Starting a fire

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This year switched from newspaper and kindling to Rutland firestarters(Home Depot). I put a few small kindling pieces on the bottom, and cross-stack a few small splits, stacked as high as my stove will let me. I rip one small firestarter square in half, placing one half on the left side and one half on the right,inside the pile. Light it and close door, with air-supply wide open. As soon as the fire begins to spread- I open the door an inch for 3-4 minutes. This really gets all the wood blazing at once. Shut the door and wait 10 minutes, and close the air by 1/3. Wait 5 more minutes,and close air by another 1/3. Adjust according to taste and conditions. This method never fails, and I have never had a fire die out, or even struggle. The wife was taught to do it this way, but she has a mind of her own. Go figure. She gets the job done,too,though. ;-)
 
Top down method for the last three years. Works every time. 2- large splits on bottom (E-W) than 3 shorter and slightly smaller splits N-S than final 2-3 splits (E-W) on top usually these pieces are small like 2inch x 2 inch or if larger I will add some shreads from the log splitting operation. Icing on the wood is 1/3 of a fire starter. Usually the piece is 2inch chunk.

Light the starter and usually crack the door like most others for 15 minutes and watch it go. Few times I have had smoke back in the house but thats due to my outside 2 story flue needing to heat up.
 
My lopi doesn't seem to get enough air unless I clean the ash out daily. I've tried not cleaning it, but this is what works for me. I have only burned the cherry I have, so maybe it will change with different wood.

Anyway, we/i have to clean it and relight it daily when we get home from work. My wife is better at it than I, but she is usually feeding my baby daughter at this point, so I do it. Otherwise, she will just turn up the thermostat for lack of time.

After more failures than successes, I ordered super cedars and now its fast and easy.

I break them in 3 pieces and figure it costs 25 cents per lighting. Much better than fighting newspaper, etc...for 45 minutes when now, I've cleaned and lit the stove and have eaten dinner by then.
 
N.B. WebMaster et. al.
Cancel your subscriptions to the Boston Globe, NY Times, Huffington Post......worthless for fire starting, besides other reasons.
Start reading a wondrous burnable : The Wall Street Journal. More BTUs/page that any other rag; it's a fact ! :roll:
There's so much to ponder, inform, enlighten (sic "enlighten"), that we are at least 3-4 days behind.
 
I'm the kindling splitter of the house and thus feel I can use as much as I want but give my husband a hard time for using too much when he starts it :)

Top down is the way to go here, some kindling and 1 piece of fatwood under the smallest layer of kindling instead of newspaper.

Easy as pie....now if only I had felt that way the FIRST year I heated the house with wood!
 
Battenkiller said:
woodjack said:
I'm a kindling and newspaper guy. I feel like I'm cheating when I use factory made fire starters.
Click to expand...

I feel like I'm cheating when I don't rub two sticks together. :cheese:
Click to expand...

I feel like I am cheating if I don't run around in the yard in a loincloth with a dry stick over my head waiting for lightning to strike it and start it.

OK, not really. I just walk around. I quit running when I retired from the Army.

OK, not really, I use the superceders, 1/4 of one up in a pile of medium large splits, light, close door, in 10-15 we got a full on fire going.
 
Two medium splits N/S, two E/W and 1/2 of a Supercedar. I love not having to split kindling or use newspaper anymore. It's so easy I feel like I am cheating. I converted my parents who are 50 year wood burners to using Super Cedars.
 
PapaDave said:
firefighterjake said:
PapaDave said:
Bobbin, my wife likes to think of the stove as a furnace that you have to put wood into. In other words, put the wood in at the last minute, leave the air wherever it happens to be, close the door and walk away! :ahhh: She's actually had some good successes with that approach...somehow.
I, however, prefer not having to clean the flue every day or two, so I tend to pay more attention to how the stove is run. I do look at it as an appliance, just not as if it's a toaster.
I've been using too much kindling and paper trying to get the flue warmed up for a good draft, and really hope the colder weather will allow that to change.
With all that said, I'm the fire starter and fire maintenance guy and everything else unless I happen to be out for the day. After getting the old stove repaired and changing gaskets, I still have what seems to be a small leak in the door gasket. Stove is easier to control, but still wants to run on the wild side. Changing the gasket in a day or so.
ALWAYS trying to run the stove a little more efficiently. Must come from working with the Japanese, or I'm just competitive by nature. Kaisan, or continual improvement, is their mantra, although I used to call it constant pain.
Just get good and efficient at something and they wanted to change it again. I do it anyway.
Long winded reply, maybe Jake and I are related? %-P
Click to expand...

We're not long-winded . . . we just happen to have a lot to say. ;) :)
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Jake, glad you're able to take a ribbing,...good deal.
The bold reminds me of a beatles song...
" I imagine she's a pretty nice girl,
but, she doesn't have a lot to say"
For us, it would be...
" I imagine he's a pretty nice guy,
but he suure has a lot to say"
Click to expand...

Usually when I get going my wife says I am "waxing" . . . which I suppose is a nice way of saying "droning on and on about nothing." :) ;)
 
woodjack said:
firefighterjake said:
PapaDave said:
Bobbin, my wife likes to think of the stove as a furnace that you have to put wood into. In other words, put the wood in at the last minute, leave the air wherever it happens to be, close the door and walk away! :ahhh: She's actually had some good successes with that approach...somehow.
I, however, prefer not having to clean the flue every day or two, so I tend to pay more attention to how the stove is run. I do look at it as an appliance, just not as if it's a toaster.
I've been using too much kindling and paper trying to get the flue warmed up for a good draft, and really hope the colder weather will allow that to change.
With all that said, I'm the fire starter and fire maintenance guy and everything else unless I happen to be out for the day. After getting the old stove repaired and changing gaskets, I still have what seems to be a small leak in the door gasket. Stove is easier to control, but still wants to run on the wild side. Changing the gasket in a day or so.
ALWAYS trying to run the stove a little more efficiently. Must come from working with the Japanese, or I'm just competitive by nature. Kaisan, or continual improvement, is their mantra, although I used to call it constant pain.
Just get good and efficient at something and they wanted to change it again. I do it anyway.
Long winded reply, maybe Jake and I are related? %-P
Click to expand...

We're not long-winded . . . we just happen to have a lot to say. ;) :)
Click to expand...

Other than starting and putting out fires, what I learn from Jake is how to be a nice guy. ;-)
Click to expand...

NO NO NO . . . I'm not a nice guy . . . I'm a bad @$$ . . . bad to the bone . . . a rebel without a clue . . . a real bad boy with no morels (wife ate them on her pizza the other night) . . . really . . . I'm not nice . . . sometimes I burn pine in my woodstove and I like burning elm. See, I told you I'm bad . . . very bad. ;) :)
 
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