Newspapers are going the way of the dinosaur and getting harder to find
unless you have a subscription which I don't.
My source has run out so wondering if anyone else is contemplating what to do for wood stove fire starter.
Cutting up cardboard boxes which are a plenty might become my next source.
Anyone else there yet ? What are you coming up with ?
Sawdust and vegetable oil. Nothing better. Eliminates all need for kindling. I start fullsize blocks from stone cold with just a few scoops every day. No babying the stove either. I dont make small pieces of wood either.
Tar paper ;) ;D
Shavings or wood chips. Be careful with dry sawdust, the bang will get your attention real fast.
Pine cones work great the pitchier the better.
I soak wine corks in thinner or mineral spirits. Old mayo jar.
Need the natural corks. Burn hot and never fails.
One does it.
As far as I am concerned there has never been but one fire starter:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_5466.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1545658545)
And that is Fat Lighter.
I got lucky some years ago and a factory a friend worked at changed there name and they had pallets of new cardboard boxes they were getting rid of. I went over with a trailer and pickup many pallets of them. Been using them to start my Garn for years. Some day I will run out.
Spill plane:
from the link: "Before matches became widely available in the 1860s, long, coiled wood shavings known as spills were used to transfer a flame from one location to another, such as from a fireplace to a candle, lantern or stove. Typically made using a special inverted plane, spills burn more slowly and consistently than paper, and also double as a convenient tinder material. We based the design of our spill plane on an 1850s Edward Preston spill plane in our collection." less than 50%
https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/planes/64338-lee-valley-replica-spill-plane?item=15P1501
I've got that Fat Lighter wood at the store.
I also have some fire starters that are made out of wax and shavings that are made in Livermore, ME.
Whittle a handful of shavings off of the wood to be burned. That will light with a match and start the kindling wood, then add larger sticks from their. Had to learn to do that in Boy Scouts 70 years ago now.
Saw a tip from a trappers video that narrow strips of rubber from tire innertube were his emergency fire-starters as one strip would burn for a long time to get small branch wood to catch fire for his wilderness trappers cabin stove. Also would not be affected by moisture. But still needed a match or cigarette lighter (good emergency item to have).
Then there is steel and flint. Also have used steel wool.
But now there is plenty of paper delivered to my mailbox every day that is only worth lighting a fire.
Junk mail will always provide some worthless paper for use fire starting. Paper shredding your old financial documents and then burning them is a doubly good way to start a fire. A camping fire starter that I have made consists of an egg carton, wax and either wood shavings or string. You cut up the carton into handy individual fire starters. Light an edge, sit it upright in the tinder and it burns a long time to get things going.
I use a propane torch. Try to have some pine or construction debris around but even dry hardwood in small pieces starts with about 2 minutes of torch. Bonus I can use it to get the chimney draft going and skip the usual smoke phase.
A one pound bottle lasts me most of a season.
Paper towel soaked with bacon grease. Burns long and hot enough to get fairly chunky wood going, as long as it's good and dry.
I forgot tar paper. When I was a kid I always burned that at my 'fort'. Anyhow in my log yard there is always 'bull' spruce logs, that is open grown, all knots with spruce gum galore. My old time mentor was a trapper and he would scrape it to smoke steel traps. That is my fire starter. You can chew it alsobut good luck spitting it out.
Yeah bull spruce is really only suitable for fires, imo. Gnarly stuff.
Junk mail. Paper bags from the grocery store. Fat wood. Cardboard.
You really want to get it going fast, put a pile of white spruce boughs on the bottom. Whoosh.
Lithium batteries? :D
Not that I'm admitting to anything, but some plastic computer cases, a handful of lithium batteries and a couple of magnesium laptop chassis will get a rubbish fire cooking pretty well. :-\
I get newspaper from my mother in-law. I have to be careful, cause if I ask, I will get 2 trash bags full. I make fire starters from planer shavings. I have a whole group of folks that bring me candle leftovers. I use Christmas cupcake papers and have 5 tins used only for this. I dip colored yard in was, then cut the at an inch for a wick. light easily with a lighter. more fun is using the glycerin and potassium permanganate (fish filter cleaner on the internet) and it get going fast. @Southside (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=24297) and have about 10 minutes of 5-inch flame to get things going. I give a dozen in cookie tins to people as gifts and the whole room smells good from the scented candle wax. I did have one child life specialist light one on a shelf thinking it was a candle. :o
chees-its will burn and used on BSA campouts. vegetable oil will work. It depends if this is in the house stove or on a campout. I have tons of dryer lint from my shop dryer and my shop towels.
