Cheap firestarter

[nate379]

So I bought a box of firelogs for $26.

Open the bag off the logs, run through the table saw to cut in 1/2 and then again to make ~1" pucks and boom I have about 230 of them. Total cost per, just over $0.10

 

[jebatty]

That is cheap, compared to other purchased firestarters, and it's clean and easy. Great idea. Perhaps I'm a greater tightwad, though. After splitting wood, I gather up the inevitable scraps, errant splits, break-offs, branch trimmings missed earlier, and some small rounds for pieces cut too big, and I throw them all on the floor in an old shed. They dry quickly. A small handful of this stuff, with two sheets of rolled and knotted newspaper, top-down method, a match, and instant fire. Cost: $0.00.

 

[nate379]

I have about 1/4 cord of spruce for kindleing, but I am finding it is still hard to get going for some reason. It sometimes takes 3-4 goes with newspaper to get it to catch. Even 2x4 and 2x6 scraps from building my shed (pieces no longer than 3-4") are hard to get going. I don't know if it's just newspaper I have or what?

I just throw in a firestarter along with a sheet or two of newspaper, throw the kindling on top and it burns without much trouble.


Not sure what top down is, but I have been burning wood since I was a little kid (folks heat their home with wood).
Always have crumpled up 3-4 sheets of newspaper, built a little "house" over it and light.

 

[nate379]

Oh, I wouldn't do this on a expensive table saw. My saw is just one of those $200 "contractor" units with an $8 blade, so I don't worry too much. I have cut aluminum sheet on it before even!

 

[missing link]

I use pine cones to start a fire ,there dry and crispy & get the job done
ML

 

[Battenkiller]

Not sure what top down is, but I have been burning wood since I was a little kid (folks heat their home with wood).
Always have crumpled up 3-4 sheets of newspaper, built a little "house" over it and light.

Yup, done it that way since I lit my first fire after we moved to the country when I was eight. Taught that way by the Boy Scouts as well. Works fast and works good. But top-down is my new chosen method. Always works and makes little or no smoke. All stoves make smoke until you engage the cat/secondaries. Top-down method is better just because it makes less smoke.

Put three big splits on the bottom, several smaller splits on top of those, some small dry kindling on top of that. Take two or three sheets of newspaper and roll them corner-to-corner, then tie the roll in a single overhand knot. Put them on top of the wood, strike a match to the paper, close the door, open the air and walk away. Come back in _____ minutes and adjust the air, engage the cat or whatever your particular stove requires. Should burn for hours. Try it, it works.

Personally, I won't use the method much because once I start there is fire in the firebox 24/7. But since you mentioned you made a gazillion firestarters, I'll assume you will be lighting a new fire every day. And since you are using a combo of newspaper and firestarter (don't know why), just skip the firestarter entirely and go with only newspaper.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I have about 1/4 cord of spruce for kindleing, but I am finding it is still hard to get going for some reason. It sometimes takes 3-4 goes with newspaper to get it to catch. Even 2x4 and 2x6 scraps from building my shed (pieces no longer than 3-4") are hard to get going. I don't know if it's just newspaper I have or what?

I just throw in a firestarter along with a sheet or two of newspaper, throw the kindling on top and it burns without much trouble.


Not sure what top down is, but I have been burning wood since I was a little kid (folks heat their home with wood).
Always have crumpled up 3-4 sheets of newspaper, built a little "house" over it and light.

To the OP, that way will work fine and it is hard to say that a dime would be expensive for lighting a fire!

Nate, I too have burned wood for a long, long time and always used paper to light the fire. I have graduated now to Super Cedars starting with this year and glad that I have because now the wife can even get a fire going. She always had problems the other way but now all is well. We too break down the super cedars so we get more than one fire from each. I break them into quarters.

I didn't know what a top-down fire was either but found that I've almost always used sort of a version of it. If there are no coals, I like to put two splits on the bottom so they are fairly tight together. Then I place a super cedar. On this I put kindling (made from soft maple). Then the super cedar is touched off with a match and two more small splits are laid on top of the kindling. The door gets closed and all is well.

 

[Battenkiller]

I didn't know what a top-down fire was either but found that I've almost always used sort of a version of it. If there are no coals, I like to put two splits on the bottom so they are fairly tight together. Then I place a super cedar. On this I put kindling (made from soft maple). Then the super cedar is touched off with a match and two more small splits are laid on top of the kindling. The door gets closed and all is well.

Cool. So you've invented a hybrid firestarting method. Should work great in the new hybrid Woodstock. ;-)

 

[nate379]

The Super Cedars work well but they are fairly expensive to start out with. After trying to order a case and getting tagged with more shipping, I decided it wasn't worth the cost.

Newspaper only doesn't work.. it doesn't get hot long enough to get the wood going. I don't know if with the flue cold there isn't enough draft or what... really hard to say.

First year I have the stove so I'm not sure how I will need to go with keeping a fire in it. I know the last couple weeks I have been fine with every other day, but it has only been in the 20s-30s outside. If I keep a fire going the whole time I have all he doors and windows open cause it's 90* in teh house!... not to mention wasting wood!

If I don't use all teh firestarters this winter there is always next year or the year after.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Nate, I don't believe there is a shipping charge for the Super Cedars and Tom was giving a 10% off to hearth.com members. That might have ended Oct. 1 but I'd have to look that up to be sure. There was a code to enter to get the 10% off. With that and no shipping and no sales tax, it made the deal quite low in cost.

