Accessories you wouldn't do without

[tickbitty]

Probably a stupid question, but why fish them out and not just dump them with the ash?

How to get them out and what to do with them then, they are different questions, no?

Yeah.... ?
Sorry, dense here.

 

[keydiver]

Kids! Do I need to say more?

 

[slinger646]

1. Beat up old poker - Unk. Origin
2. Behren's 10 Gal Ash Can
3. Behren's 31 Gal Ash Can
4. Corn Whisk Broom
5. Gigantic Claw-Tongs - Unk. Origin
6. Summer's Supply of Newspaper
7. Thermometers
8. Ramp for wheeling wood cart onto porch, avoiding steps.
9. Muck Boots for getting wood
10. "The Oops Can" - A Water Type Fire Extinguisher

 

[keydiver]

To help stack wood. Move wood from wood pile to deck in the event of a major snow dump. To bring wood in either from deck or wood pile. To bring ash can up to the deck and take it back down. To load split wood into truck. To load split wood into wheel barrow to move splits to truck and toss into truck and stack for compactness.

Cheap trips to dairy queen for kids labor? PRICELSS!

 

[velvetfoot]

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...t=Pricegrabber2&cm_pla=Category&cm_ite=172916

I use it to move wood from the garage to the house.
It looks good enough to leave it parked by the stove without more wood handling.

 

[MarcM]

A magnet for fishing out nails and staples (some of my kindling is from pallets and construction scrap wood).

Probably a stupid question, but why fish them out and not just dump them with the ash?
I bought and sold an old hearthstone without ever using it, I found a TON of nails in it when I cleaned it! But I just dumped them like the rest of the stuff into the holes the dogs dug in the yard! (Maybe I shouldn't have... they were deep holes though...)

I put my ashes on my garden for fertilizer and on my driveway when it freezes up in the winter. Don't want to puncture a car tire or a tractor tire so I can't have nails in my ashes.

 

[MarcM]

Must have accessory: 70+cc chainsaw. Does that count as an accessory?

 

[firefighterjake]

I forgot a couple of things I am going to add this year:

I have the Oslo. Somewhere in the posts someone using an Oslo said they added just a loose strip of gasket material between the door and the interior to catch loose ashes that would otherwise fall out the door when loading or cleaning the glass.

Also, another tip someone else mentioned: Place a cookie sheet just under your wood burner door so when opening the door wayward ashes fall on to the cookies - makes for easier cleanup.

Shari

Mental note: Do not eat the cookies from Shari when she ships me a batch this Christmas.

 

[firefighterjake]

I'm guessing you are looking more for woodstove accessories and not things like chainsaws, splitter, pulp hook, etc.

If this is the case . . .


Things I would not do without

#1: Thermometers . . . especially my Condar probe thermometer. I use this a lot to maintain good temps.
#2: Welding gloves . . . blisters and burns are not fun . . . and I like the ability to reach in and move the wood around on the hot coals if need be.
#3: Shovel . . . to aid in clean out and to move the occasional split.
#4 Woodbox . . . it's so much nicer to have a place to store the day's wood in a neat, out-of-sight place


Things that I use that are not crucial, but I like

-- IR gun . . . nice to double check things when it seems the stove top temp is going hot


Things I like . . . but wish they were better

-- Steamer for my potpourri . . . the enamel in this cheap steamer is peeling off in places . . . but I do like the ability to have potpourri simmering on the stove top
-- Canvas carrying bag for the wood . . . it works well enough, but seems as though it could be better designed with a few alterations


Things I could do without

-- The broom in my set of short-handled tools . . . it's awkward to use (I usually use a cheap plastic brush and dust pan in its place)
-- Long handled poker . . . my wife wanted this . . . so I bought it . . .but rarely use it

 

[Badfish740]

To answer questions about the gloves (Treacherous and Oldspark) they are typically used in foundry type settings where you're dealing with serious heat and the potential need to grab/reposition very hot pieces of metal. Here's one source I found-not sure if they sell direct:

http://www.newtex.com/ExtremeProtective/Gloves_Mitts/100_Series_Zetex/

I can't divulge my source because they were purchased for me by someone who works at a company that supplies such things. Employees get stuff at cost but are not supposed to purchase on behalf of others. Normally they sell for around $90 but I got them for considerably less. I like them because the Englander has a pretty large firebox so reaching in with both hands is easy. Rather than trying to manipulate things at a distance via long metal tools I can actually grab a split, flip it over, etc...using my hands.