Diet books :P should make good fire starters. :D
somebody read garfield today :)
alright, I have a proven technique that is something I have been doing for years.
I take a 16 ounce or sometimes less cup and scoop some hardwood pellets out of the bin and dump them in the center of the stove. then I take one of these squares (https://www.amazon.com/Bangerz-Sunz-Starters-Fireplace-Charcoal/dp/B07Q4QZ4YV/ref=asc_df_B07Q4QZ4YV/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=343224632629&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1579360213827995031&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9005646&hvtargid=pla-707200831619&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=77503953588&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=343224632629&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1579360213827995031&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9005646&hvtargid=pla-707200831619) and set it in the middle of the wood pellets. then I stack small pieces of wood on top of it and larger pieces on top of that. Light the cube, then walk away. usually even with wet wood within 5 minutes I have a perfect fire.
I did this this morning with frozen logs and it worked perfectly!
Thanks for all the tips, tricks and ideas. Have plenty to work with, start fires with now.
Because this thread commenced me to thinking, I remembered I had a couple jugs of Tiki torch oil kicking around. Tried it this morning and it worked fine, smelled great and I haven't seen a mosquito yet.
:D
I make these to use up wood shavings, and family and friend bits of leftover candles. i have about 5 cases of 200 each made up. I give them away in kits, i used to give a case to my BIL when he lived in western Nebraska and had a fire every day from late fall till spring.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/880B4ECF-62A2-4223-8CD2-BCBB39D5DF60.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1641663963)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/ECFAC9D4-599B-48AF-988D-A937444D5A1D.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1641663810)
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the wick has fooled a few into thinking these are candle like good smelly things. I need to have them sign a waiver. :) I mostly now give to other outdoorsy people who understand the purpose.
So youre SURE thats not an everything birthday muffin for a 1 year old? Cuz it looks tasty in a vegan sorta way. Can i blend them up with some kale and ice cubes or no?
just make sure to not have a BM near an open flame! :o :o 8) :) :D
Those paperboard egg egg cartons are good or any plain paper. Some paper is lousy for fire starting; I think some of it is treated to be fire resistant (seriously). My yard is overpopulated with planted conifers planted by the previous owner. When I cut them I take limbwood down small for the stove and it burns well with all the resins in it.
Quote from: barbender on January 07, 2022, 07:04:07 PM
Yeah bull spruce is really only suitable for fires, imo. Gnarly stuff.
Yes and hard to saw but in this county it is often the only soft wood you can get. The gypsy moth and woolly adelgid killed all the hemlock and we never really had pine. With the ppb invasion, tulip is not an option anymore.
Doc
Do you melt wax and mix in the saw dust or place saw dust in the wraps with the wick and pour wax over them?
That is a neat gift idea.
I think I have posted this in the past and will try find pics. the wicks come from some yarn that changes color every foot or so, I soak it in the melted wax, then hang it till it cools then cut into 1 inch wicks. during research and development, if you just light the paper cupcake thing, it will burn itself out. if you light the wick it starts slow, and you can walk away and will have a great flame gong when you come back. dependable. i put the papers in tins. I
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/IMG_1781.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1545264105)
fill with wood shavings. i compact a bit with the dipper, and then put enough wax over it to saturate the wood and hold it together. not to have liquid on top, or have dry shavings that fall apart. I do 5 dozen at a time. if you place the wick too soon, the re-melt and flop over. so I wait a bit, then stick them in so the remain upright. I start melting more wax for the next batch. then when solid but still hot, I pull them out and into a 10 ream paper box. I have dividers between layers and get about 200 per box that I refer to as a case. you can light with a match or lighter, or flint and steel if you have tender or the potassium permanganate and glycerin.
