Fatwood: a never-fail fire starter

[milliefink]

@arcduke

Particulate matter from wood burning accounts for the largest portion of air pollution in the Bay Area during the winter.

But but, a fire in the fireplace is so charming and Olde Timey!

[wrecksdart]

My first experience with regular use of a wood-burning stove for heating my home was also shared with the regular enjoyment of a cheap bottle of scotch. These two things combined to form a how-hot-can-we-get-this-thing standard in which the front doors of the stove were cracked slightly to get good inflow and the stove, once lit and burning strongly, was crammed with as much wood as possible. Probably not very efficient, but damn did that thing glow!

[wrecksdart]

Liquid oxygen and a quart of 90W engine oil. Be sure to stand back. Way, way back.

[anon68952647]

[kaleberg7]

Fat wood is great stuff. In the 1970s, pilots in the south east would spot promising old stumps from the air and get a bounty for each fat oily stump they found. Fat wood seems to be easier to get now. I wonder if the increased logging in the south east has turned up more stumps without needing aerial spotting and trekking through the swamplands to get them.

[anon85905360]

Hmmm, fatwood… (Homer Simpson drooling sound)

[PrestonSturges]

Cheapest firestarter is to hack off a bit of one of those cheap wax and sawdust logs. A lump the size of a golf ball will get your campfire going in the rain.

A friend tossed a big bag (like a cubic foot) of popped corn into the wood stove. It roared for a minute and the pipe got red.

[Bobo]

Good for starting fires. Bad for maintaining them (not to mention all the creosote etc… that will build up if fatwood is all you burn).

I’ve found that small pieces (pencil size) are often enough and burn long enough to get fairly large pieces of wood started.

Also for do-it-yourself fatwood substitute if you can’t (or don’t want to buy) any: Sawdust mixed with wax. Form it into little balls, pyramids, or my kid’s favorite: faux poop logs, and you’re good to go.

[PrestonSturges]

@billstewart

I grew up using rolled-up newspapers as fire-starters,

Newspapers smolder and don’t burn very hot. A couple sheets of corrugated cardboard burn much hotter and send a blast of hot air up the flue so you can skip the part where the house smells like burning paper.