# Where do you buy kindling?



## WoodBurner24 (Feb 13, 2010)

For those of you that buy your word, where do you buy your kindling?

There are lots of Craigslist sellers around me selling cordwood, but almost none sell kindling.

Edit: Sorry! This should be in the Wood Shed.


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## wood spliter (Feb 13, 2010)

You can do a few things. Split some of the wood that you bought. Pick up Branch's and break them up. Or see if anyone is getting rid of skids (Industrial area or Home Depot type places).


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## BrotherBart (Feb 13, 2010)

Since I started using Super Cedar fire starters this year I haven't touched another piece of kindling.


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## hareball (Feb 13, 2010)

Start burning 24/7   

Those guys selling the cords might be willing to sell you some of the scraps left over from splitting. 
I take the square splits from the larger rounds and hatchet them down to 2" thick or so slices and use the smaller scraps as the firestarter.


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## Adkjake (Feb 13, 2010)

Buy kindling?  Never.  I have 2 1/2 Ac of wooded land, pick up plenty of downed branches.  Also I whack up the pine for kindling and/or whack up some of the smaller splits from the wood supply.


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## billb3 (Feb 13, 2010)

I have a few acres of  30 and 40 year old pines with thousands of dead extremely dry bottom branches.
In less than a half hour I can have two wheel barrows full, and that's cutting the branches off at the trunk properly.


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## smokinj (Feb 13, 2010)

My fire has not went out sense Nov.


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## craigs (Feb 13, 2010)

hareball said:
			
		

> Start burning 24/7
> 
> Those guys selling the cords might be willing to sell you some of the scraps left over from splitting.
> I take the square splits from the larger rounds and hatchet them down to 2" thick or so slices and use the smaller scraps as the firestarter.



+1  Go to your favorite supply store and get a hatchet.  After some experimenting you'll quickly learn which wood is good for making kindling.  I use red oak pieces that come from the middle of larger logs and are square.  They usually split easily but almost always come apart on an angle - must be something to do with the grain.  Still, they split easily and make great kindling.


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## Kenster (Feb 13, 2010)

About once a year I buy one cedar fence post at the local lumber/hardware store.   About five feet long.  Costs about $5.   I cut it into foot long lengths then split it down to kindling sticks varying from 1/2 inch to an inch thick. A couple of foot long sections will fill my kindling basket that I keep by the stove and will last many weeks.   Cedar easily splits straight up and down.  I used a hammer and an inch wide wedge/chisel. The posts are about four inch square.  I place the chisel in the middle of one side about half inch from the edge and whack it.  This makes a nice half inch x 4 inch "shingle" which I then split further into half inch thick sticks.  It goes very quickly.  A hatchet will also do the job but I find the hammer/chisel combo gives me nice accurate cuts. 
The fence posts are very dry and cedar burns extremely hot.  They get a good fire going from a cold stove quickly.  I also can stick a couple into the hot ashes in the morning to get the fire roaring again quickly.  
I also sometimes take a double handful, tie them up in a nice ribbon, and take them as a "host" gift when attending a party or having dinner with friends.


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## snowtime (Feb 13, 2010)

Well my fire does not go out much, we snowshoe and ski until the first or second week in May. Seeing as we are snowed in I have all our wood for the main house in the basement what I do is cut a good tree [one that has very few branches for the first 100' or so] and cut short 12" pieces. I will use those to make kindling in the winter. I like to go down in the basement and split. I make kindling and shavings to start the fire. Never could get much paper out here so make my own. I usually will start using the kindling in march as the snow is still coming but the days are warming. It takes along time for 40' plus to melt.


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## ChipTam (Feb 13, 2010)

As a professional cabinetmaker, I always had a good supply of kindling.  However, I'm now mostly retired and have to rely on other sources besides my own shop.  My favorite source is a buddy who has a small saw mill.  He rips his 2x4s and 2x6s (spruce and fir) to final size.  What's left over are 2"x 1/4"x 8 foot long pieces which he just gives away.  I'll then cut those pieces to length on my chop saw........absolutely perfect kindling.  You might want to check out lumber yards in your area especially those with a mill shop.  They frequently sell kindling although I have no idea regarding the price.
ChipTam


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## savageactor7 (Feb 13, 2010)

As you use wood you'll notice it sheds...just keep collecting it a paper bag or box.