this makes my shop smell great for weeks. It is a double boiler pan, but the water heating up to melt the wax slowed it all down. i put the pan on the hot plate, and do not walk away. i add wax as needed to keep it from overheating. otherwise it was 45 minutes between batches, and i got no time for that. on a roll, i keep pretty busy and it is relatively efficient. i have 5 cases on a shelf. with good wood, i can find coals to start a new fire. If it is very cold, we do not let the fire go out. so i do not need one every day. the room they are in smells good. I should add, that the candle scraps have scent, but i often add various candle sent so the dry starters can make the room smells like Christmas. my daughter refers to it as smelling like winter when she smell wood burning.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/AC2E71EF-A0C2-4A89-BA7D-5D672B9CC80C.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1641752775)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/42F71B7F-B37F-4DD9-B816-5F0E10C49427.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1641752771)
here is the case I am working out of. about half full. although some would say half empty! :)
Doc do you return those muffin tins to your wife when done with them? :D
That type of fire starters do work really well. I've seen people use egg cartons in the same way you do as well.
I started with a couple she did not want. I went to Walmart and got my own so I have 5. She often comes to the shop to get laundry detergent or toilet paper when the house runs out. 8) :o :)
this is how i get the last bit of wax from the donated old candles.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/AFADF4C2-B9C5-4D3F-95F1-9F59B9E70473.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1641758660)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/30A9C5B9-C2B5-44E4-BF54-42837C08B1E9.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1641758660)
just do not wander too far off. bon_fire
when spliting wood,save spruce or fir that ants have bin in ,burns real good
Quote from: brewdog on January 09, 2022, 04:09:14 PM
when spliting wood,save spruce or fir that ants have bin in ,burns real good
That would be rotted wood.. just sayin. Guess that works for you. thumbs-up
Lots of little kindling and a propane torch.
Candles are so flippin expensive that id be making new ones if i had that much wax! Just had to buy a few tonight incase we lose power.
Birch bark, I will strip the loose bark off of birch firewood as I use it and save for lighting.
If no birch I will use egg cartons and/or cardboard.
A friend was telling me about his relative that had a used clothing store, they would buy the used clothing buy the truck load and would sort the clothes into sellable or good for rags to sell or good for neither, the good for neither was burned in his wood stove for heat.
He was telling me about this at a backwoods camp as he took a synthetic wool sweater off a hook and seen that a mouse had chewed a hole in it, he then put the sweater in the wood stove that had just about burned down to small coals and the fire took off like a rocket turning the stove pipe red in 10 seconds!
I get fat lighter here from old fir with an old crack in the trunk. It's full of the stuff. A good feather stick works good, just need a sharp jack knife and bone dry wood and a match. Up here, as long as there are store flyers there's always paper. Egg (paper) cartons work to. Steel wool and a 9-volt battery to short it will ignite the wool. ;D White birch bark, even yellow. Will burn wet, and will sustain a fire a lot longer than newspaper. :)
Fat lighter in balsam fir
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/fir-fatlighter.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1615885093)
Just as a side note, I used a feather stick and shavings with a pocket knife on a piece of dry fir. I used full sized wood in the stove and made a 'tent' and placed a cereal bowl of shavings in under and lit a match. It took about 10 minutes and my furnace was throwing heat. My wood is bone dry, 9 % in the house, which I used. Wood under the porch is 19% MC, as dry as it will ever get outside under cover in this climate
I just put on a leather glove, move the charcoal up to the front where my draft is, pile a bunch of wood around it and hit it with propane torch. Gets the fire going in 2-3 minutes.. of course that is if the fire goes out, usually have coals I can play with.
I'm a big fan of Birch bark. Every year I end up splitting some birch for fire wood. When you split it, quite often the bark comes off in sheets. I save these and use for fire starting. A fair sized piece will burn for a long time and it will even burn when wet. It does however smoke quite a bit.
Quote from: bannerd on January 10, 2022, 05:10:57 PM
I just put on a leather glove, move the charcoal up to the front where my draft is, pile a bunch of wood around it and hit it with propane torch. Gets the fire going in 2-3 minutes.. of course that is if the fire goes out, usually have coals I can play with.
