw dust and egg cartons but ran out of old candles. now with the lamp oil it is even faster and easier.

 

[Dr. Hackemoff]

My wife just made another 72 using livestock bedding chips (still on the same "bale" bought 15 years ago, muffin cups, wax, topped with a few noodles for easy starting. She loves it as a hobby.

BTW shop thrift stores for old candles. The partially burned ones are dirt cheap.

 

[Mike-M]

You guys ever make napalm from gas and styrofoam when you were a kid? I use that, about a teaspoon worth. It does smell bad for a minute or 3, but its free so its for me.