Kindling

I guess I'm a snob cuz I won't use printed newspaper. I use the blank stuff that movers use for packing and I use 4 sheets.

I split my kin'lin thinner than that but I use 6 pieces, criss-crossed on the diagonal. I then continue criss-crossing on the diagonal with the big pieces on top.

Mind you I don't have a Round Oak and my wood is cut to 20 inches. It was probably back in November that I last did that.

I might try a top down fire in the future since it seems to be all the rage and I won't know until I try. Mind you, I said that about holster housens too.

since this thread is on kindling. I wanted to ask a question. I do not have a stove yet I am going to get one this spring or early summer. Right now I have a prefab fireplace. I use what we call locally as fatlighter it comes from pine trees that have been cut years ago. As the tree lays in the woods the moisture from the ground keeps the resin in the wood. The outside may rot but the middle will be extremly easiy to light. I produces black smoke, will I still be able to use this in my new stove? I just need a few small pieces to get a fire going. I would think as long as I burned the fire hot to begin with it should not be a problem. What do the pros think?

I especially like the creative use of toilet paper rolls.
Keep on Burning

1/4 of a SuperCedar, some kindling, some splits...and Rascal has to approve before I proceed. Top-down or bottom-up, whatever suits my mood. I start a lot of fires from scratch, because of the way we burn and the fuel we have available, and the fact that I don't spend the night in my workshop (yet). The only time I mess with newspaper is when I do the crossword puzzle. Rick

It was a nice warm day today so I knocked off a 5 gallon pail of kin'lin. I set aside some straight grained Ash for kin'lin about 6 years ago so it's as dry as it'll ever be.

As I've gone through my woodpile this winter I've tossed some smaller, lighter stuff aside. Will split it this spring for cold starts next winter. We burn on weekends and vacations and the occasional exceptionally cold weeknight, so I do more cold starts than others might thus need more kindling. I bought a few bags of fatwood at Lowes recently and as mentioned it goes up fast and helps get the bigger stuff going.

jackpine said:

...We get a daily newspaper and the political forums get burned in the stoves, fireplace or use to wrap fish guts in. The rest is recycled.

Click to expand...

Oh, we get a paper every day, as well, and for pretty much my whole life up until about a year ago, it played the traditional role in my fire-starting technique. Last season I started burning for primary heat, and burning in two woodstoves pretty much every day. My little shop stove burns maybe 10 hours/day, while the larger stove in the house burns maybe 14-16. Because all we have available here in Central Oregon are softwoods, it's tough to get anything approaching an overnight burn even in the big Lopi Liberty in the house...and I'm not gonna get up at 3 or 4 every morning to reload. That's what electric blankets are for. Some mornings there are coals left for a re-start in the Liberty, some mornings not. Never in the shop stove, as it's small, and I don't stuff it full for an overnight because that would be a waste of wood, since I don't spend my nights out there, so it burns out and sits for 14 hours or so until the next morning. So, in my case, I find myself starting at least one, and oftentimes two, stoves from "cold" every morning. I got tired of the newspaper routine because of the time invloved and the ink on my hands (even tried the "bow-tie" thing for a while). For burners like me and my wife, the SuperCedar firestarters are a perfect solution. Simple, quick, clean, effective. Our newspaper gets recycled in its entirety. If our burning habits were different, or we had different firewood at our disposal, perhaps we'd do things differently. Rick

I am installing a Hearthstone Eq. In the stove instructions it says not to use kiln lumber from the lumber yard. I was planning on cutting up some 2x4s to get the fire going. Also said no lighter fluid. What problem does that cause? Sure is a lot different than the old smoke dragon

Kiln lumber is treated with chemicals. There are a lot of people that are not concerned about that and burn all manner of mill ends and pallets.

Wow, just a common 2x2,,,2x4 . What do they do to it. Would they be for insects?

LLigetfa said:

http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/homillends.htm

Click to expand...

Thanks, I want to get started the right way!

I don't use kindling. I just put 6 or 8 splits in, and tuck a super cedar fire starter down low somewhere.

Works great!

-SF