Nothing will ever beat placing wood on live coals. :D But even making shavings out of wood on hand is reliable and the only lighter needed is a match, which costs about 1/100th of a cent per strike. Propane is for money men. :D :D
https://youtu.be/YiV7XpYNkps (https://youtu.be/YiV7XpYNkps)
I just find an old dead (not rotten) pine tree, block it up about a foot long and use the hydraulic splitter to make kindling. I just sit on a 5 gal bucket and split slabs an inch or two thick, then resplit them into one or two inch wide pieces. You can make a mountain of kindling in half an hour. It dries fast in a corner of the shed.
I put a wadded up piece of news paper or junk mail down then stack the sticks log cabin style around it, put another paper on top and touch a match to it. When it gets going good throw some wood on and go have a cup of coffee.
Just because it hasn't been mentioned, old growth western red cedar, the stuff where there is 28 rings in 1/2". West coast thing but if you have access to old wood shingles maybe...
Ignition temp hasn't been discussed- every other factor being the same WRC lights first and fastest compared to my other choices. I can start a fire faster with WRC than I can with paper but it takes some kindling prep. People are surprised.
Great idea Doc H, I should make some of those for my wife.
the nice thing is you can start one of those and it replaces kindling and all. I might find some smaller wood say 3 x 3-inch square and 16 inches long and just lay it with a small air/flame space between it and other pieces. I can walk away (knowing how to lay a fire), and in short time it is all raging and can shut down the air to the stove. I burn Mulberry and oak in the house and burn whatever in the shop like maple and even cottonwood. just want some focal heat while I am in the shop. the thermostat is set at about 55° for while I am gone/not using the shop. (Working, sleeping).
It's really a great idea, I can combine planer shaving and old candles and actually get something useful. I think my wife would be super happy with a small box of those.
Sure beats the heck out of using metal tubing, a welder, and a mouse, smells better too! ;D
The old stand by here was eastern white cedar. But I've got several blocks my brother gave me 4 winters ago that I have never needed. The wood here is so dry that I can build a fire just as efficiently with a piece of fir. That being said, the flyers continue to arrive, so I just recycle those most of the time. But, nice to have options. ;D
I started with hand me down tins, but now I have 5 that nest inside each other to store. I tried to add salts to make color in the fire, but it really did not add much. I buy bulk papers and i get Christmas or winter themes. even the frozen characters would be fun, if you can find them cheap and in bulk. I have bought quarts of the scent to add, and even years later these make a room smell nice, if in an open container. I get the cheap Walmart plastic tins at Holiday time to use for storage and give as gifts. remember to warn people they are not candles to set on a shelf, light and walk away. also, NO they are not edible and yes someone asked.
Boy, you guys are high tech with your fancy fire starters. I get a weekly B&W trader paper that I mostly use. I also save my planer savings when I use my planer. Same with the auger curly-ques when I drill mortises in my benches for my tinder. For kindling I mostly used broken pieces of my stickers cut to about 6" long on my RAS. I also use old 50 lb feed sacks to bag up my short board ends and cut-offs when making birdhouses, sheds, composting toilets, etc. I once resawed a bunch of 1X10 air dried poplar into 3 & 4 inch baseboards and sawed the 1/8" - 1/4" 1" wide strips and created a monster. They burned so good my wife wanted me to make her a bunch more of them. Tablesaw strips and corners and such go in the kindling bags.
The problem when my wife tries to start a fire is she wants to put it down and start her fire on top of it. I showed her many times to set two big logs up with a space between, put her tinder (Shavings, 1-2 sheets of paper, etc) between and her kindling across and on top of the 2 big pieces. Then when she sticks a match to the tinder the heat goes up and ignites it and the heat reflecting off the logs set them to burning. People don't seem to realize you have to have 2 logs to burn. One log won't burn (Well, maybe a lighterd log would). A big and a small log will burn till the small log burns up then the big one will go out.
The one big log will burn if it is burning well already and has good air. Also a bunch of dry fir will burn quicker than a large stick of ash. The ash stick will burn completely, but longer. Seen that just last night, one side had 4 big sticks of fir, the other a chunk of ash. Nice glowing ash coals remaining to build up the fire. :) Now outside in a camp fire situation, your talking about an uncontrolled combustion. Lots of air, but nothing to radiate back off of to keep the heat up like walls and ceiling of a stove.
fire is heat, fuel, oxygen.
