Author Comment Brooks Registered User posts: 68 (10/30/00 8:32:43 am) 204.167.72.87 Reply | Edit | Del All

Prep/kindling... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...there's never enough of it.

My most recent firewood supplier doesn't provide much.

I have an extraordinary crop of white pine cones as of this past week. I recall that dipping pine cones in melted paraffin works well. Any experience with this? Any other ideas (I'm tired of picking up twigs of exactly the right size)?

PA Engineer Registered User posts: 61 (10/30/00 12:39:27 pm) 209.114.161.197 Reply | Edit | Del

Re: Prep/kindling... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brooks

I gave up on kindling a couple of years ago and switched to fatwood. A couple pieces and you have a roaring fire (an excellent starter with a single match).

For firestarters check out Plow and Hearth at:

www.plowhearth.com/produc...value=3030

Check it out the price is well worth the reduced stress.

Brooks Registered User posts: 83 (10/30/00 2:11:30 pm) 204.167.72.87 Reply | Edit | Del

Re: Prep/kindling... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My wholesaler had great deals on fatwood (and also thinwood) a couple years ago, nothing recently. I'm pretty well stocked up for the moment. Make that hoarded up (it feels like a gold stash to me).

For a while I was saving dryer lint. You know, to mix with a little paraffin in a film cannister, BOB variety. Good little y2k-do-be that I was. The pile of lint was getting to be a fire hazard, so I finally tossed it last spring.

My big discovery this year was a refillable butane lighter of the longnose variety (the others were all nonrefillable disposables).

I'm only on the third winter for using my wood stove. I think after a few more winters (using it every night) I might even get the hang of it.

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2001

Answers

Response to Prep/Kindling Wood

We bought a woodstove insert for our fireplace back in 1998. It's a very good model, from Avalon. It's airtight with a large glass door so it still gives the visual effect of a fire in the room. Very efficient, burning about 1/2 the wood per hour that the fireplace did and giving off a tremendous amount of heat.

As far as kindling is concerned, I use split pine lumber, which is great. If you go by any construction site you will find lots of waste lumber being thrown out, sometimes loaded in a dumpster, sometimes just laying around waiting to be tossed out. It will be the pieces of 2X4, 2X6, 2X8, etc, that was trimmed off during framing of walls, floors, roofs. I just ask someone there if I can haul off the scraps, which they are happy to get rid of. Then at home I cut the longer pieces into 12 inch sections and split them with a hatchet and hammer. Just place the hatchet on the end of the wood and hit it with a hammer. You will get terrific pieces of kindling that way.

I put a couple pieces of that kindling in the woodstove, and use a small square of igniter. These are available at any place that sell fireplace stuff, like WalMart, Home Depot, whatever. The ones I use are about 1 inch square and 1/4 inch thick. Lay one starter under the pine kindling and light it. That's all it has ever taken to have a good fire going within about 15-20 minutes. Fat wood is also good, but more expensive. If you find the starters that are about 6 inches long, just score them with a knife into 1 inch pieces and snap them. You will get 6 starters from each stick that way, and one is all you need for each time you light up the stove, or fireplace. Try it.

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2001