[Shelter] Heat - Wood (was Wood Stoves)

[patience]

Any resinous wood split into thin pieces works fine for starting a fire. We have a lot of Eastern Red Cedar here, so we use that. The papery bark from that, shaved into fine fluff will work for tinder and start from a spark, if it is good and dry. Pitch pine is great, too.

[Boris555]

Has anyone got tips for starting fires when there is no more loose paper or newspaper to do the job?

I always use tree bark. Don't know what you have but juniper bark burns like gasoline. A little wad of that will set damn near anything on fire.

Smells nice, too.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

I have a fair amount of bark I'm not doing anything with. I think its birch.

I found a "recipe" for firestarters on the net. they use sawdust in a muffin pan and covered with parafin wax .

I was thinking that I could I use a chipper on my bark and shred it up, and add sawdust (which I can get for free at the local building supply) and put in it a muffin pan with parafin wax.

the wax part was on the net recipe. but is there something else I can use? I am trying to make this as cheaply and locally as I can.

[Tanada]

I have a fair amount of bark I'm not doing anything with. I think its birch.

I found a "recipe" for firestarters on the net. they use sawdust in a muffin pan and covered with parafin wax .

I was thinking that I could I use a chipper on my bark and shred it up, and add sawdust (which I can get for free at the local building supply) and put in it a muffin pan with parafin wax.

the wax part was on the net recipe. but is there something else I can use? I am trying to make this as cheaply and locally as I can.

If you want wax to burn I suggest going to your local craft store, you can buy 3 pound blocks of parafin wax cheap, they store forever without maintenance and if you make your own candles (as I do on occasion) you need them anyhow. Also any old candles you have that burn out, scrap out the wax or keep the stub and melt them down into your own supply blocks, just remember to use low heat or you can cause a fire. Candle making if you have craft store wicks and wax is incredibly easy, though there is a learning curve just like every endevour.

[vtsnowedin]

I have a fair amount of bark I'm not doing anything with. I think its birch.

I found a "recipe" for firestarters on the net. they use sawdust in a muffin pan and covered with parafin wax .

I was thinking that I could I use a chipper on my bark and shred it up, and add sawdust (which I can get for free at the local building supply) and put in it a muffin pan with parafin wax.

the wax part was on the net recipe. but is there something else I can use? I am trying to make this as cheaply and locally as I can.

Parafin wax is the cleanest and stores without mess or hazard. you can use things like bacon grease, used motor oil, lamp oil or kerosene but all have draw backs. My father used kerosene on a daily basis pouring a quarter cup on his kindling then putting a match to it. At least once there were a few live coals under the kindling that boiled some of the kerosene to fumes and when he threw in the match the wrrooomph lifted all six lids about three inches up out of their sockets. It dose a great job singeing off eyebrows and forearm hair. Take care.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

Well, see I don't think I want anything that dangerous around.. what with cats and kids etc. I think these fire starters will do good, I was just surprised as I didn't think the wax was flammable.

Did your dad loose his eyebrows enough times to decide maybe that wasn't a good thing for his health anymore? or does he still use it?

I almost lost all my hair once to a propane barbecue. No one told me I should only turn one burner on half way and I turned them both on full. I lost my eyebrows and bangs. It scared the hell out of all the adults, to see a big fire ball go up from our camp site. Still love playing with fire, and have lost some hair since then, but its best to keep that kind of thing to a minimum eh?

[topcat]

Here is an idea someone posted way back regarding emergency fire starters: Vasoline on cotton balls. (Petroleum jelly, eh???)

No, it is not sustainable but is sure seems safe to have around the house. We have some in the bath cabinet and a large container in the work shop. Just keep tehm seperate.

[vtsnowedin]

Well, see I don't think I want anything that dangerous around.. what with cats and kids etc. I think these fire starters will do good, I was just surprised as I didn't think the wax was flammable.

Did your dad loose his eyebrows enough times to decide maybe that wasn't a good thing for his health anymore? or does he still use it?

He's been gone for twenty five years now. Born in 1896 he lived to be 88. Too old to learn new tricks when he did that. He knew better but just got careless. When not in a hurry he would tear open an empty waxed paper milk carton and light one of the torn edges Before sticking it into the fire box.Then pile on the kindling and pour the kerosene on last so any fumes would light as fast as they were created and not accumulate. It would take him less then ten minutes to have the tea kettle whistling.

[PeakOiler]

Has anyone got tips for starting fires when there is no more loose paper or newspaper to do the job?

One needs the sun too.

Always save some of that junk mail so you never run out of paper.

Get an old metal ashtray or something equivalent. I used one square of TP under the toothpick-sized oak slivers. Have your woodstove ready with small kindling too. Use the junk mail envelope to transfer the fire from the ashtray to the woodstove.

[PeakOiler]

So I took the ashtray, magnifying glass, and micro-kindling out onto the front porch. The sun was out briefly, and if one looks closely for the orange spot, one can see the solar-started fire:



The picture was taken about 8am and it was about 40F outside.

