How many of you make your own kindlin? Shoulder season we go through the most. This past burning season we went through around a 40"X40"X36"H box full. How much do you all go through??
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I go through very little, but couldn't really guess at an amount. As for making it, I burn mostly ash so every once in a while when I see a perfectly straight grained piece I bust it up small. That and some bark that falls off and some sticks that land in my yard get me by. I think you're using a pretty reasonable amount. It doesn't sound like that much to me.
I keep 2 five gallon buckets full. Once one is gone, I start looking for an opportunity for the 4 year old to help me fill it and top off the second again.
As I burn, I set to the side splits that look like they will make nice kindling(dead straight will split easy), then start going through them as needed.
I do the splitting, boy decides if they are small enough to go in the bucket or hands them back to me.
Someone else on this site shared this great video some time back. Never tried this process but might some time.
pen
As I burn, I set to the side splits that look like they will make nice kindling(dead straight will split easy), then start going through them as needed.
I do the splitting, boy decides if they are small enough to go in the bucket or hands them back to me.
Someone else on this site shared this great video some time back. Never tried this process but might some time.
pen
That kid works harder than a lot of Adults!?! 
I cut a little here and there. Amish slab wood makes a good specimen to make kindling
I cut a little here and there. Amish slab wood makes a good specimen to make kindling
I go through tons of kindling. I have a small stove, so I often have to restart, and I have poor draft, so my stove needs a lot of kindling to get started (or it will take a long time to heat up). I think I used maybe half a face cord of kindling last winter, which seemed like a lot more than the previous winter. I generally split conifers like spruce or pine for kindling.
Auzzie Gumtree
Minister of Fire
- Oct 17, 2012
- 535
i go through quite a bit - but as i can get it all for free from a local roof truss manufacturer i dont care
I fill my truck up a couple of times a year and then load it into this box on my back deck. You can see in picture 69 how close, to the door and stove, it lives.
![[Hearth.com] Making kindlin](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/101/101184-3617a1c1273007bd3d05448f9f2df9b9.jpg?hash=-OAszrNaeJ "[Hearth.com] Making kindlin")
![[Hearth.com] Making kindlin](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/101/101185-57371021b2d4f4792ef70b3e2fbb25db.jpg?hash=qzYPkJJR6s "[Hearth.com] Making kindlin")
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I fill my truck up a couple of times a year and then load it into this box on my back deck. You can see in picture 69 how close, to the door and stove, it lives.
I make up some every now & then.
Spruce mostly .
When I get one that splits nice & straight, I make 1" boards with the hyd splitter.
Dries fast it's easy to split with a hatchet later.
![[Hearth.com] Making kindlin](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/101/101187-eee1d7ca9285685cf1153ce92d01100d.jpg?hash=fR8v62Saw1 "[Hearth.com] Making kindlin")
Been waiting for shoulder season, hasn't shown up here yet
Spruce mostly .
When I get one that splits nice & straight, I make 1" boards with the hyd splitter.
Dries fast it's easy to split with a hatchet later.
Been waiting for shoulder season, hasn't shown up here yet
Once a season, I usually take 5 or 6 good sized rounds of red maple and use the splitter to make a lot of ~ 1-2" size kindling pieces - usually plenty and red maple make real nice kindling. I also use a lot during shoulder season - I like to get the flue hot quick. Cheers!
Hills Hoard
Minister of Fire
because i generally only start the wood heater on the weekends I take a dry split then chop that into finer splits for kindling.....the sacrificial log...and right now im splitting cedar which I am in love with...pops and crackles a bit but it works brilliantly.
I usually break up old skids at work, but I think that I'll have a go at the pine I have. Sometimes kindlin is hard to keep up with in the dead of winter.
Beer Belly
Minister of Fire
we go thru a lot of what I consider kindling (2 inch or less) simply because that's all my Wife burns, and then leaves all the bigger splits behind
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I'm surrounded by a sea of downed Irene and Sandy cedar... my default kindling. It's almost impossible to hand split the stuff, though.
I tried what Micah did in that video with my 3 year old, and it was not successful, but we were trying to re split some medium cedar splits. I later tried it myself, and could barely split them. If you try this with your kid, find some straight easy splitting stuff, and test yourself first!
