# fat wood - good or bad for kindling



## micaaronfl (Jan 18, 2011)

i have been told fat wood by a random person on the street is not good for kindling as it can cause cresoite problems. tried google couldnt find a yes or no reliable answer. 

im using a wood insert, anyone have an opinion?


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## cmonSTART (Jan 18, 2011)

I love the stuff.  You're burning two sticks to start the stove up.  I hardly think that's going to cause a creosote problem.


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## micaaronfl (Jan 18, 2011)

thats good oto know just checking as i brought a bag of it the other day from HD and im having all kinds of beginner wood issues - lol that sounds bad.


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## precaud (Jan 18, 2011)

It's great stuff. You don't need much, just a couple slices and your fire's off to the races. 



			
				micaaronfl said:
			
		

> i have been told fat wood by a random person on the street is not good for kindling as it can cause cresoite problems. tried google couldnt find a yes or no reliable answer.
> 
> im using a wood insert, anyone have an opinion?


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## soupy1957 (Jan 18, 2011)

Last year I burned Fat Wood as a fire starter........this year I burned Super Cedars........let's face it..........anyone who has started a fire or two can start one without either product.

Having said that, let me say that it's true that the Super Cedars burn longer, initially. I kinda like the notion that Fat Wood is a naturally occurring product.

-Soupy1957


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## CarbonNeutral (Jan 19, 2011)

Much prefer the Supercedar type - some fat wood is great, another bag, same brand, rubbish.


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## Wood Duck (Jan 19, 2011)

It is a common old wive's tale that the sap in pine somehow escapes the burning process and ends up becoming creosote in your chimney. Fatwood is pine, so I guess that is where the notion that it causes creosote originates.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jan 19, 2011)

Fatwood is okay and my wife likes it but we started using the super cedars this year and even my wife can now start a fire. Before, I was always the one who had to start the fires. 

Like Soupy stated, most of us can start a fire without either product, but I surely like the Super Cedars since we started using them. We use only 1/4 of a Super Cedar for starting the fire so they go a long way.


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## Hanko (Jan 19, 2011)

Yep I burned 8 cords of fatwood, pluged my chimney right up.


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## mkt1 (Jan 19, 2011)

Tried some fat wood once and couldn't get in my stove.


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## Kenster (Jan 19, 2011)

Go buy you a cedar fence post for a three rail fence.  Cut it into ten inch lengths then split it up into pencil size sticks.  The wood is super dry, and being cedar, will light fast and burn hot to help get a fire going very quickly.  A nine dollar post will give you about eight hundred home-made "fat wood" starters.  I've been doing this for years.


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## michaelryba (Jan 19, 2011)

I have some of the fatwood.  Like was said, it works.  I think I'm not going to replace it though.  I've just started making some of my own kindling from some pine I have.  Out of a round of pine, I'll split up some of the straight stuff real small and get it real dry.  I haven't lit a match in a while--just stick some that kindling on top of some embers & I have to work quickly to load the stove before she's off to the races.


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## wkpoor (Jan 19, 2011)

I thought you are supposed to start a fire with skinny wood and put the fatwood on after it gets going.


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## BrotherBart (Jan 19, 2011)

I have plenty of pine stumps around here. Where the real fatwood comes from because of the sap concentration at base of the stump. And it is also where you will find more sand and dirt that the tree sucked up while growing than anywhere else on it. Super Cedars do me a good job and they are cheaper than saw chains and hatchet cuts in my hands for that matter.

Went to find the trusty kindling hatchet for something the other day and for the life of me I don't remember where it is. Not an all together bad thing.


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## gibson (Jan 19, 2011)

I bought those Rutland things that look like a box of graham crackers.  They work great and cost about $12 for about a years worth.


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## precaud (Jan 19, 2011)

BrotherBart said:
			
		

> Where the real fatwood comes from because of the sap concentration at base of the stump.



Yup - no need to buy the stuff, if you got any sort of pine, chances are you have enough fat wood for the season.


