How to build a fire in a wood stove

[Pellet_Pete]

Check out the hearth though! You've probably seen it before on this website. He did the tiles to match the arches in the window of the stove. Very cool!

Yeah, that hearth is hard to forget! When I had dreams (delusions) of rebuilding my own hearth, I must have read his post over a dozen times (https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/hearth-weight-support-reinforcement.74265/). Great photos & exceptionally inspired design.

I'm sure more than would like to admit it have fiddled with kindling and paper in various geometries, secretly striving for a "better" way. Super cedars sure are nice though. I also have a bucket full of wood shavings from hand planing, and I've seen folks use pine cones to good effect.

 

[blacktail]

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The video in the original post is a heck of a lot better than this one I just found.

 

[countybrown]

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The video in the original post is a heck of a lot better than this one I just found.

Oh my.....

Yup, let this country girl show you how to make a fire! First, don't use split wood, just grab some pressed wood products. Be sure to whack a hatchet across your hearth bricks. Next, spray kerosene in your insert. Then let the fire burn very hot, so you can waste much of the heat up the flue.

I'm paraphrasing, but might have blacked out due to the poor burning practices and the terrible faked excitement.

 

[baseroom]

Wow!! Newspaper soaked in Kerosene? Not in my IR!!

 

[begreen]

Incredibly bad advice and irresponsible. This should be reported to Travis industries.

 

[saskwoodburner]

Wow!! Newspaper soaked in Kerosene? Not in my IR!!

What? You mean this isn't how everyone does it?

 

[jetsam]

What? You mean this isn't how everyone does it?

Not me!

I cut up a sheet of pressure treated plywood. Load 'er up with the plywood for the long burn, add a gallon of 93 octane unleaded for burst heat, a quart of 10w30 to keep the cat lubed, and throw in a few aeresol bug bombs for a little extra boost mid-cycle.

Always burn with the door open so the heat can get out!

Also may want to stuff a gallon of milk up the flue pipe so the neighbors don't complain about the smoke.

 

[BrotherBart]

 

[countybrown]

View attachment 173902

I hear those a great for burning out glazed on creosote!

 

[jetsam]

I hear those a great for burning out glazed on creosote!

We used to take those out into the field to destroy equipment in case we got overrun.

Those puppies will melt right through an engine block. Even if it has creosote on it!

 

[countybrown]

Oh trust me, I know exactly what they are meant for.

 

[ridemgis]

Oh too funny! Or it might be without the kerosene. Anyhow, personally, she likes her's hot!
As we used to say in the pre-internet era - ROTFL

 

[RFarm]

That is a very nice video. Unless I am freezing, I also like to take my time building a nice "pyre" to get things going. Well done.

 

[heavy hammer]

Why not just used wood soaked in gas will burn hot just be very fast when lighting.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

A couple dabs of liquid nails on a stick and poof. You got a great effiecent and affordable fire starter.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

The last post is a joke of course. I wouldn't do that to any of my stoves. Even if I hated them.

 

[begreen]

With dry wood and good dry kindling I have never had a balky fire start, unless I intervened and messed up the start. This I have done by putting more wood on the kindling too soon and cutting off air in the process, but it was entirely my fault and not the stove, wood or draft.

 

[BrotherBart]

I shudder to think about all of those cold loads I started over the years with a half a pet food tin of kerosene under three splits. Now the 1/4 Super Cedar gets it done and the cat can just wait.

 

[St. Coemgen]

The OP is simply meticulous. When I started doing top down burns, I was equally meticulous (and I am also in the IT field, so maybe a nature of our mindset). And being meticulous like this always works (and does not need a blow torch). Personally, I usually use white paper (from junk mail) to start, not newspaper. But when I do use newspaper it never blows up the chimney (if it does, then one probably has too much draft in the chimney).

I have gotten a bit more "sloppy" recently. And I have noted when I am that the wood more often falls against the glass door since the structure is not leveled. If one cares about such things or not I guess is a personal issue. But since I only have one door, in the front, I must open this to load in more wood. So if wood does fall against the glass, then (and only then) do I get ash falling out of the stove. So depending on the stove model, being meticulous can be an advantage.