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on January 11, 2022, 09:50:44 PM
Boy, you guys are high tech with your fancy fire starters. I get a weekly B&W trader paper that I mostly use. I also save my planer savings when I use my planer. Same with the auger curly-ques when I drill mortises in my benches for my tinder. For kindling I mostly used broken pieces of my stickers cut to about 6" long on my RAS. I also use old 50 lb feed sacks to bag up my short board ends and cut-offs when making birdhouses, sheds, composting toilets, etc. I once resawed a bunch of 1X10 air dried poplar into 3 & 4 inch baseboards and sawed the 1/8" - 1/4" 1" wide strips and created a monster. They burned so good my wife wanted me to make her a bunch more of them. Tablesaw strips and corners and such go in the kindling bags.
The problem when my wife tries to start a fire is she wants to put it down and start her fire on top of it. I showed her many times to set two big logs up with a space between, put her tinder (Shavings, 1-2 sheets of paper, etc) between and her kindling across and on top of the 2 big pieces. Then when she sticks a match to the tinder the heat goes up and ignites it and the heat reflecting off the logs set them to burning. People don't seem to realize you have to have 2 logs to burn. One log won't burn (Well, maybe a lighterd log would). A big and a small log will burn till the small log burns up then the big one will go out.
Lol the similarities, shop scrap monsters live here too. Generally, I start the fire just as you describe. My wife absolutely loves to split cedar kindling so there is a box of it. If she has any issues with starting a fire she pulls out a bottle of jellied alcohol and gives it a squirt. Raves about the stuff. We'll see, I suspect I will be making "Ol' Doc Henderson's Wood Cupcake's"(TM) until I die. Given the time I spend chopping kindling for the shop I might use the dang things too!
Doc's muffin tin candle waste sawdust trick also works with dryer lint as well. My work clothes laundry area in the basement is right by the wood stove. I have a box I toss the lint in and use it. That and a splash of alcohol and some thin veneer slab sawmill waste got the furnace going last night. It was over 50 yesterday so I didn't burn, and let it go out. Really odd for this time of year.
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on January 11, 2022, 09:50:44 PM
and created a monster. They burned so good my wife wanted me to make her a bunch more of them.
:D :D :D
You have to be careful of what you give your wife. If she likes it she wants more no matter how much work it is for you. :D :D :D
Sounds like nobody rubs 2 sticks together anymore :laugh:.
Swampy,
I should have mentioned that a single log with a split or crack or such will act as 2 or more logs as long as you can get the reflected heat effect required.
I saw a survival trick used in Scandinavia where they take a dry log maybe 8-10 inches in diameter and 24-30 inches long. They either split the log into quarters and reassemble them in an upright position or saw a deep X in one end with a chainsaw or such then stand the log up in the snow with the split end up. The snow was deep enough to hold the log upright. They add dry leaves or crumbled dry bark or such in the split and stick a match to it and the reflected heat keeps it going. With the flat surface on top they can put a coffee pot or kettle or such to heat. They called it a Swedish stove or such as I remember.
I see similar birch logs with the split in the end for sale in Wal Mart and other places at outrageous prices. I think they call them wooden candles or such but the reflected heat principle applies.
If I could sell these for 5 cents apiece we would all be rich! :D
(I heard they make good fire starters)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/moosedung.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1192070386)
Should work as well as prairie buffalo dung. :D
You know I have seen where moose have hung around like a cow all winter in thick fir, and the pile just grows and grows. :D
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on January 12, 2022, 09:32:36 AM
Swampy,
I should have mentioned that a single log with a split or crack or such will act as 2 or more logs as long as you can get the reflected heat effect required.
I understand, we can't remember to type everything. We are all human. Then there is always that cantankerous stove with poor draft design or install. :D
What I am constantly amazed with is how much room is needed for the flame between pieces.
Oregon State University has just received a 2.5 million dollar grant to study retrofitting wood stoves to reduce particle emissions. The study isn't complete but the are heading towards turbulent forced air instead of natural draft. This sounds really interesting.