I tried what Micah did in that video with my 3 year old, and it was not successful, but we were trying to re split some medium cedar splits. I later tried it myself, and could barely split them. If you try this with your kid, find some straight easy splitting stuff, and test yourself first!
I make up a fair amount . . . mostly for burning in the Fall and Spring. Sometimes I'll use some dimensional lumber scraps, but most often I use the free softwood slabs I get and hack them up.
I have the same issue as Wood Duck, a small stove and frequent restarts. I have enough short end cuts and odd chunks and limbs that I dont "make" kindling. Ive tried saving poplar and birch but the small sticks get punky. I got a free facecord of pine once and that got split into kindling. My problem right at the moment is finding a place for all of it. Im thinking of making some pallet bins because it all has to dry like the rest of the splits.
I had them in plastic garbage cans originally but that didnt prove workable.
I had them in plastic garbage cans originally but that didnt prove workable.
firebroad
Minister of Fire
I have most of my wood delivered cut & split, but a lot of it is over 18 inches. Since a 20" will barely fit my insert, I have a lot of "nubbies" of a few inches that I have in several large vegetable crates. So yes, I make kindling. I keep telling Mr. Bill to give me the short stuff, but then how would I get my exersize?
Splitter trash, bark, and scraps of stuff from the shop that I make into 1"x1" pcs., and some twigs/small branches that I start gathering about this time every year.
The stuff is everywhere, and whenever I take one of the dogs for a walk, I gather a hand full and put in a box in the shed. Since we takes several walks every day, I can have a whole bunch of kindling quickly.
I think the dogs chew up more than I use.
The stuff is everywhere, and whenever I take one of the dogs for a walk, I gather a hand full and put in a box in the shed. Since we takes several walks every day, I can have a whole bunch of kindling quickly.
I think the dogs chew up more than I use.
When I come across a nice straight soft maple with no knots I make kindling. Making it with the hydraulic splitter is super fast and sort of fun. Then most of it I'll tuck into the cribbed ends of the wood stacks. If we run out of kindling it is no problem because the super cedars start the fire very well even without kindling.
![[Hearth.com] Making kindlin](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/101/101271-5cd0491ef87356dd27cfb004af1a905f.jpg?hash=mTmj8SlTn1 "[Hearth.com] Making kindlin")
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Rarely use the stuff. I use about 1/5 of a Super Cedar and smaller pieces of soft Maple or Pine. Dats all it takes.
We have almost 3/4 of a face cord that will be 2 years old. We just put the firestarter next to the split to start the fire, for us it's a waste of time.
At first we needed the kindling but our wood is much drier than the first couple of years so getting the fire going is easier.
What's really nice is to put in a few pieces of wood with a SC or one of my homemade starters, then walk away with the door shut for a couple minutes as it gets going.
Dry wood is da bomb.
Dry wood is da bomb.
jdp1152
Minister of Fire
I've got about 2/3rds of a cord of kindling. All from limbs that I cut up 1-3 inches. I do a lot of cold or semi cold starts so it makes sense.
I have a small firebox too, so I like having kindling around to get relit. I take the girls into the park behind us to go on "stick patrol." We see who can get the most sticks in their bucket. I'm pretty sure the older one is gonna figure out this is actually a chore.
If I tried what pen has his boy doing I'm pretty sure the wife would come after me with the hatchet.
I usually split out over the dirt, but earlier in the spring I had a bunch of wood dropped on the driveway, so I split it there so I wouldn't have to move the big pieces. I discovered that I could use the snow shovel to pick up all the chafe lying around the splitting stump. I now have a buncha crates filled with some nice kindling for next year.
If I tried what pen has his boy doing I'm pretty sure the wife would come after me with the hatchet.
I usually split out over the dirt, but earlier in the spring I had a bunch of wood dropped on the driveway, so I split it there so I wouldn't have to move the big pieces. I discovered that I could use the snow shovel to pick up all the chafe lying around the splitting stump. I now have a buncha crates filled with some nice kindling for next year.
Locust Post
Minister of Fire
Very good friend and cutting partner has a hardwood business and kiln. About this time of year he has a lady he starts cuttting out wooden candle boxes for that she sells at craft shows. He does this when he is not sawing lumber. So by fall he gives me 2 or 3 big dog food bags full of scraps.
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