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## ISeeDeadBTUs (Feb 13, 2010)

How much do you think kindling is worth?

Cause if you and a few of your yuppy burning buddies need some great oak kindling, I will gladdly convert a cord of oak into whatever size kindling you need.


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## Battenkiller (Feb 14, 2010)

Many of the guys I buy from use wood processors with multi-wedge splitters.  This leaves quite a mess, which they throw in the truck along with the load.  After I stack, there is usually a few wheelbarrows full of small, thin splits that dry to potato chips in a couple of days inside.  I still have a bunch of this left.  It burns so fast and hot that you don't need much.  When it's gone, I'll just take several of my straightest looking cherry splits, split thin slabs off of them with an axe and go at the slabs with a meat cleaver.  That'll give me what I need for the rest of the season.  Cherry is my favorite kindling by far.  It burns very hot like pine but without all the sparks, and gets the bigger pieces going fast.

I like kindling that will sustain an active flame without being in proximity to other wood.  The limit of that is about 3/4"-1".  Anything bigger isn't really kindling IMO.


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## LLigetfa (Feb 14, 2010)

I split my own kin'lin.


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## bogydave (Feb 14, 2010)

*!BUUUUUUUY KINDLING! :bug:*
Bust up some pallets if you don't want to split some of your good wood.


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## mkt1 (Feb 14, 2010)

You could watch for roofers tearing off or putting on a cedar shake roof, I once got a load for free on a tear off. just watch and ask. it makes great kindlin'.


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## maplewood (Feb 14, 2010)

I've never ever ever bought kindling.  My choices:
1.  Cut my own cedar and split it.
2.  Split some of my hardwood - picking pieces with little or no knots.
3.  Split up some dimensional lumber:  1x6 or 2x4 from projects.
4.  Went by a few homes under construction and got permission to "clean up" their waste lumber after hours.  Win/win.
Happy burning.


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## azsteven (Feb 14, 2010)

+1 about the branches which keep falling. Just collect them in a garbage can and even tell your neighbors that you'll take their downed branches. 

Also, I've built several houses with habitat for humanity, and I've always taken 2x4 or 2x10 offcuts home. We call them habiscraps. These are kiln dried, and split nicely down to 1/2" by 1/2" sticks. They'll light with a match, and burn long enough to get the whole fire going. Any construction site/homebuilder will give you some scraps -- free if you pick it up, because he doesn't have to pay for the dumpster charge if you take it away.


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## chad3 (Feb 14, 2010)

Close to M.  I see a builder with his extras pile and ask if I can grab some of the 2x4 scraps he has sitting there.  Split those into 1/2 inch pieces and call it good.  Haven't used many of them lately, but may have to tomorrow as I built the overnight a bit sooner that I usually do.
Chad


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## Bigg_Redd (Feb 14, 2010)

WoodBurner24 said:
			
		

> Where do you buy kindling?



Buy kindling?  Is this a trick question?


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## Wood Duck (Feb 14, 2010)

Look for a piece of your cordwood that seems to have straight grain, no obvious knots, etc. Then take an axe or maul and whack it on the end. if it splits nicely, keep going until you have kindling. If not, find another piece and try. Store the kindling inside and it will be very dry in no time. Another way to approach it is go to Home Depot, lowes, a lumber yard, etc. and look for their reject boards, which HD here sells for 51 cents. cut to about 8 or 12 inch length (HD will even do it for you, I think), and split it. It should split very nicely with only a touch of the maul, and it should be very dry. An eight foot 2x6 board cut into 8 1 ft sections, split small should yield  (time for an equation): 8 sections x 8 or 10 splits = lots of kindling. Another option: I have been replacing doors in the house (I don't recommind this as a hobby) and using lots of cedar shims. If you could buy these cheaply enough they'd make great kindling.


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## Taconite (Feb 16, 2010)

I grew up working at my grandfathers saw mill.  We heat almost everything with wood and have several wood stoves and boilers.  For as long as I have lived we always started fires with a mix of saw dust and diesel fuel.  Basically, we fill a 5 gallon bucket with saw dust and add some diesel.  When you go to light a fire we scoop about (2) cups worth and light it with a match.  It starts fast and hot.