"MacCarty will work with three other OSU researchers plus tribal and industry partners to develop a firebox retrofit that uses the injection of turbulent jets of air to help stoves burn more cleanly and efficiently – even under suboptimal conditions such as wet wood or too much fuel in the firebox."
Oregon State receives .5 million grant to create wood stoves that burn more cleanly | Oregon State University (https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/oregon-state-receives-25-million-grant-create-wood-stoves-burn-more-cleanly)
The maple sugar industry has been doing forced draft advancement for more than a little while. Over fire, under fire, combinations and turbulence to get hotter fires for better evaporation.
My furnace is retrofit with a forced draft option, but I don't need it. I just leave the ash pan door open a few moments when the fire is first built to get up to temp, close it up and the conventional draft does it's job. The open ash door will really chug the fire, like a rocket firing, vibration and all. ;D
Quote from: DMcCoy on January 13, 2022, 07:50:59 AM
Oregon State University has just received a 2.5 million dollar grant to study retrofitting wood stoves to reduce particle emissions. The study isn't complete but the are heading towards turbulent forced air instead of natural draft. This sounds really interesting.
Tell them call me. for 50 bucks i will tell them how to do it and they can pocket the $2,499,950.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/43722/0108221658-1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1642109841)
Under the insulation is 100ish hotter on the fire tube. 550° fire
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/43722/0108221658a-1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1642109841)
75° smoke stack which is a single wall piece of galvanized forced draft duct, not even smoke pipe.
Lengthen the flame path, increase the velocity and vent the smoke, not the heat.
No smoke, no ash.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/43722/0108221355.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1642117826)
Hasn't private industry already done this. Back when I used to go to the wood shows they always had those gasifier burners. Could there be anything new in wood burning at all? Might need a study to see :laugh: I guess.
Doc Henderson. I'm thinking about using toilet paper tubes. In your estimation can I mix planer shavings with the wax separate and stuff them?
My wife has been saving small boxes for me, for the wood stoves. Find some of the better starters are small wood scraps from the shop in a box makes a good starter. Another thing is to drop your peanut hulls in a small box, and set it in when you are starting a fire. The hulls are a bit oily and they last a bit when lit.
I filled my Kindling Bucket back up last evening.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_1666.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1642350374)
Nothing but "Fat Pine" used here. fire_smiley
Quote from: DMcCoy on January 15, 2022, 07:08:11 AM
Doc Henderson. I'm thinking about using toilet paper tubes. In your estimation can I mix planer shavings with the wax separate and stuff them?
yes, you will have to move fast before the mix cools. could also tape the bottom and pour wax over the shaving already stuffed in. then after cool, you could chop/cut them in thinner wafters to make 5 or 6 out of a tube. and paper towel roll tubes my work. premixed might allow some sir spaces and it may go up fast, for better or worse.
Quote from: mike_belben on January 13, 2022, 04:41:49 PM
Quote from: DMcCoy on January 13, 2022, 07:50:59 AM
Oregon State University has just received a 2.5 million dollar grant to study retrofitting wood stoves to reduce particle emissions. The study isn't complete but the are heading towards turbulent forced air instead of natural draft. This sounds really interesting.
Tell them call me. for 50 bucks i will tell them how to do it and they can pocket the $2,499,950.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/43722/0108221658-1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1642109841)
Under the insulation is 100ish hotter on the fire tube. 550° fire
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/43722/0108221658a-1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1642109841)
75° smoke stack which is a single wall piece of galvanized forced draft duct, not even smoke pipe.
Lengthen the flame path, increase the velocity and vent the smoke, not the heat.
No smoke, no ash.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/43722/0108221355.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1642117826)
From my days as a control room operator at a 55mw coal fired powerplant, boiler operator 101...the three T's of combustion are time, temperature, and turbulence.
It's been around awhile.
https://www.thecmmgroup.com/three-ts-combustion-matter-pollution-control/
Scott B
Thanks Doc. My Father-in-law has lost most of his eyesight and still wants a fire so I will be making him some of these as well...
upnut - thanks.
A neighbor bought a new outside forced air wood furnace, and his has a blower for combustion air. The thing is awesome at starting a fire. Wish I could add a blower to the combustion air on my wood stove, for the times the wind is calm outside.