With the flue cold and the outdoor temperature not that low it can be a bit more difficult to get a fire going. If you can get your hands on some small pine or even some pine cones that might give you the assist you need. I use soft maple for kindling as it dries fast in storage. Then when it burns, it burns hot and fast. That gets the draft going rather nicely. Some have graduated to not using kindling but I feel it will get the fire going quicker and easier with the kindling.

As for the hot house, remember that you do not have to fill the firebox to get a good fire. The trick is a small but hot fire. This is the time of year we usually burn the lesser woods, like popple, pine, bass, etc.; the softer woods. We save the real hard stuff for mid-winter. Another trick we use is to burn the odd shaped wood in spring and fall. With a small fire, it works pretty good to set an odd shaped piece or two on top. Sometimes we'll even just throw in wood chips that the wife picks up after I get done splitting wood. It gives a hot and quick fire, just enough to take the chill off.

 

[amateur cutter]

FWIW, I use saw noodles, & splitter shrapnel, & the bigger splits on the bottom. Works well for me. A C

 

[woodjack]

. . . I am finding it is still hard to get going for some reason. It sometimes takes 3-4 goes with newspaper to get it to catch. Even 2x4 and 2x6 scraps from building my shed (pieces no longer than 3-4") are hard to get going. I don't know if it's just newspaper I have or what?

Nate
Are you cracking your stove door open? You should to give it some air, otherwise it's likely to smolder and die.
JUST DON'T LEAVE THE STOVE DOOR OPEN AND WALK AWAY. If you have a packed stove the fire can take off and then you'll have the opposite problem on your hands - too much fire!

 

[Badfish740]

One of the byproducts of fueling my truck with vegetable oil (see my signature line) is used filter cartridges. For the rough filtering (getting small bits of fries/breading out) I use a 150 micron string wound cotton filter with a stainless steel core. They're great for quick hot burns in the morning. No ill effects on the chimney either as long as you keep the air opened up. I just fish the core out with the nails from the pallet wood.

 

[albertj03]

So I bought a box of firelogs for $26.

Open the bag off the logs, run through the table saw to cut in 1/2 and then again to make ~1" pucks and boom I have about 230 of them. Total cost per, just over $0.10

I don't get it, maybe because I've never seen a fire log before, but how do you get 230 of these by making 2 cuts?? I must be missing something.

 

[Bubbavh]

I would think a band saw or recip. saw or even hack saw would waste much less log. You lose 1/8" per cut so every 8 cuts and you lose a puck with the table saw!

 

[maverick06]

This is what I use for firestarters. But I use a hammer and chissel to break them into 1" cubes. They gummed up the blade on my bandsaw.

Works well and cheap, i suggest it!

 

[Ratman]

So I shouldn't be using my daughter's hairspray...

 

[vvvv]

light microwaving of Supercedars softens & allows for knife cutting, try with firestarters?

 

[zr2yz125]

I take the chainsaw and make some "rip" cuts into a large hickory round. Makes these 6" long wood chips (is this what you mean by noodles?) I walked in the house last nite with a handful of these - wife asked me why I was bringing a bird nest into the house...

Long shavings + some newspaper and splits = first nite of shoulder season.

 

[latitude45]

I make 2x3in chunks of Cardboard and soak them in old candle wax.

 

[Gator eye]

I make small kindling pieces out of cedar, lay em on a couple of splits, light em up with a small propane torch, add a few more small splits, close door and I'm done. Cost nothing but a little time spent splitting up the cedar into kindlin and putting it into five gallon buckets for storage.

Cedar has a nice smell to it when it first starts burning.

 

[Battenkiller]

Newspaper only doesn't work.. it doesn't get hot long enough to get the wood going. I don't know if with the flue cold there isn't enough draft or what... really hard to say.

Nate, I don't know what to say about that. Here's a video I made last month of me getting a fire going it my outdoor chiminea. It only has a 3' tall chimney, and it was cold to start. Warm outside as well.

Arrange wood as shown, put newspaper bows on top, light and walk away. Look at the top of the stack at time elapsed 4:39. Not a hint of smoke to be seen. Fire burned for almost two hours in this open burner with only about 12 pounds of wood. Never saw smoke from the chimney at any time during the burn. They basically always burn that way in my experience.

 

[yanksforever]

No Thanks...I'll stay with my SuperCedars...they are much better!

 

[par0thead151]

I am sold on the propane plumbers torch.
i can get a fire lit in a minute or two max.
leave the door open a crack, and go put together my lunch for the day(kitchen has a view of the fireplace) and by the time lunch is packed, i close the door, with air on high. then i shut down the air to low before leaving for work.
takes no time at all.
i cant imagine starting the fire with kindling, pine cones,expensive fire starters, etc.
i used one 1# container of propane last season, and they come in a 4 pack for 4-5$
the time i save with the torch would make it worth using even if it was 20$ a 1# jug.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I am sold on the propane plumbers torch.
i can get a fire lit in a minute or two max.
leave the door open a crack, and go put together my lunch for the day(kitchen has a view of the fireplace) and by the time lunch is packed, i close the door, with air on high. then i shut down the air to low before leaving for work.
takes no time at all.
i cant imagine starting the fire with kindling, pine cones,expensive fire starters, etc.
i used one 1# container of propane last season, and they come in a 4 pack for 4-5$
the time i save with the torch would make it worth using even if it was 20$ a 1# jug.

Let's check that expensive stuff.

Each propane bottle cost $1.25 plus tax.

We use about 6 super cedars in that same time span and this gives us 24 fire starts. Cost is less than $.17 for each fire we start that way. So 24 fires @ .17 = so our cost is about a dollar.

Which is more "expensive?"