Fire Building

Puckdropper · 2012-06-14T01:33:00+00:00

tiredofspam says it's too quiet, so how about an on-topic post?Over the last couple of years, I've been learning how to build fires. Shop scraps are very often a large part of these fires, as they can be great for not only kindling but as the main part of the fire. So, as a guide, or perhaps a warning, here's what I've noticed using various shop scraps to build fires.For the main part of the fire, it's hard to beat the bits cut off from logs that have been made in to lumber. They're usually small enough to burn easily, and it's easy to get a lot of them when you're milling up small pieces of wood-be firewood into usable lumber. Sometimes the logs I work with yield only about 50% usable lumber, so there's quite a lot of fire-fodder there.As kindling, I look for material that has come off my tools. If you want to build a fire from a few embers, plane shavings are excellent. They burn fast and because of their shape and thickness usually have a lot of air between them. Because they do burn so quickly, though, a mountain of them can be reduced to almost nothing in less than 5 minutes.From the power tools, jointer shavings seem to work best. They tend to be long, thin and fairly uniform, which allows air to move around ok. To start a fire, you only need a gallon-sized bucket worth (which is also their drawback--they're hard to get rid of). They have a tendency to burn on the top, but not so much underneath. For flame, the charred parts consistently need to be blown off.Planer shavings work ok as well, but tend to scrunch together and not burn cleanly. A fire of planer shavings needs constant attending to keep burning hot. Both jointer and planer shavings can be useful in starting a fire, however. They ignite quickly and do burn hot, which is great for catching smaller pieces on fire.In between the main part of the fire and the kindling are the various wood scraps. They're too small to be part of the main fire (a 5-gallon bucket of them will burn in just a...

Jun 14, 2012 30 Replies

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Leon 14 years ago

Exactly, I used it mostly 5~7 pieces at a time for helping to start the fire.

Exactly, the flames will to way up the chimney in an indoors fireplace.

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tiredofspam 14 years ago

Same here Leon, ____I use my walnut offcuts____... The shavings are just great starters... Walnut is a beautiful burning wood. I think from the oils inside. It just glows man.... Clean and hot..

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Lew Hodgett 14 years ago

Looks like the governor of Colorado has isssued an executive order prohibiting open burning and fireworks.

Lew

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-MIKE- 14 years ago

I don't know about open burning, but good for him on the fireworks. People around here think the 4th of July is a month long holiday. I don't mind fireworks on July 4th. But they get more than a little annoying at 2 am on July 5th.... and 6th... and June 25th.

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Swingman 14 years ago

You kids get off my lawn!! LOL ... getting older, eh Mike? :)

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-MIKE- 14 years ago

Yes and no. :-) I'm talking 1, 2, 3 in the morning. Like the dogs. This year, I think I'll wait until about 5am and take a snare drum over to each house and play rimshots every 4 seconds until they come out to ask me if I'm crazy.

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