Most years there was corn growing about 50' behind my OWB so corn cobs were plentiful. I use one of the plastic coffee cans and break or cut the cobs to stand up in the can and still get the lid on, I think it's about 20 cobs, then pour about 2" of diesel/kerosene in and they will wick it up. One cob burns a long time. I would go out with a bucket and pick a bunch up right after the combine went through and put them in the barn to finish drying before the can and fuel part. I also kept an old pair of pliers handy so I could light it before sticking in between splits.
Quote from: woodroe on January 07, 2022, 10:56:33 AM
Newspapers are going the way of the dinosaur and getting harder to find
unless you have a subscription which I don't.
My source has run out so wondering if anyone else is contemplating what to do for wood stove fire starter.
Cutting up cardboard boxes which are a plenty might become my next source.
Anyone else there yet ? What are you coming up with ?
if yoiu dont want to use news papper use a little seasoned pine kndling light with a propane torch
empty egg cartons work well. Not the Styrofoam ones but the coarse paper ones Here people donate the cartons to the local thrift store, so they are available for fire starter or if you have a few chickens and are getting more eggs than you can use. I never cared for burning cardboard because it produces a lot of ash that ultimately needs cleaning out.
Whenever I rip a log in the woodpile with the chainsaw I end up with a goodly pile of long shavings. I save these for multiple purposes, one of those is making fire starters.
Using an egg carton, I fill the compartments with these shavings. Next time I fry bacon or fish, the hot lard is poured over the shavings in a cold place. It solidifies into little fire bombs. They light easily on the ragged edges of milk carton, and burn a long time, lighting even rather stubborn kindling.
At my hunting cabin, we're blessed with an abundance of paper birch. I try to intentionally cut some in May or June so the bark pops off easily as it dries.
but don't you always crave bacon when lighting a fire. That would be the death of me :)
we do not use leftover meat grease for much, like cooking. I will start incorporating it into fire-starting. takes planning and recognition of the value. things we try to teach scouts.
I fired the news paper a couple of years ago .What 25 pages of nonsense for over $300 a year ,nope .Having said that I get enough junk mail to almost heat the house .My word hearing aids ,reverse mortgages ,financial advisors. Credit card applications as if I need any more .Life insurance for $9.95 a month and on and on .
The dumbest is pre approved loans from the same banks I use who should know the last thing I would be interested in .So it's just junk mail and some pine splits from scrape lumber and normally it's starting one fire per year .However so far I've let the fire go out twice this year .I'm loosing my touch evidently .
A barrel of dry sawdust, from my mill, is in my shop for floor dry. Works well for starting any fire. Could be used in your parlor stove. I have vast supply of seed corn and soybean bags from the spring planting. All get used daily to revive outdoor furnace when i reload in the mornings. Net wrap does too, but sure don t recommend that in the house. ;D. Outside furnace.......works great. Ignites the dead ash fast.
What are any of you doing with the Ash? I can t waste it, but, the btu s are not great. Sad that a great timber and firewood species is either dead or will be soon. I just fire my furnaces more often.
I don't recommend it but my grandmother who was a tough old gal used corn cobs dipped in a coffee can full of kerosene . Since they use picker/shellers these days I have no idea where you'd get the corn cobs . She didn't need to do it very often because she usually had about 2 tons of Ohio lump coal for the winter over night fires .Wood in the day coal at night .Wore her out ,she died at 96 .
my dead ash goes in the compost pile... it is 15 feet tall and added to with the track loader. my dead ash has no BTUs left, but the charcoal does.
I don't think anyone has mentioned chainsaw noodles yet. I forgot about them till I was making some yesterday. Wait a minute, I need these I said.
If this thread was a contest, Doc's the clear winner. Be fun to hang out there on a Sat afternoon and help make a few batches.
Guess I shouldn't have sold my 13" planer a few years ago.
Didn't realize at the time I might need it for fire starter ribbons.
The wax idea from Doc got me thinking about wax paper though, that
stuff burns good and is relatively inexpensive.
