wood chips as fire starter material

[SouthSoundTree-]

Has anyone tried drying coarse wood chips during the summer for fire starter material?
I have a chuck and duck, so I have coarser chips. I keep meaning to dry some and store them. Seems like it might work well with the right species. Western red cedar is good kindling. Seems like chipping would be easier than splitting kindling.

 

[sawinredneck]

The problems I've had with it are keeping air flow. Most times they just smolder rather than burn, they are so small it's hard to keep air flow around them to get them burning.

 

[Page]

As fire starter yes. But if the wood is dry it don't take much more than a match and piece of paper

 

[candoarms]

One of my survival magazines contained a segment about a guy who uses wood chips as a fire starter. He takes fresh chips and stores them in an old onion bag, inside, until they're dry. He then puts a few small chips in each pocket of an egg carton. Drip a little hot candle wax over each of the egg carton pockets, locking the chips together in a film of wax.

No need to remove the chips from the egg carton when starting a fire. Just tear one of the egg pockets from the carton....cardboard and all. I tried it. Works great.

Hope this helps.

Joel

 

[Cobleskill]

You could make your own cheater fire starter. Pour some wax over a layer of chips to stick them together. I never have used those things but my son says a little chunk is all you need.

 

[Cobleskill]

I was looking up the cost of wax and came in a little late with posting.

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

I've thought about the egg container and wax. I've done similarly in the past.

 

[stig]

I have a metal bucket that some woodturner made a tight fitting lid for by my furnace.
I keep it full of chips ( Usually from the lathe) soaked in diesel.
Load the furnace, drop a little of that on top with a small metal scoop, I keep in the bucket.
Toss in a match and turn on the blower.
Voila, the house is heated for another day.

 

[Raj]

I have many cardboard boxes from parts deliveries, I fill them with dry chippings, saw dust twigs, off cuts, etc. close them up and stack them. Each day to start a fire in the wood stove I just inert box, and light it, may be a newsprint flyer stuck beside it. Anything that I don't think will start easy gets a spoonfull or more of bacon grease.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Good idea. I would think that the smell of bacon grease first thing in the morning might lead to more bacon.............

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

I like that concept, raj.

 

[old irish]

For 40 years I have been using a coffee can full of sawdust mixed with diesel. Keep a spoon in the can and throw a little on the firewood.

 

[cory]

Good thread!

The sawdust or chips mixed with diesel, any danger of spontaneous combustion or something like that when the material is stored for awhile? And you can throw the material on the firewood, rather than under it??

 

[Dave Shepard]

There was a trend a few years ago of starting upside down fires. Put your wood in the stove, then the kindling, then the newspaper. I never tried it, but it's supposed to work.

 

[Page]

I do that all the time for outdoor fires. Especially with the hollow log fires

 

[Cobleskill]

My Mom used to take a couple hand fulls of small kindling and roll it up in a few sheets of newspaper like a cigar. I was surprised how well it worked.

 

[Tucker943]

I keep sheets of dry birch bark by the stove. Burns better then tires.

 

[Tucker943]

One winter I kept a drum of cedar shingles handy. There was no paper used that winter.

 

[Dave Shepard]

I've been known to toss a pint of diesel in the wood stove under desperate circumstances.

 

[Tucker943]

Hell I've used diesel, ATF, Brake fluid, one feeble attempt with smokeless gun powder, motor oil, vegetable oil, and brakleen.

 

[Dave Shepard]

Well, I was only trying to light wood. I don't know what you had in your stove.

 

[Cobleskill]

WD-40 makes a better fire starter than about anything else.. I ended up with a gallon of it from somewhere.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Dryer lint

 

[RopeArmour]

Pitch mass borer clumps off the side of trees works well. Smells good to

 

[cory]

Dryer lint

Holy chit, tried it this AM, works like magic!! Thanks!!