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## Tony H (Feb 16, 2010)

I have seen it for sale but never have purchased any. I just collect down sticks and branches from the yard saves the blades on the mower and I collect quite a load when I get about a cords worth built up I throw the rest on the burn pile. My other sources are my FIL and BIL they both build alot of I don't know what but they throw all the scraps in boxes for me to use. I trick we use for starting bon fires with damp wood is a handfull of match lite charcoal just throw it in light it up and watch it go.


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## Adios Pantalones (Feb 16, 2010)

From a cold start- I load the stove, open the air, add some birch bark to the front of the stove and focus my hatred on it until it ignites itself.  

seriously- I just strip off some birch bark and that's all I need.


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## tonelover (Feb 16, 2010)

I pick up my own kindling but have an appointment to go over this evening to scope out this offer. All oak and maple, would be a time saver from gathering and cutting this summer, not that I really mind it. 

http://nh.craigslist.org/for/1602550088.html


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## Stevebass4 (Feb 16, 2010)

LLigetfa said:
			
		

> I split my own kin'lin.



i do the same  

I split about three weeks worth of kindling at a time for me and the neighbor lady and it takes about 20 minutes 

BB - i also use supercedards but  with SC and kindling i get the fire blazing in ten minutes 

This summer  the game plan is to split a year's worth of pine kindling


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## btuser (Feb 17, 2010)

bogydave said:
			
		

> *!BUUUUUUUY KINDLING! :bug:*
> Bust up some pallets if you don't want to split some of your good wood.



Pallets baby.  Pallets are a girl's best friend.


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## hkillam (Feb 17, 2010)

If you ever get scrap 2X4's they make great kindling. I cut them to 5 or 6 inch lengths, then split them with a hatchet. They split easily (not always straight, though...) and because they are kiln dried, light easily and burn pretty well. I try to get each 5 or 6 inch length into 8 or 10 waffers. When you're done, it looks like you've get a bunch of shims, though not nearly so uniform as shims (which, by the way, are also great if you have leftovers from projects).


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## ChrisNJ (Feb 17, 2010)

wow I guess I am an odd one here as I don't have time to make it so I buy bags of kiln dried hard wood from Lowes :-O I feel ashamed now but I love the stuff and I start a new fire almost every morning using them.


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## jharkin (Feb 17, 2010)

My lot is only a half acre, and even on that I get more down branches than I can ever use for kindling.  And as part time burners we start a lot of fires.

Unless your in the inner city just look in your back yard


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## andyrlee (Feb 17, 2010)

Check out a planing mill or cabinet maker.


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## firefighterjake (Feb 18, 2010)

Hmmm . . . the idea of buying kindling . . . very odd concept. 

Most of my kindling is from the free pallets I use or softwood slabs that I chop up with a hatchet or ax . . . although a few years back I did cut up and split a downed cedar . . . and in a pinch I suppose I could chop up some of my actual firewood.


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## morgantruce (Feb 18, 2010)

Us country mice shouldn't be so hard on our city cousins... they're just more used to paying for things than we rural mice.

I can just barely remember back to when I lived in the city, but I know don't recall any handy piles of kindling laying around.

While you're out walking the dog, if you notice the sound of a circular saw or table saw, there's probably a wood worker living nearby. Unless he's also a wood burner, that might be a good source.

City mice might not be so keen on swinging a hatchet at a piece of firewood---besides, they are not at all likely to have a proper chopping block.  Whittling with a _sharp _knife might be more suitable.  I recently bought a used wood plane on eBay.... boy, turning a board into a pile of shavings is quite entertaining.

A dozen popsicle sticks can usually get a fire going--if the firewood is not huge.

Carry a pair of lopping shears and a carton in your trunk.  Often you will see some fallen branches.  Even a pair of hand shears can be of use.  Such cuttings usually need seasoning. 

Be wary of any scrap wood that has ever had a finish applied. Such wood is not good for combustors--or mouse lungs.


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## wmk1956 (Feb 18, 2010)

I second the Super Cedar fire starters, haven't needed kindling.


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## CrawfordCentury (Feb 18, 2010)

All that white pine that the wood snobs turn their noses up at is great for getting the fires going. Works good as firewood too. 