If I already didn't have a fire going in the woodstove overnight, I could have started one by quickly carrying the ashtray inside to the woodstove and start tending the micro-kindling there.

Perhaps not that convenient, but it can be done.

[davep]

Et voila

[PeakOiler]

Et voila

lol, but my solution doesn't require fossil fuels. The magnifying glass costs about $5. How much did all those Bic lighters cost?

The magnifying glass will last a lifetime if cared for properly. (Get two.)



Edited to correct spelling.

[davep]

Ok, as pennance, here's a couple of videos from the incomparable Ray Mears on firelighting:

Desert firelighting

How to light a fire outside with nothing but your shoe laces in any weather

[PeakOiler]

davep: Thanks for sharing those video links.

I suggest readers try some of these alternative methods for starting fires instead of relying on those Bic lighters. They won't always be available. (My Bold Prediction.)

Remember what Tom Hanks showed us in the movie "Cast Away"? I recall the scene where he holds up the Bic lighter at his reunion gathering...

[papalegba]

For anybody who has to start fires on a regular basis, whether a campfire or in a woodstove, a blowhard is a pretty handy device - and far superior to a bellows.

A 'blowhard' is my name for a handy little tool I discovered in Japan many years ago. To make one, take a piece of bamboo of about two or two-and-a-half feet long, and cut it so that one end has one of the sections, the 'joints' of the bamboo, at one end. Then take a metal rod, like a piece of rebar, and knock out all the other 'joints' of the bamboo, except for the one at one end, so that you have a long tube, closed at one end and open at the other. Then, with a drill make a very small hole, about 1/8" or maybe even less in that closed end. You're done.

To use it, point the tiny hole end at the place where you want air in your fire, and put your mouth on the other end and blow. You get a powerful, very focused beam of air right where you need it.

You could probably make one out of pvc or metal pipe, but the thought of plastic pipe near fire where you're breathing isn't very appealing. Metal would get kind of hot but would be better - bamboo is ideal.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

ok so I made two versions of fire starters. They are basically either a cup cake paper or paper egg carton filled 2/3rds with sawdust and the last 1/3 or less is parafin wax. Some I mixed the wax and sawdust others I just poured the wax on top.

So far the egg carton ones are great for size and will burn for just under 5 minutes. Great. the bigger paper cupcake sized ones go for much longer and are awesome. My dad who's been building fires for 65 odd years, says he loves it, its brilliant and he wished he'd had something like that. Its so much easier to light a fire with one of these things and it doesn't take that much to make or much $.

I'm hooked. I plan to stock pile wax during the canning season to bring my prices down and got sawdust for free. Now I am just going to put a sign up at work asking for paper egg cartons. The smaller ones fit inside a film cannister and will make lighting camp fires a breeze.

[Pops]

My first post ever here I said I wasn't here to talk about the ifs and whens but the what-to-dos. So I decided to start going back in the archives and dig up something constructive to talk about, so here goes.

I always said I'll spend my last $10 on fuel for my chainsaw. We have some wood on the place but nothing very good or straight. Anything that falls around here is about half wasted because of all the crouches and knots. It's mostly stringy elm and isn't too easy too split even in the straight logs. Long story short I bought a splitter this year.

I have a small, 40hp, diesel tractor with about 1,000 hours on it, barely broken in in other words so instead of buying a splitter with a dedicated engine I'd buy on that works off the tractor hydraulics and I'm pretty happy so far.

We had a big old elm that died as a result of an ice storm several years ago and was threatening the house so it had to go. Easily 3' across at the base and with a very swirly, stringy texture we'd have hauled lots of good wood to the brush pile so that was my excuse. I'm guessing there was at least a rick and a half of fairly decent cord wood that came out of that tree that would have been wasted without the splitter.

The best part is I barely ran the tractor above idle and split 6 or 8 ricks of wood (I had a bunch of gnarly stuff from years past) over 6 or 8 hours on maybe 3 gallons of diesel. If that elm is worth 15-20M BTUs a cord that ain't a bad return.

And the best part is the engine won't poop out anytime soon.


What are you doing for heat this winter?

[Loki]

What are you doing for heat this winter?

That's a good question. It dipped well into the 40s in the RV last night, I'll probably have to fire up the propane heater soon. It gets the job done, but I hate it, uses way too much propane, reliant on both propane and electricity, if either of those goes down, I get no heat.

Been thinking of getting an Eco-fan, a gadget that runs off the stovetop (also propane). It'd likely reduce my propane use, and it isn't dependent on AC, but the fire hazard worries me and I'm not eager to spend the money. A friend of mine likes his, though.

Ideally I'd have a woodstove, but can't do that as long as I'm doing the RV thing. Last winter I fantasized about a yurt so I could have a woodstove.

[Shaved Monkey]

Ideally I'd have a woodstove, but can't do that as long as I'm doing the RV thing. Last winter I fantasized about a yurt so I could have a woodstove.

It can be done
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[deacienVieniKar]

Hello folks!! Greetings from Ivydale