Starting a fire every day

[Backus]

I cold start an EPA stove every morning in my shop. During the cold snap it gets down to 20 degrees or less in there overnight. Lots of kindling and a piece of birch bark.....I'm learning to get the epa stove hot almost as fast as the old cast iron stove that it replaced.

 

[ETpilot]

I'm in the same camp, light a fire every morning, house not too cold in morning. I keep a supply of newspaper which I get from the freebies around town. I also keep a box of cut up cardboard boxes that I get from the stores. To start a fire I ball up the newspaper put one layer in. Then I criss cross the cardboard strip; 2"x6-8". Then I load kindling with splits on top. When I light this off I get a roaring inferno within a minute. Having a good draft is important. Sometimes when fire is almost out, but with some coals, I put in some card board, kindling and light it off. It takes off pretty good too.

I read about those who leave a stove burning while gone from home. I just feel uneasy doing this. So, I do lots of restarts. Of course my weather is not as brutal as up north. Yesterday it actually snowed here. So I get to see snow on the wood pile, house supply is under cover.

 

[redfin]

I use noodles and thin cookies that i chunk into small pieces. i keep them on a 5 tier shelf about 6 feet from my firebox. Cherry cookies fire right off.

This gives me good reason to run my saws when im not out in the woods.

 

[esshup]

Lots of great ideas, some which I need to try! I will stop at a local cabinet shop, they put a rack of 1" dia pieces or less out about every 2 weeks. 12' pieces, maybe a pile 4'x3' diameter. One stop will usually get enough to last me 2 years. I've seen an outfitter pour 3-4 ounces of diesel on the wood before starting it, I've used pinecones and river birch with the bark on too. All work pretty durn well.

 

[Mad Professor]

I use my wife. That way I don't have to mess with it.

You did good.

 

[Cheesecutter]

One of the best firestarters I've ever used is dryer lint and melted candle mixed together and put into cardboard egg cartons. It looks like something a cat threw up, but they store forever, light if they get wet, and burn hot for 20 minutes or so. Cedar split to pencil size is super kindling.

 

[Cheesecutter]

I pick up candles at garage sales cheap. Dryer lint is easily obtained. The egg carton tears easily to make a dozen starters.

 

[jthornton]

jthornton,
Best thing to do is don't let it go out at night.

I don't want to waste the wood to heat it when no one is inside. In the morning the temperature is 60ish so comfortable enough to start my day.

JT

 

[haveawoody]

tbow388,

I use my wife. That way I don't have to mess with it.

LOL I use the same thing to start most of my fires also

One thing i find is if it's your time to start a fire be really bad at it and get a candle power fire going in 20 minutes or so, try using a lighter on a big piece of BL or put kindle on top of the wood and use 1/2 a bottle of propane trying to get it going.

Soon you will be deemed inept and removed from the fire starting process altogether

I handle a lot of the chores I'm given that way LOL

 

[haveawoody]

jthornton,

Ahh so not so cold at night then.
No point in keeping it going if it isn't cold at night.

 

[Whitespider]

Probably not real practical... but...
I use to deer hunt with this ol' boy, he always carried one of those plastic 35mm camera film cylinders packed tight with cotton balls slathered in Vaseline.
Damnedest thing... he could poke one or two of those among some wet sticks, light 'em, and have a fire goin' in no-time.
He'd use 'em for more than fire starter... he'd pull one out and wipe his hands down just before field dressing a deer, and the blood would near jump off his hands when he finished.
*

 

[haveawoody]

Whitespider,

Ahh a prison match

The old survival kit of cotton wool, steel wool, a 9v battery, Vaseline and a lens.
One way or another a fire gets started and protecting hands not to much better than Vaseline.

Nice to see at least a few people still have some survival skills.

My fire survival kit is a magnesium and flint keychain attachment.
Goes everywhere I go, you just never know when that one day will happen that life and death come down to a fire.

 

[7sleeper]

ditto to the noodles. Sometimes I noodle just to refill my supply. Let them dry in cardboard boxes and put them then in big plastic garbage bags. 1-2 Handfull is enough for starting.

7

 

[Bushmans]

I use my wife. That way I don't have to mess with it.

LOL My wife is a know it all and refuses to listen to me about how to run the wood stove. She is terrible at it. Just won't listen. Her idea of starting a fire is throwing splits in the cold box and walking away. She says for that amount of money it should light itself. (she really thinks the $400 I have invested in the stove is expensive!)

diesel soaked corn cobs

Oh man that is bad! I work with diesel at work and there isn't much worse than diesel on the hands. Sticks around for days!

 

[7sleeper]

.... (she really thinks the $400 I have invested in the stove is expensive!)

Let her pay for the heating bill....

7

 

[Big_Al]

Probably quote="KenJax Tree, post: 4664867, member: 78378"]I usually use $100 bills.


Sent from my Autotune Carb[/quote]

Probably cheaper than propane!

 

[unclemoustache]

Pine noodles are great, but I hardly ever get pine here.

Whenever I get the chance I use cedar - old roofing shakes, old siding, etc. Cut them into 8-inch-long pieces, and have the kids use hatchets to split them into thin strips, filling a 5-gal bucket. 5-6 of those on top of some newspaper, and light with a propane torch with a quick-lighting thingy.

Getting low on cedar, though. Enough to finish out the year, I think, but little else. Missed a chance on a good supply. Customer took off about 100 sq ft of siding, and I asked him if he had a use for it. He didn't, so I said I'd take it and use it for kindling. Works great for that. He said, "Hey wait a minute - I guess I do have a use for it after all - kindling!"

Oh well. I told him how to prepare it for the kids to split with hatchets. What a nice guy I am.

 

[flyboy553]

Pine noodles are great, but I hardly ever get pine here.

Whenever I get the chance I use cedar - old roofing shakes, old siding, etc. Cut them into 8-inch-long pieces, and have the kids use hatchets to split them into thin strips, filling a 5-gal bucket. 5-6 of those on top of some newspaper, and light with a propane torch with a quick-lighting thingy.

Getting low on cedar, though. Enough to finish out the year, I think, but little else. Missed a chance on a good supply. Customer took off about 100 sq ft of siding, and I asked him if he had a use for it. He didn't, so I said I'd take it and use it for kindling. Works great for that. He said, "Hey wait a minute - I guess I do have a use for it after all - kindling!"

Oh well. I told him how to prepare it for the kids to split with hatchets. What a nice guy I am.

That's okay, your no doubt nearly out of firewood anyway, so you won't be needing much more.

Ted

 

[ReggieT]

jthornton,

Best thing to do is don't let it go out at night.
Put a big block of wood on before you leave the shop, set the air so it's just burning and in the morning you should have some hot coals to start the next one.
American Elm works really well as a night block and makes for less splitting of a tough to split wood so kills 2 birds with one stone
If you make big blocks of elm that just fit in the stove they will burn for many hours.

For me when I do have to start a fire I have a couple short pieces on each side, a couple of thin splits on top of them in the opposite direction.
I make a mini log cabin sort of thing with kindle under it with some wood shavings in the middle, spark up the propane torch and off it goes in short time.
Most of my kindle comes from clean pallet runners or construction scrap, short 2x4s split up real easy and catch fire easy.
Stay away from painted or pressure treated wood for kindle and scraps are pretty much endless free supply.

The little plumbers propane torch kits are great, real inexpensive, starts a fire fast and with just a click and cheap replacement bottles.

The little plumbers propane torch kits are great, real inexpensive, starts a fire fast and with just a click and cheap replacement bottles.
Hmmm.....

 

[wareagle5.0]

i just use lighter wood. one match is all it takes. i thought everybody did it this way.