 

[PapaDave]

I forgot a couple of things I am going to add this year:

I have the Oslo. Somewhere in the posts someone using an Oslo said they added just a loose strip of gasket material between the door and the interior to catch loose ashes that would otherwise fall out the door when loading or cleaning the glass.

Also, another tip someone else mentioned: Place a cookie sheet just under your wood burner door so when opening the door wayward ashes fall on to the cookies - makes for easier cleanup.

Shari

Mental note: Do not eat the cookies from Shari when she ships me a batch this Christmas.

You know, you took the words (and those cookies) right out of my mouth. Thank you. :lol:
J/K

 

[madison]

Accessories I could not do without? Wife who ENJOYS stacking firewood! Priceless!

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

I agree with welding gloves, but not all are made the same. With you being a woman, you might have trouble finding a pair small enough to fit your hand. It would be better to try some on and get a feel of them. Some are made with a heavier leather and more heat resistance.

And some are made from Zetex

Blatant overkill I know, but I got a really good discount on them and I can literally rearrange flaming logs in the firebox with no tools whatsoever.

Fish,
After all that work getting a picture of YOU with your gloves on you couldn't get all of yourself in the pic???
awe....

 

[Shari]

I forgot a couple of things I am going to add this year:

I have the Oslo. Somewhere in the posts someone using an Oslo said they added just a loose strip of gasket material between the door and the interior to catch loose ashes that would otherwise fall out the door when loading or cleaning the glass.

Also, another tip someone else mentioned: Place a cookie sheet just under your wood burner door so when opening the door wayward ashes fall on to the cookies - makes for easier cleanup.

Shari

Mental note: Do not eat the cookies from Shari when she ships me a batch this Christmas.

You know, you took the words (and those cookies) right out of my mouth. Thank you. :lol:
J/K

Okay, okay! I goofed when I wrote it! Should have said: "Place a cookie sheet just under your wood burner door so when opening the door wayward ashes fall on to the cookie sheet - makes for easier cleanup.

Ha! Ha!

Shari

 

[allhandsworking]

Accessories, oh gosh, let's see. Well, there's my man purse, of course (can't leave home without it). Oh, and my earrings. I have a couple of belts I really like. Oh, and hats...I love hats. I have all kinds of hats. And I have some absolutely dreamy shoes. Oh, wait!...no!...you're talking about woodburning accessories. Hmmm...nevermind, TMI, sorry. :red: Rick

I just pissed myself!

 

[spirilis]

welp with my setup, here's the necessities I use:

1. long iron poker for the Defiant when using the side door
2. short iron poker and tongs upstairs for the Defiant and downstairs for the Jotul
3. IR thermometer
4. 2 coal hod buckets for carrying my WoodBrickFuel
5. small coal bucket with a spout which I use for transporting ashes
6. coal shovel for shoveling ashes
7. galvanized metal can outside for storing ashes
8. portable vacuum for spilled ashes/sawdust from the woodbrickfuel/etc.
9. SuperCedars
10. firestarter gel
11. grill lighter
12. Carbon Monoxide monitor (I have a scientific/industrial type that's accurate down to 1ppm)

for non-burning season use:
1. chimney brush
2. chimney rods
3. drop light and long 100ft extension cord so I can get up on the roof and do a brief inspection
4. ladder
5. plastic brush on a long plastic handle for scrubbing stovepipe and inside thimbles (I don't use chimney brushes for that, figure it's easy enough to do by hand)
6. drill with wire wheel brush (for cleaning soot/creosote off the iron castings inside the stove)