Lots of great ideas here though.
thanks spike, let me know if you are in the area or if you have any questions about the process. lot of stuff burns well, but you have to plan ahead. i have all kinds of family saving and bringing the left over 1/2 inch of wax in a burnt out candle jar. bon_fire
Since the mention of the Boy Scouts has came up from time to time ..Decades ago one of the tests was building a fire using only two matches .A couple of us did not bend the rules we just lit a candle, big fat one .No where in the rules did it ever mention you could not get creative about it . ;D
yes, the old joke was to start a fire with only two sticks to rub together. just make sure one is a match. :) One of the secret ordeals was after sleeping under the stars, to get 2 matches, a paper cup full of water, a slice of bread and a package of hot chocolate mix. If all went well (and it often did not) you had a boiled egg, toast, and hot chocolate for breakfast. usually, you could use someone else's fire if you had a catastrophic failure, but some just sprinkled the hot chocolate mix on the bread and ate it and drank cold water. bon_fire thumbs-up
usflag
Find someone who splits a lot of firewood. We get some much we dump it over the embankment. Compost for some future generation.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20037/20200705_094803-firewood-fire-starter.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1643832985)
Quote from: Crusarius on January 28, 2022, 11:22:43 PM
but don't you always crave bacon when lighting a fire. That would be the death of me :)
When i heated the house on pure sawdust and waste vegetable oil the entire neighborhood smelled like fried food. A combination of buttery pancakes and fried street vendor meat. I probably generated a lot of business for local munchie peddlers
mike, you missed a golden opportunity there :) especially knowing your neighborhood problems :)
Saw dust and planer chips .As a young boy we had 40-50 hens and would get sawdust and chips from a local lumber yard /saw mill .Those hens, small they were could tromp that stuff into particle board .It took a pick axe to break it loose .Smelled like fermented skunk rectums .
Quote from: Al_Smith on February 02, 2022, 04:58:53 PM
.Smelled like fermented skunk rectums .
I bet it tasted like it too. :o 8) smiley_airfreshener smiley_smelly_skunk digin1
Quote from: tawilson on January 31, 2022, 12:17:42 PM
I don't think anyone has mentioned chainsaw noodles yet. I forgot about them till I was making some yesterday. Wait a minute, I need these I said.
Haven't usually used that term, but it makes sense. I end up ripping a fair amount of un-splittable logs with the saw and generate a large pile. I bag them loosely in old feed sacks for future use. In a previous post I described using these and a cardboard egg carton with heavy fry grease for fire starters. I also use them as-is for starting outdoor fires including the charcoal/wood grille and smoker. They work great for charcoal chimneys or lighting small, well dried kindling for open fires. Also make fantastic chicken bedding, wood duck house bedding, and garden mulch between the rows to keep down the weeds (if you are making them from a species that decomposes readily and doesn't contain heavy tannins).
We plowed that chicken enhanced chip board under in the garden after it mellowed over in the winter .It grew tons of tomatoes ,green beans etc .Five kids can mow away a lot of groceries . ;D We could not however eat the amount of eggs those hens produced .The good thing was those were old hens not the egg a day types .Some ended up in chicken and noodles .Too old and tough for fried chicken .Which has nothing to do with starting a fire ---side track warning .
I put chipper mulch and sawdust in my coop too. All my food scraps go to the birds. Mostly fruit and veggie peels, theyre doing pretty good, and anything they dont want gets turned in.
Quote from: Crusarius on February 02, 2022, 04:49:00 PM
mike, you missed a golden opportunity there :) especially knowing your neighborhood problems :)
That market is always pretty saturated anywhere i can afford to live!
I dunno, there are so many times I have a craving for funnel cakes and the only way I can get them is fair season in the summer, then I also need to go into the fair.
If I knew where there was a side of the road funnel cake stand I would be so happy :)
Quote from: jimbarry on February 02, 2022, 03:16:34 PM
Find someone who splits a lot of firewood. We get some much we dump it over the embankment. Compost for some future generation.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20037/20200705_094803-firewood-fire-starter.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1643832985)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_1772.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1643918686)
My splittings but I do not compost it. Just toss a handful under the logs before I start a new fire.
Our outdoor temperature has fallen from 66° to 42° today so I just lit a flicker. fire_smiley
Best thing I have ever used are the fiber egg cartons. One of those, with kindling on top always starts the fire - works great!