fire starting

i like to use an aid like the super cedar to get that initial ignition of the kindling. i've never bought the super cedar however. in the past i've used strips of cloth dipped in wax which is close enough. then i used up the wax supply so that was that.
i went to canola oil for bar lubrication so gallons of that are always lying around. the procedure is to dip the end of a cloth strip into a jar of oil, let the oil wick up about half way, put the cloth on top of the kindling and light the dry end. non petroleum products are much nicer to use and if there was a local reasonable source for soy wax that would be even better and wicks could be made out of that and they could be stored easily as they would be dry. getting your hands on soy wax involves suffering freight charges and it's easier to use the cash to get canola oil at costco. i always have planer shavings from the wood shop and could make up a facsimile super cedar having a wax supply. that would be really nice. then again i could break down and get super cedars. for years i used up a fatwood supply but as time goes on solutions are found that doesn't involve a special purchase.

 

We've been getting old partially used candles from garage sales, and pour that melted wax on planer/jointer shavings in egg cartons.
Jon (fishingpol) does paper towel/toilet paper rolls filled with a shaving/wax mixture, which he then cuts into little pucks.
SS are nice to use too.

 

I think I've seen someone on here use Dixie cups with wax if I remember correctly. Can't remember who it was.

 

I use the Rutland Safe Lite fire starters ($1.99 for 24 @ TSC) using a top down approach. With my old stove, I needed to start a fire every day so I still have 3 boxes of these to use up. Now that I have a stove that can hold a fire overnight, these may last a while. Tried the super cedars (sample pack of 2) and like them better, but need to use up my Rutland stock before I order.

 

Yep, I think that was savemoney (Larry).

 

Don't remember if he does, but I do.

 

Same here.
Too early for a nap.

 

My wife save paper towel rolls and stuffs dryer lint in them. Dont laugh. They work. Who knew?

 

BrianK does.

wax firestarters | Firewood Hoarders Club

 

Bingo Jon.
This is the pic I remembered, but thought it was Larry.

 

I just received my Black Friday specials......FHC super cedars.....I don't know that I'll ever use anything but super cedars, just pretty darn easy.

 

good variety of yankee ingenuity and experience. thanks guys.

edit. just looked at the wax situation one more time. you can get soy wax on amazon for about $20/10# and free delivery. it looks good until you compare how much vegetable oil you can get for twenty. where the wax has an advantage is making starters up and being able to conveniently store them. then the negative is you had to put the labor in to make them up and clean up afterwards. canola oil is a small pain because you carefully dispense from a small jar and can spill if you are not being careful. i put the jar into a low enough stove and dip the cloth wick into the jar and any drips stay in the stove. if there were a good local deal for any type of wax i would do the egg carton thing in a heartbeat otherwise it's staying canola bar oil two birds off the same container of oil.
then there's the old camping trick where you carry cotton balls dipped in petroleum jelly in a little zip lock bag. same idea. it all comes down to your source for petroleum or vegetable product and what you're willing to pay for it, and the convenience factor for your scheme.

 

Yep, 'liquid paper' works fantastic as long as you use an oil and never a solvent. Even oil can be touchy if used in a warm stove or anywhere near hot coals; the stuff will start to smoke and that smoke will ignite rather quickly.

Someone or other used to sell blocks of porous stone that was supposed to be soaked in kerosene and then put in the bottom of the stove under kindling to get a fire going. Fish out the stone block later, and of course you really should have more than one.

Super Cedars really do work well though and are pretty inexpensive if they are used a quarter at a time.

Brian

 

well. this is stupid but it's what i do in a superstitious manner with a cat stove. you are under advisement not to get creative with what you burn for the health of the catalyst. i use the canola oil as it's the least innocuous compound and white rags for the wick as there was no dye lot in making them. naturally whatever you used for a fire starter is consumed 20 minutes before you engage the catalyst. i don't even want a residue in the stove. it's a bit compulsive. on that subject it's hard to distinguish between compulsive behavior and the natural desire to be less stupid than you were in the past. my fire starting setup has continued to evolve and is not bad at this point. my wood splitting tools have completely changed over this year. you would think that forty fifty years of the same activity would have taught you better, and decades before now, but apparently that is not so. you are never too old to learn something or change. based on a very bad experience with the next generation catalyst equipped vermont castings defiant i knew not to get a catalyst stove and that changed with the purchase of an IS. best to keep the open mind.

 

A little fatwood, progressive sized pine splits, a touch of flame, close the door, open the air control. Fire is started. Pinecones could be used, dry cedar twigs and/or splits. Whatever the land provides works for me.

 

This year, I've been using a Pine Mountain brand Ultra Flame log, sorta like Duraflame. I used the band saw to cut it in 1/2 slices then break the slices into 5 or 6 pieces. The log cost around $4 I think and will last me a looooong time. Heck, in a pinch, I've used a small hand full of Fritos. They burn pretty darn good and taste even better!


One other thing I've started doing this year, I keep a Black and Decker Heat Gun (the kind you strip paint with) by the stove. I typically use it on a cold start if I need to reverse the draft before lighting the fire but on one fire, I didn't do a very good job of placing my logs right to get good airflow and had a hard time getting things to light off good. I grabbed the ol' heat gun and gave it about a 20 sec blast of hot air and the fire took off like a scalded dog! I suppose a hair dryer would work too but I have the heat gun handy and I don't have to get clearance from the wife to use it!

 

Heat gun, just like a mini leaf blower