 

[spirilis]

oh yeah, and I like to pull macgyver stunts with aluminum foil. sometimes fold a sheet of it and put it under the supercedar and woodbrickfuel teepee and it seems to start faster (observed this with campfires too) and sometimes putting a folded sheet near a smoldering dead zone in the firebox helps revitalize it and get it flaming. probably not a big deal for modern firebrick-lined stoves though

 

[PapaDave]

Shari, we KNEW what it should have said,...but that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun. ;-P
On a side note to that, my wife would never let me put the cookie sheet back in the kitchen, once used on the hearth. She's kinda' picky like that.
The thing about that is, I'm the cook, most of the time.

 

[firefighterjake]

Shari, we KNEW what it should have said,...but that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun. ;-P
On a side note to that, my wife would never let me put the cookie sheet back in the kitchen, once used on the hearth. She's kinda' picky like that.
The thing about that is, I'm the cook, most of the time.

Not me . . . I'm looking forward to tasting of Shari's Ash Can Cookies . . . or at least seeing a picture of them . . . I can only imagine they look like sugar cookies with a bit of ash and wood coal sprinkled on top in place of sugar.

 

[Shari]

Not me . . . I'm looking forward to tasting of Shari's Ash Can Cookies . . . or at least seeing a picture of them . . . I can only imagine they look like sugar cookies with a bit of ash and wood coal sprinkled on top in place of sugar.

Aw, come on now FF, you just know ashes from a blue/black Oslo taste better than ashes from a flat black Oslo. (Dig, dig!)

All in fun, you know!

Shari

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I don't use gloves or a thermometer, so I'll say an ash shovel, and a broom. That's really it.

 

[firefighterjake]

Not me . . . I'm looking forward to tasting of Shari's Ash Can Cookies . . . or at least seeing a picture of them . . . I can only imagine they look like sugar cookies with a bit of ash and wood coal sprinkled on top in place of sugar.

Aw, come on now FF, you just know ashes from a blue/black Oslo taste better than ashes from a flat black Oslo. (Dig, dig!)

All in fun, you know!

Shari

Geez . . . now you're just being hurtful.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Great thread! Picked up a few new ideas here.

I really need to get over to Harbor Freight and buy a cheapie pair of welding gloves.


Things I use heavily and really seem to need for burning season:

*Set of long scissor tongs. Bought at Walmart, of all places. Really work great.
Much better than the el cheapo lightweight ones that come with most fireplace sets.
The splits I throw in often land where they want instead of where I want.
That'll show 'em. ;-)

*Probe thermometer. Running without one would remind me of trying to drive your car blind.
(Insert owners: disregard)

*Rectangular kitty litter buckets. They hold just enough wood to not be extremely heavy,
Being square, they nest real close, pack together good, store the splits vertically so I
get more in less floor space. Real handy to take outside for a few day's supply of wood.

*The usual ash shovel and poker- but the stupid brush rarely gets used. Awkward.

*A good broom, dustpan, and shop brush. Constantly cleaning up small debris, ash, etc.

*A wood rack built from 2x4's that holds 3-7 days worth of splits, depending on weather.

*A couple of Chimfex. It just makes me feel, uh, a little bit safer somehow.
I kind of like the wet newspaper in plastic idea, too. Need to think some more on that.
Yes, I have a dry chemical extinguisher FWIW.

*2-1/2 gallon galvanized bucket and a rag bath towel. For occasional ash removal.
Wet the towel, place over bucket. Draw back briefly, only as each shovelfull goes in.
Prevents most airborne ash, compared with not using towel.

*Kerosene-soaked pine cones. Poor man's Super Cedars. They work.

*Lots of 'splitter trash' for tinder. Mine is mostly Oak. Works great.

Wow- we all use a heck of a lot of accessory stuff!