Lighter wood or starter wood

[beppington]

Wikipedia's "Fatwood" article (Fatwood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) says:

Fatwood, also known as "fat lighter," "lighter wood", "rich lighter", "pine knot","heart pine" or "lighter'd" (sic), is derived from the heartwood of pine trees. This resin-impregnated heartwood becomes hard and rot-resistant. The stump (and tap root) left in the ground after a tree has fallen or has been cut is an excellent source of "fatwood". Other locations such as the joints where limbs intersect the trunk can also be harvested. Although most resinous pines can produce fatwood, in the southeastern United States the wood is commonly associated with Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), which historically was highly valued for its high pitch production.


Click the link if you want to read the rest (Fatwood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

 

[lakngulf]

I have several pine stumps out back that are lighter knots.

We would gather some to start our fires when "catfishing" the creeks that ran through our property. This was back before the influx of so many flashlights, so to be able to see to check our fishing poles, we would get a couple of long fat lighterd knots get them burning good, and they produced great light. Had to be careful about the hot resin dropping down, however.

 

[sherpa]

I am still practicing with how much to use as a fire starting size.
I am starting to beleive that a 1 inch square about 8-10 inches is about right for starting a woodstove fire?
sherpa

 

[beppington]

I am still practicing with how much to use as a fire starting size.
I am starting to beleive that a 1 inch square about 8-10 inches is about right for starting a woodstove fire?
sherpa

Use the smallest amount that gets the job done, so you can conserve it :thumbsup: People pay $ for it.

 

[sandman2234]

Each stove is different, and fireplaces too, but most of the time I have been conservative of the fat lighter, it takes a lot less than what you are describing, by cutting it into itty bitty pieces, as opposed to a one inch chunk. A lot depends on your wood and how dry and how big the pieces are. There are too many variables to even begin to put a rule of thumb on it.
David from jax

 

[sherpa]

I will cut back some more, I dont want to waste this stuff.
I really like the way it starts a fire.
sherpa

 

[jcliburn]

I was outside today when I ran across a lighter stump from an old pine in the edge of the woods around my yard.

I thought of this thread and decided to take a picture.

Some of the bark shell from the stump survives; enough to discern the outline of it. I highlighted it. The original stump was about 2 feet across.

 

[lakngulf]

I was outside today when I ran across a lighter stump from an old pine in the edge of the woods around my yard.

I thought of this thread and decided to take a picture.

Some of the bark shell from the stump survives; enough to discern the outline of it. I highlighted it. The original stump was about 2 feet across.

Yep, that is what they look like. And it is like and iceberg, you only see the tip. I remember as a kid, when lots of kindling was used, that folks would blow them up with dynamite, in order to get all the good stuff

 

[clemsonfor]

Im a forester, just saying this to put validity in my post.

It has many names depending upon your area or what your family and friends call it. Thes names are lighter, lighter pine, fat lighter, fat wood, heat pine. ALL southern yellow pines can have it and it can be in a live or dead pine. The center or "heart" of the tree fills with the natural flamible resins of the tree. Heart wood is actually dead and only serves as structural integrity to the tree, this is why you can have rotten out center trees and still perfectly heathly otherwise.

Species that make is are short-leaf, loblolly, but the main two are Long-leaf pine and slash pine.

 

[ric21raw]

It is called " Fat Lighter " and it comes from a southern pine that dies quickly from bugs, lightning and fire. I have ten acres of Fat Lighter and some are the whole tree. when the bark falls off it is red and will never rot. It is used for poles and decorations. I have some that can be made into table and lamps. Some like I said are thirty feet in the air solid from the branches to the root system.