Since a guy has new fire starters it would only be proper to test one to make sure they are good to go.
I finally got around to making some of the fire starters and you guys make it look easy. I tried a few different muffin tins and paper which worked ok but really, I have fire starter crumble. After a few messy batches, I just threw in the towel and now I am just mixing saw dust in with the wax. I am sure it will work about the same and it now comes in a bucket. Goodwill was great for candles. Picked up some expensive pottery barn pillars from 20 years ago.
I mixed shredded paper and sawdust and used cardboard egg cartons. When I poured the wax in, it soaked into the egg carton and kept everything together. I just tore the egg compartments apart for each starter. The hotter the wax, the more it soaks in and through the egg carton. So I tried to pour just as the last of the wax melted.
I tried with sawdust from the tablesaw a few years ago and also got crumbly mess. Chips from cutting or noodling pine was much better . Paper shreddings and sawdust mixed might work better but when it comes right down to it I'd rather just use kindling. I have so many pine branches that it's not worth the effort. I think the eggg crates are the easiest, but I save egg crates for my niece's chicken eggs.
These days, as I gather logs from the woodpile for the evenings fire, I put the ends of a few pieces of kindling in a plastic jar that as about 2" of kerosene in the bottom. After a few minutes the kindling has absorbed a bit of the kerosene and I build my 'stack' in the wood stove with those kindling pieces at the bottom. Then a quick blast with a propane torch sets them on fire, and they in turn set the rest of the stack to burn. Pretty easy, and effective.
Saw dust, (imho), is too fine. The wax will float on top of the dust rather than mix in. I use the ribbon-like shavings that come off the lathe. Much easier to work with. Find a wood worker and ask them for lathe shavings. They will definitely give them away. (Making 1 bowl will give me half or more of a 30 gallon trash can of shavings) Also, i will add a little bit of the wax (maybe a teaspoon or 2) to the paper cup first because I've had some cups where the hot wax didn't sink to the bottom and seal in the shavings. (This will also help the paper stick to the wax. But...sometimes the paper still comes off in storage. Lol)
Next years fire starters. There is hardware cloth attached to the bottom of the 2x4 frame. Red oak noodles.
I’m not old, but old enough to remember when matches used to work. We had Ohio Blue Tip matches that worked year after year stored in an unconditioned shed. The Diamond brand stuff I have is pretty lousy with failed strikes and tips that break off. Any suggestions?
