Kindling

[DTrain]

It's called a froe and it's basically made for riving thin pieces of wood. Seen here how to work with already thin pieces, you use a wood club for bigger pieces. One hand on the handle on hand one the club. No hands in the piece of wood.

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[Scrounger]

I pick up the shrapnel laying around after running the splitter, throw it in a cardboard box or plastic tote. I also walk around the yard and pick up fallen sticks, snap them into 6 to 8 inch pieces, throw them in a cardboard box or plastic tote. Yields way more kindling than you will use in a season. Unless the wife is starting fires, it seems she likes to use an arm load of kindling instead of a couple handfulls.

 

[maple1]

Hatchets are bad news.

I use a Fiskars X25. Nice & sharp. No swinging at wood needed - just set it on top of the wood, pick the wood up with one hand while steadying the axe on top & let it drop & the weighted momentum of the axe head sinks it in the wood. Then if that didn't split it all the way through, you can take a short small swing with the axe, with wood still attached to it & both hands (and fingers) on the axe handle where they should be, and repeat until it splits.

Need to start with clear splits with decently straight grain. Knots are bad and to be avoided. Clear spruce is great for it, fir too.

 

[Mag Craft]

I used to use a hatchet but if the wood had a knot it would not split evenly so I just started using my table saw. Nice straight kindling every time.

I just cut a 1" thick piece from a round with the chain saw and then finish it off on the table saw.

 

[rygar]

table saw and pallets. love it.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

There has got to be a better way. If I keep using the hatchet, I am eventually going to cut something off that I would rather keep. I know that this resourceful crew has some good ideas that they are using to put together a good supply of kindling quickly and (more) safely. How about some good ideas that I can add to the repertoire? (good thing this has spell check)

I have a strong favorite for kindling: red oak. First I season it a year. I take a half log and split it into as many pieces as my maul will do. Then I season it another 9-12 months. By far the best kindling. To your main questions, I haven't tried a hatchet. I find a maul easy, and the weight means I need little force from my old arthritic arms/elbows. Because of the seasoning need, red oak kindling can't be produced quickly at home. Even if it's two years in the driveway, once I split it further, the new exposed sides need time in the air. Otherwise they don't catch quick.

 

[firefighterjake]

Some kindling I make with the splitter when I have a decent sized cedar or pine round . . . and some I cut up with a hatchet in the woodshed -- typically with slabs -- I'm just very careful with the hatchet and where I place (or don't place) my hands.

 

[Trochilids]

If you have access to birch bark and dry splits you can likely get by without kindling. Our property is full of birch and spruce. We found that peeling the bark off paper birch and lighting it under a loosely stacked row of dry splits in the fireplace makes superbly hot kindling. That birch bark burns for a surprisingly long time, and just a few pieces will get the fire going in no time.

 

[Village Idiot]

My father gave me a Kindling Cracker from Northern Tool for Christmas. I never would have bought one myself, but I have to admit that I like it. Hard to beat the safety aspect of it. Even the wife is comfortable with the kids using it. I bolted mine to a short piece of pressure treated 2x10 and the kids use it in the garage to make kindling.

Not sure I would have bought one for myself, but it was a gift and it works well.

 

[heavy hammer]

Cedar or pine rounds split very thin with an ax or maul. Pick out the ones with very little knots, they will split easy. I have been using cedar poles cut down to about 16 inch lengths then using an ax or hatchet split down. Cedar very easy to go through and being these pole pieces are like 50 plus years old they light with just a match. Best thing is the electric company I work for throws dumpsters of cedar poles and pieces away every day, they love it if you take it free kindling for me and they save on trash disposal.

 

[HisTreeNut]

The kids go on the yard and break up the branches and bring them in. The ones they cannot break go on a pile for me. Use loppers or a saw.

 

[FTG-05]

Splitter slash. There's tons of it after splitting a couple cords. Just pick it up and put it in a bin. Regardless of type it will be ready to burn in a year or so. I have a garbage can full of it plus some other bins. I'll never run out; it doesn't take much when your wood is dry and well seasoned.

 

[mikebinthesky]

Put hatchet blade on top of split,hit back of hatchet with rubber mallet.Keep your fingers.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

I cut kindling the old fashioned way. I use gloves, set my axe on the top of the split and pick both the wood and axe up, let them drop and the weight of the bit penetrates into the wood. I then take my hand off the wood and hit it on the block once more and it splits through.

You can save yourself a lot of time cutting kindling by simply seasoning your wood properly. I cut a small amount of kindling each year, mostly for my wife. I rarely need to use it as I use a firestarter with a crosshatch of splits. Starts fine every time.

 

[Stinkpickle]

I can get fatwood strips pretty cheap, so that along with loose bark and newspaper, I don't have to split any kindling. Kinda nice.

 

[BobUrban]

A 1/4 or so piece of super cedar and you can get even large splits to fire off. No kindling needed

 

[Old Red]

Next door neighbor worked part-time for a hardwood floor installer. Every couple of weeks he'd bring home a garbage bag or two of unfinished cut ends up to ten inches long. Split easy; burned easy. They moved away a couple weeks ago. I'm going to miss him when my supply runs out.

 

[AmbDrvr253]

Like many here I also use the split scraps, branches, and twigs. I also just tore my entire house apart from the inside. Plaster and lather boards. Kept as many lathe boards as I could store. Makes for excellent kinlin.

 

[HighCountry]

Inevitably, while hand splitting with my X27, enough kindling size pieces fall to the ground and I gather those up into a box. I know it is nothing new that hasn't already been said, but it works the best for me. My smaller pine rounds can be split to smaller pieces without swinging, as well. Good luck keeping those digits!

 

[venator260]

As another here has said, I hold the wood from the side with a leather glove on and split with a hatchet. Now this is pine cut into pucks about 2-4 inches long. A slight tap with the hatchet will send a small piece flying. I make a range from about 1/4 inch square to the biggest being about 3/4 of an inch.

I always pick a dead line tree for this and cut a cartload of "pancakes" and use the really knotty pieces for something else. The kindling will dry out completely in about a week near the stove and lights right up with a match.

Now, I will say, when I was younger (8-10 or so) and did not use the glove I did cut a sliver off of my left thumb about 2-3 times (just enough to make a little flat spot). That thumb looks almost normal, its just that the tip has a slightly irregular shape. I smashed the nail one time as well, no scars from that though.

There's also a numb spot on the same thumb, but that's another story that involves a razor blade and a cardboard box from when I was 10-11 or so. Cut back in so that I had just a little slice on my thumb nail.

 

[BrotherBart]

Kindling? What is kindling?


Messed with that crap for 40 years. Even several years after hearing about these pucks here. Tried two and now I don't even know where I put the kindling hatchet. Splitter scraps go in the woods now with the bark.