The brush pile at the dump is also a good source for scrap dimensional lumber if none of your pals is in construction.


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## Henz (Feb 19, 2010)

I used to, and still do split my own kindling from withatever I have..mostly the smaller diameter rounds. This year I bought a box of firestarter logs from my local hardware store..Let me tell you, they are the way to go if you ask me. I bought one box, had 20 "logs" in it I guess at the start of the burn season and I still have 8 left. You do not actually need to burn the entire log, I split each piece in half so I get 2x the use out of them. It has really reduced the amount of kindling that I need. I place one of the firestart halves in between two pieced of kindling, then two pieces of kindling perpendicular to that and then one split on top...slick. I really dont even use newspaper anymore, I simply light the firestarter and it takes right off


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## thewoodlands (Feb 19, 2010)

I split Quaking Aspen or Basswood for kindling, also have a endless supply of dead white pine branches that I used early in the year then stopped.

Zap


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## Bobbin (Feb 19, 2010)

Another one who collects downed branches and rakes up the debris from splitting.  As our stacked wood dries it frequently sheds the bark and I use that, too.  We built a barn in '07 and diligently saved all the trimmings from the dimensional lumber.  We just finished splitting the bounty a few weeks ago!  Kindling is one of the on-going conflicts in this household, frankly.  I am too chicken to use the axe or power equipment to process it and we have to "run out" before the spousal unit will get "busy".  Which is probably why:

Since November I've used only a milk crate's worth in the studio ("my territory").  The husband uses a lot more to start/rekindle the house fire than I do.    One of my games is to see how little newspaper and kindling is required to start a fire or goose the remaining coals to light the next load... .


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## Henz (Feb 19, 2010)

the absolute #1 best kindling ever is ol lath from a remodel. I would pick through a dumpster for it if I had one.


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## CrawfordCentury (Feb 19, 2010)

Adirondackwoodburner said:
			
		

> the absolute #1 best kindling ever is ol lath from a remodel. I would pick through a dumpster for it if I had one.



Agreed. A previous owner of our antique home dumped all the lath out back. Cleaned up the lath and spread out the mountain of plaster to level off some uneven areas.

The nails were easy to remove - the old square nails, which came in handy for a couple restoration projects.


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## hareball (Feb 19, 2010)

Bobbin said:
			
		

> One of my games is to see how little newspaper and kindling is required to start a fire or goose the remaining coals to light the next load... .



Now that sounds fun to me!


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## Summertime (Feb 20, 2010)

I pay $5.00 for a pallet load of undersized 4' pallet boards from a local pallet maker,I dry them for a couple of months after making one cut through the wrapped pallet to make 24" boards.


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## Joe_ (Feb 20, 2010)

Pine.  Best free kindling there is.

Also make great bookends for the split stacks ....


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## firefighterjake (Feb 22, 2010)

Bobbin said:
			
		

> Another one who collects downed branches and rakes up the debris from splitting.  As our stacked wood dries it frequently sheds the bark and I use that, too.  We built a barn in '07 and diligently saved all the trimmings from the dimensional lumber.  We just finished splitting the bounty a few weeks ago!  Kindling is one of the on-going conflicts in this household, frankly.  I am too chicken to use the axe or power equipment to process it and we have to "run out" before the spousal unit will get "busy".  Which is probably why:
> 
> Since November I've used only a milk crate's worth in the studio ("my territory"). _* The husband uses a lot more to start/rekindle the house fire than I do.    One of my games is to see how little newspaper and kindling is required to start a fire or goose the remaining coals to light the next load*_... .



You sound like my wife . . . I use way more kindling and use it way more often than she does . . . she is more patient and will put some small splits on small coals and wait for it to take off whereas I get impatient and toss in a bunch of kindling to get the fire going faster . . . neither technique is wrong . . . it's just that I have plenty of kindling so figure I may as well use it.


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## Rory (Feb 22, 2010)

I never bought kindling until I got my gasifier up and running last year.  Building two fires a day in cold weather goes through the kindling in a hurry, even though I typically only use four pieces.  I bought a pickup load of pine trimmings from a local sawmill for $30, it looks like it will last me several years.


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