My new stove likes to be loaded N/S. That would require 11" wood length. All my wood is cut to 16". I was thinking about just taking the saw and cut down through the stack. Cutting the logs in half.Any safety issue with doing this? Worried a little about kick back.
All kinds of problems with that! I know because before I installed my insert all my wood was cut to 24" length. I had to shorten 5+ cord down to 17" to fit the insert. I put ratchet straps on one of my racks and pulled them tight then cut them to length. It worked but I had some spooky moments. So much so made a saw buck and held the wood in place with the ratchet straps. This worked great and gave me the control and safety I needed. I don't recommend just leaving them in the rack and cutting them. You'd be surprised at how hard and fast a saw can throw a split at you! If you aren't a diy guy there several commercialy made devices out there that work. Bailey'sonline.com for one.
Do you have a compound mitre saw/chop saw? I use the one in my basement to trim down the splits that are a few inches too long.. This would give you less waste and allow you to have one piece that is full length at 11" and one chunk to burn.. The toughest part about using my setup is that some of the splits are a little too big so the blade doesn't go all the way through.. I simply flip it over and cut from the other side..
I've used a milk crate before and it worked well. You could use any box of that type or size. Or ratcheting onto a saw horse works well. One other is you could simply build a jig. I think this might be one that HDRock built but not sure. It could have been someone else too.
You guys all beat me to it! The only other thing I'd add is, if you can load longer EW, you'd only really "need" to cut the ones that won't fit that way. That's how I discovered the "log cabin" method for loading the stove, which I still use even though I measure everything these days. I get a very consistently clean burn in my stove that way.
Not mine but pretty close to the same. Sometimes I use a ratchet strap sometimes not, depends on how I get it packed.
Thanks for the ideas. I just didn't feel comfortable just cutting down through the pile and thought I would ask some people with more experience. I like the idea of the milk create and using a ratchet strap. I have a crate and will give it a try. It is suppose to get into the teens this weekend. I have a small stack of 11" pieces that I have cut down one piece at a time. The wood has been inside stored for over 3 years. I will load some of that into the stove this weekend and see what happens. The instructions suggests N/S loading. My new stove will except 17" E/W, but I haven't been able to get a good burn on it loaded that way. I am not satisfied with this new stove at all. The old stove would run us out of the room not even burning it hard. Will have to talk to the company that I bought it from. It was suppose to heat 800 to 1600 square feet. My down stairs is about 800 square feet and the upstairs is closed off. The room the stove is in is only 200 square. It struggles to get that room real warm. If this continues, there will be a new stove next year or the old one will go back in.
Cutting your firewood to 11" would be a tremendous pain in the butt, whether from the get-go or especially breaking down standard 16-18" stock. If it were me, I would figure out how to burn longer logs. What stove are you running?
You say you are not getting a good burn e/w....have you tried some of the shorties n/s and then e/w on top ? By what I am hearing if you can't heat that small room it would be bye, bye birdy for me.
I do this especially when reducing longer splits for the smoker.... But we should include to anyone that has NEVER done this to be careful to not let an uneven face of a split dictate the cut= meaning that the blade can bind up dangerously quick-like. Be thoughtful, Hoarders, and watch out.
I totally agree with that,, I have a 10 inch chop saw and a 10 inch sliding chop saw and my Woodshop,, I use them for straight edged boards. Very easy to get a kick back on this type of saws and take your face off,, that's why I never recommend this for firewood
In my case, it's just work that has to be done, I get a lot of wood that is already cut and it won't fit in my stove, so I have to recut it. Stove is square so I can fit 18 inches EW or NS
I will second this and testify to the danger. I was making my wife a slab wood flower box that looked like a miniature cart and had to cut some small rounds to make the wheels and the miter saw can definitely be dangerous for this.
I would definitely try loading E-W AND N-S in each load. This gives more air to all the splits and will get the fire burning more efficiently. I think Shawn Curry has perfected this method in his old Smoke Dragon. How's that primer on firing an old wood stove coming, Shawn?
Sorry Tim, didn't see your post! I think I was busy with my Christmas tree on Saturday. No primer yet - I kinda soured on the idea a little to be honest. I might ask you and Dennis to proofread if I do write it to make sure I don't come across like a jack wagon.
I just use my foot to hold the split in place on top of a round and cut the end off. Probably not the best practice but have done it for a long time now.
The smaller the piece of wood, the more difficult and dangerous it becomes to cut it with any type of saw. Hand powered saws come with a built in safety feature - they stop immediately on flesh contact. Having my choice of powered saw, the bandsaw would be the safest way. Next I'd take the chop saw and do it with 2 cuts. Chainsaw with my foot as a clamp would probably be my second to last choice for safety, but I've done it. I'd never attempt it with a table saw.
