Starting a Stove Fire

[Industrial Toys]

I ripped up a bunch of cardboard cartons and it looked like I was cookin with gas.

Went upstairs. Came down . . . . nothing!

And that's why I need a better (sure fire, one match) way!

 

[crackerjack222]

I used to mess with paper and kindling to start my wood stove fires..... no more. I now use those wax/sawdust FireStarter blocks. And I even start them with a propane torch. EasyPeazy.:thumbsup:

I ran out of the blocks one time but I had some Fire Logs. I took my chain saw and cut a log into small blocks. Worked just as well.

 

[RNeumann]

Well, I am just trying to start my stone cold stove in the usual way. Some small apple branches, waxed milk carton, fast food garbage and one piece of pine slat. I had a few boxes of the stuff I salvaged from the center of a cable reel. It was clean and stored nice and neat. I have one piece left!

It amazes me. If I build a careful fire, those pine slats catch and burn good. If I sit there with a propane torch for five minutes (like I just did) , have the pine blazing, and leave, the thing goes out!

It's out! Back to square one.

I'vehad good luck with water bottles. The plastic is just diesel in a different form...kinda- You get the idea. I don't use any paper or cardboard products. It just seems to make ash and doesn't produce coals or sustained heat.

For me it's two split logs laid side by side
Two crushed water bottles
4-6 pieces of kindling
A couple of medium sized pieces or 2x4s
Once those coals burn and drop between the logs I add another split log

 

[Industrial Toys]

A lot of plastic gets burned in my shop stove. Very unfortunately, the glass broke and I just replaced it with steel plate, so I don't care if it gets gunked up. The basement stove is another matter, and I struggle to keep the glass clean.

I do have a few of those manufactured logs that my Mom dragged home from the Church Thrift store she volunteers at and I was going to do exactly as described. Cut them up.

 

[dickfoster]

There doesn't appear to be very many boy scouts here. I have no trouble using the traditional method, tender (crumpled paper), a couple of sticks of kindling on top of that and splits on top of that. I feel like I'm cheating just using a butane lighter to light the paper. It's not starting the fire that I have any trouble with it's all the work cutting, splitting, hauling and stacking the firewood. It seems like I'm always needing to schlep wood until it finally gets into the stove.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Well, it's going like the proverbial house on fire now, so much so that I now need to start the schlepping process through the blizzard to the wood shed.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Back before I learned what dry wood is really like, I used various things as starters. Best so far was waxed cardboard boxes made for shipping produce cross country. Didn't take much of it. A strip a couple inches wide and maybe 8" long would get about anything going.

 

[MossRoad]

If you can't start a fire with wood and newspaper, there's something wrong with the wood or airflow. It's just that simple. No fire starters are needed. No torches. No piles of kindling. No hocus pocus.

If the fire keeps going out when attempting to get it going, there's just a few things it can be.

Wet wood or lack of draft.

 

[General Lee]

The basement stove is another matter, and I struggle to keep the glass clean.

If your glass is black, your wood is not dry enough OR you're burning to cold ie; not enough air for the wetness of the wood.

 

[MossRoad]

A tip for cleaning the glass...

Take a pieced of crumpled up newspaper, dip it in water, then dip it in wood ash.

Use it like a scrubby pad and wipe the inside of the glass with it. It will make a muddy smear, but keep moving it around in a circular motion. Once you do the entire glass, get another piece and repeat. That's usually enough to get everything loose. Then take a couple wet paper towels and wipe off the ashy smear. Perfectly clear glass! :thumbsup: