Vanessa is full of poo!

[cmonSTART]

So, I don't know why but I tried another top down fire. Personally I am even more of the opinion that a properly built conventional fire will start quicker and get hotter more quickly than a top down one. Now maybe I'm doing something wrong here still but I could swear it's just like Vanessa showed us. I almost thought I was going to turn around and see John sitting on my couch.

Really. Light two matches. Hold one right side up and one upside down. Which one will burn first?

I'll take my conventional modified log cabin thank you.

I hope I don't get thrown off the boards now.

:bug:

 

[daryl]

Go with what works for you.Different stokes for different folks.

 

[BrotherBart]

Ya should start fires with whatever method you are comfortable with. Can't chat right now. I need to go tie some bows.

 

[Ratman]

So, I don't know why but I tried another top down fire. Personally I am even more of the opinion that a properly built conventional fire will start quicker and get hotter more quickly than a top down one. Now maybe I'm doing something wrong here still but I could swear it's just like Vanessa showed us. I almost thought I was going to turn around and see John sitting on my couch.

Really. Light two matches. Hold one right side up and one upside down. Which one will burn first?

I'll take my conventional modified log cabin thank you.

I hope I don't get thrown off the boards now.

:bug:

heheheh
Nice...someone else who questions this Canadian propaganda video which has corrupted me.
It keeps echoing in my head: “Roll up five single sheets corner to corner into tubes, then tie a knot in each tube. JUST DO IT!”
That and the “See no smoke!”

(5 full sheets of newspaper to light my friggin stove. Are you friggin kidding me?)
What ever happened to using natural tinder? Not good enough for the EPA techno-weinees I guess.
Author: Ratman - world famous old crappy tried and true American cast iron wood stove expert.

 

[Slow1]

You know, I'm not sure she promises a quicker fire or one that gets up to temp any sooner (if that is somehow not a redundant statement). What is suggested is a 'set and forget' fire that produces less smoke. Somewhat of a different objective.

I've been playing with my top-down fires for a while (both in old and new stove as well as when burning outside) and I don't do it quite like she suggests anymore. I've never been one for newspaper to begin with - I just don't like all that paper ash flying about for one thing. So, I have taken to building a 'nest' of tinder and very small kindling on top of the larger kindling that is loosely set on top of the small splits or chunk wood that will be the first load to burn. When short of tinder I use a super cedar and it does a good job but I set it so that it is under some of the smaller kindling so there is a rapid start there. So perhaps it is a hybrid approach but I find I get no noticeable smoke and I still seem to have that 'set and forget' benefit.

When camping or outside I build a floor of solid wood that is wider and thicker depending on how large a fire I want, then build the rest on top of that - works the same really.

Just some food for thought here. If it doesn't work the first time it may be worth playing with a bit. I used to do bottom up like I was trained back in the boy scouts - required tending quite a bit for a while until it was going well. I really do like this much better as I can light it and come back 30-45 minutes later and it is still basically feeding itself.

 

[YZF1R]

I kind of do a modified light off too. More of a "top third" start. Bigger stuff on the bottom, but tinder (or a quarter superceder) in the top third or so with small splits above that. However, Vanessa would be more than welcome to stop in and prove otherwise if I were single.

Steve

On Edit: Ment to say "or so with small KINDLING above that", not splits.

 

[Fod01]

Same thought on my mind tonight. I made a top-down in the outside fire pit. Its been going for some time now... steadily growing, but the heat output leaves much to be desired. Had to come in to get a jacket.

I'll keep plugging away with this. Perhaps I dont use enough kindling to begin with.

 

[BrotherBart]

That is what everybody misses. You aren't starting a eight hour burn with a top down fire. You are building the coal bed for that fire. A bunch of one or two inch dry stuff on the bottom for said coal bed and some smaller stuff and the bows on top. Full air and let it rip. It'll get hot plenty fast and an hour or so later you load'er up with the big stuff.

Just like the lady shows ya.

Otherwise, stick a bunch of big dry splits in there with a SuperCedar under them and get it on.

 

[fossil]

Top down or bottom up, the Super Cedar merely takes the place of tying all those ridiculous newspaper bows. Just the money I save from not having to wash all the newsprint off my hands comes close to paying for the firestarters. Other than that, it's exactly as BB says...you gotta have a good coal bed before you go loading in the big stuff...no matter how you do it. I've had really good experience building top-down fires. But hey, build your fire any way you want to build your fire. Rick

 

[Todd]

2 splits on bottom, a small chuck of fire starter in between, kindling on top of that and a couple more splits on top. The "Todd's fire starting sandwich" method.

 

[cmonSTART]

Don't get me wrong. It's a great video with lots of useful information. I just am set in my ways.

 

[wendell]

2 splits on bottom, a small chuck of fire starter in between, kindling on top of that and a couple more splits on top. The "Todd's fire starting sandwich" method.

You stole my method and gave it your name? That's rude!

 

[Hurricane]

2 splits on bottom, a small chuck of fire starter in between, kindling on top of that and a couple more splits on top. The "Todd's fire starting sandwich" method.

You stole my method and gave it your name? That's rude!

I use that method also.

 

[Todd]

2 splits on bottom, a small chuck of fire starter in between, kindling on top of that and a couple more splits on top. The "Todd's fire starting sandwich" method.

You stole my method and gave it your name? That's rude!

John Gulland is coming over tomorrow to film it and I'm going to give him your bottle of mead!

 

[woodgeek]

I make three--clearly the superior method.

 

[precaud]

In my Quad the top-down method works best and quicker, by far. In the Nestor Martin conventional kindling-on-paper works best. What's the difference? The Quad has a brick bottom, while the NM has a grate through which startup air is supplied.

 

[Hogwildz]

2 splits on bottom, a small chuck of fire starter in between, kindling on top of that and a couple more splits on top. The "Todd's fire starting sandwich" method.

Same way its done here. Works every time.

 

[crazy_dan]

here is my method
what you need is
1: 5-10 gallons of diesel (depending on how big or how many fires you need to start)
2: jelling agent
3: railroad flares

Step 1: mix diesel and jelling agent together (I use a 5 gallon bucket with a lid this way I can store it after mixing next to the stove for ease of use)
Step 2: pour about how much you think you need then a little more for good measure (a soup scooper works great for this)
Step 3: let it sit for a min to soak in a little
step 4: open air control all the way
step 5: light flare and toss it in the stove and close door quick (takes a while and a few eyebrows to get this to be a fluid movement)
step 6: sit back relax and enjoy your roaring fire

not only is this a great way to start a fire but it will clean your chimney and detail your Magic Heat to boot.

the only way to improve the process is to actually soak your splits in used motor oil before using.
it will increase the number of btus and decrease the wood usage on any stove
Heck I used to use 5 cords of wood a year now all I use is 1 pickup load of punky wood all winter long

I call it the barnburner method (ain't a barn standing it can't bring down)

 

[kenny chaos]

The Chaos "front to back" method" -

Every morning the coals get pulled to the front and the fire burns to the back.
It's natural for me to start a fire the same way;
bigger splits in back, smaller in front with a handful of tinder and really small splits
leading it off.

 

[Fsappo]

I dont get it, why not crinkle up some newspaper, put it under some kindling and toss a log on top when it gets going, like the good ole days? The faster I get that match lit the fast I can get back to watching football, not standing in front of the stove with lab equipment

 

[Ratman]

here is my method
what you need is
1: 5-10 gallons of diesel (depending on how big or how many fires you need to start)
2: jelling agent
3: railroad flares

Step 1: mix diesel and jelling agent together (I use a 5 gallon bucket with a lid this way I can store it after mixing next to the stove for ease of use)
Step 2: pour about how much you think you need then a little more for good measure (a soup scooper works great for this)
Step 3: let it sit for a min to soak in a little
step 4: open air control all the way
step 5: light flare and toss it in the stove and close door quick (takes a while and a few eyebrows to get this to be a fluid movement)
step 6: sit back relax and enjoy your roaring fire

not only is this a great way to start a fire but it will clean your chimney and detail your Magic Heat to boot.

the only way to improve the process is to actually soak your splits in used motor oil before using.
it will increase the number of btus and decrease the wood usage on any stove
Heck I used to use 5 cords of wood a year now all I use is 1 pickup load of punky wood all winter long

I call it the barnburner method (ain't a barn standing it can't bring down)

I can't beat that!
Best Answer by far
and OMG I pissed my pants LOL

 

[Fod01]

I had much better luck this morning. I started a top-down 'take the chill off' fire at 5:30. The blower came on just after 6, and its still on at 9am. The difference for me was the amount of 1"+ wood I had on top. Much quicker take-off, plus no need to tend/ open the door. Still not convinced though :cheese:

 

[LLigetfa]

Nice...someone else who questions this Canadian propaganda video which has corrupted me.
It keeps echoing in my head: “Roll up five single sheets corner to corner into tubes, then tie a knot in each tube. JUST DO IT!”

I'm a tinder snob. Rolled up newspaper just won't do. Sorry Vanessa, there's more than one way to start a fire.

First off, rolled? Waddup widdat? Try tossing a rolled up magazine in a fire and see how poorly all those pages close together burn. I gather the sheets so they look like pleated curtains and instead of tie it in a knot, I bend it into a V.

Second, I hate ink from the newspaper. I buy unprinted paper from movers that's used for packing dishes. Now and then, I've tried printed paper and some of them don't even want to burn because of the recycled content and clay fillers.

Third, I don't do top-down. I rake the ashes to the back and place four sheets on the bottom. I set 3 or 4 pieces on kin'lin on the diagonal on top of the paper. One end is held up by the ashes pushed to the back and the front is held up by the raised firebrick near the doghouse so the paper never gets compressed or smothered. 3 or 4 more pieces go on top of those criss-crossed again on the diagonal. Progressively larger splits are laid up again on the diagonal in criss-cross fashion until the box is chock full.

One match lights the front edge of the paper and the air from the doghouse and air-wash downdraft fan the flames that ignite the kin'lin and everything above it. The criss-crossed load burns hot and fast to clean out the chimney.

Smoke rises, always has. Heat rises too. The birth of a fire is delicate and doesn't yet have the coal base to sustain periods of oxygen deprivation. The top half of the firebox is full of smoke and oxygen deprived while the bottom gets all the air.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Slow1 wrote, "I really do like this much better as I can light it and come back 30-45 minutes later and it is still basically feeding itself."


BrotherBart wrote, "That is what everybody misses. You aren’t starting a eight hour burn with a top down fire. You are building the coal bed for that fire."


I guess that is the idea with top-down fire building. However, as for me, when I light a fire I don't plan on waiting for a coal bed. I want to light the fire and let it burn. I don't worry about a coal bed at all. I do put a couple pieces, maybe 2" square in the bottom with a small space in between. On this goes the kindling with the smallest on the very bottom. On this goes the splits. Light the fire down low, between those 2" pieces. Open the draft and let it burn. In a short time I am closing the draft part way and will enjoy heat from the stove much faster than with top down burning.

Yes, I have tried the top down method more than once but so far the bottom up just does the job quicker and more efficient. With the fire on the bottom the heat rises and has to pass through the rest of the fuel. As that fuel heats it too starts burning. As for the smoke, I never worry about smoke when starting a fire. It happens but as long as you have dry wood it won't coat the chimney with creosote.

 

[savageactor7]

We throw in a few/3 loosely crumpled sheets of newspaper...and light them up. Then immediately without smothering throw on a few handfuls of splitter trash. Then add a couple of 3 smaller logs and close the door. DONE! Hey it's fire...why make it harder than it is?