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## barrettdp (Jan 19, 2011)

I cut up a pine tree last year and have enough fat wood to last a very long time. About a month ago on our old insert I put an entire split of the stuff in with other pine splits. It scared the crap outa me as the stove got hotter than ever before (wasn't using a temp gauge yet) and was obviously putting off a ton of smoke in the stove. It's great stuff to start fires, but be careful.


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## soupy1957 (Jan 19, 2011)

wkpoor said:
			
		

> I thought you are supposed to start a fire with skinny wood and put the fatwood on after it gets going.



Fatwood is a naturally occuring biproduct............it's essentially sap that has settled in a fallen tree, in the roots, mostly.
The Natives used it for many years........you cut off a root and cut it up into narrow strips.  It's yellow in appearance, being saturated with sap.

There may be companies out there that artificially manufacture "Fatwood" but that's not what I buy.

-Soupy1957


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## Woody Stover (Jan 19, 2011)

Fatwood is too fat. I use a large knife that I keep by the stove to split it.
Haven't needed any Fatwood lately, though. My fire hasn't burned out in quite a while.


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## micaaronfl (Jan 1, 2012)

thanks guys i just got my superceder samples delivered and they are round. Do you guys cut these into cubes and if so how many?  the video on superceder.com says to use the only thing on one burning.


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## pen (Jan 1, 2012)

dang, dug back to find this thread of yours didn't you!

I usually cut mine into 1/4's.  If 1 of the 1/4's turns out to be a bit big, then I'll cut it in 1/2 again.  I usually get between 4 - 6 firestarters per super cedar depending on how well I cut.

They cut / break easily.  Since I'm starting from a cold stove if I need one, I just use the edge of the stove and put some pressure on either side and it splits.

pen


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## tmckenzie (Jan 1, 2012)

Fatwood is just great. I would imagine with the small amount that you have to use, it should not make much creosote. The cedar post idea sounds great. That stuff burns hot. I was making peach brandy at Gw's restored distillery at mt vernon last fall and the still was getting a little slow, so I threw a peice of cedar under it and we wound up have to put it out it burned so hot.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jan 1, 2012)

micaaronfl said:
			
		

> thanks guys i just got my superceder samples delivered and they are round. Do you guys cut these into cubes and if so how many?  the video on superceder.com says to use the only thing on one burning.



While still in the wrapper, I break them into quarters. 1/4 will start a fire really nice and quick so you get 4 starters with only one hockey puck. And yes, you revived an old thread here but a good one.


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## JotulOwner (Jan 1, 2012)

Hanko said:
			
		

> Yep I burned 8 cords of fatwood, pluged my chimney right up.



Since you are obviouslya millionaire (given the cost of 8 cords of Fatwood), the cost of cleaning the chimney should not concern you.  :lol:


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## Woody Stover (Jan 2, 2012)

Kenster said:
			
		

> Go buy you a cedar fence post for a three rail fence.  Cut it into ten inch lengths then split it up into pencil size sticks.


Has the Cedar got much pitch? I've been using Red Pine, and you can see that stuff shining on the pieces of kindling when they start burning. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, but I don't like burning any non-wood-smoke substances in my cat stove, even if the bypass is open. I've got plenty of Cedar around, but what I probably will end up doing is grabbing some Tulip Poplar later and splitting it into 1/2" sticks.


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## Valhalla (Jan 2, 2012)

We use a lot of natural kindling for startup.  I occasionally hand split some spruce to mix in the kindling boxes to season.

Natural kindling works great, however just like seasoning your wood fuel, you have to plan ahead.


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## eclecticcottage (Jan 2, 2012)

We used it too, but we've been splitting some bug killed (stood dead for @2yrs) scotch pine we seasoned since the summer into small pieces to use.  It's not quite as pitch filled, but works well.  We've got a bunch of pine from the fall sitting in rounds to be split for next year too-people give pine away free here all the time, just gotta get on it quick because the OWB folks will grab it up it seems.


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