I've always preferred a 9 year old and a small hatchet.




Ummm....that maybe didn't come out right....

 

I've always preferred a 9 year old and a small hatchet.

Ummm....that maybe didn't come out right....

Wtf? Mr Herbert....is that you?

 

My preference is a Riving Froe for small stuff. Fwiw, that first pic is a cool widget. Kind of a froe in reverse.

 

I just wonder if I get me one of these firebowl things, if the cool kids will come hang out at my house?
I live too far out in the sticks probably. Plus everyone is pretty much tied up on Sundays and Mondays.

 

Well they don't come to mine either. It's just more entertaining talking to y'all in front of the firebowl than sitting in the house in the evening. Especially when Hallmark is on the toob.

Now about this business of being tied up. Do go on.

 

Yeah tied up...you know....the cool kids......friends of Chad.

 

I generallyuse a maul with a short handle.

 

I know you mentioned you already have one, but this is what I use for splitting kindling

 

I know you mentioned you already have one, but this is what I use for splitting kindling

View attachment 123995

They had a whole selection of those at the old Containment Area Mower and Saw when I was in there the other day. I might go back and take another gander at those.

 

Between those fire starter bricky thingies, and bellows, I eventually get here in a couple of hours. I need to split some kindling so i can get there sooner with my beautiful green, wet, oak.

 

I thought it was always the youngest male in the family and an old Norlund. At least, that was my responsibility for many years.

I learned a valuable lesson or two about hand placement while doing so, to boot.

Said "lefty" premise.

 

I usually just pick up scraps when splitting wood and let it dry and use for kindling later. But dad ordered something and got a case of sample packs if instafire with it and it works great. There seconds buckets they offer look kinda tempting when i run out just for ease of use and how little it takes.

http://www.instafire.com/collections/fire-starter

 

@fieldgrade

Do you have any fresh pine available? That is absolutely the best wood you can use to get your fire going nice and hot to burn that green oak. Fresh green pine burns like gasoline when it is lit because of the pine oil. Also, my preferred fire starter is Duraflame Fatwood. It is derived from the tap root of the pine tree. You can get it at Lowes. If you have some fresh pine available, and use the Fatwood to get it started, I'll bet that you can get that green oak burning real nice.

 

My apologies for the "intelligence insult" from my post above if you already know what I typed. It's just that quite a few folks out there have something against pine when using it as fuel for a fire for some strange reason.

 

Pine in an outdoor fire is great. The reason for the aversion in an inside fire is that pine builds up creosote residue in your chimney about 10,000 times faster than hardwoods which is a fire hazard. Add to that it's tendency to pop and throw coals and its not ideal.

Granted the throwing of coals is not an issue with a closed fireplace except when you open it to feed the fire......which you will be doing every 15 minutes if you're using pine because of the fast burn rate.

Plus it doesn't leave as good of a coal bed making it harder to get going again in the morning and it creates more ashes than hardwood.

But for a fire pit or bonfire I love it. Smells good too.

 

I like my kershaw camp 10 for kindling.. Fat wood, heartwood or whatever you wish to call it is nothing more than the very sap rich center of a tree just above the ground as its cut. Pine is preferred as"fat wood" since it burns hot and fast in general. But any kindling that is the darker center of the base of the tree after it is cut, then allowed to dry will make fire starting more fun than work. I will use pine sticks all day in an outdoor fire pit and it's great to jump start a cold house fire.

But it is very true that pine is like that woman you've lusted after. Hot and fast but dirtier than your wildest dreams and always includes the potential for drama when enjoyed inside your home.

 

I like my kershaw camp 10 for kindling.. Fat wood, heartwood or whatever you wish to call it is nothing more than the very sap rich center of a tree just above the ground as its cut. Pine is preferred as"fat wood" since it burns hot and fast in general. But any kindling that is the darker center of the base of the tree after it is cut, then allowed to dry will make fire starting more fun than work. I will use pine sticks all day in an outdoor fire pit and it's great to jump start a cold house fire.

But it is very true that pine is like that woman you've lusted after. Hot and fast but dirtier than your wildest dreams and always includes the potential for drama when enjoyed inside your home.

You sir, are the steely eyed missile man of firewood. That was an awesome analogy. Thanks. lol.

 

I almost forgot I live in the south now. Growing up, all we had to burn in the he wood stove was pine as all these exotic hardwoods don't grow up where were from. I'll take pine over piss fur any day but you guys are lucky enough to have all the huge stands of hardwoods. Any of you ever try and burn Alanthis?

 

My bro-in-law sells firewood on a large scale. I go over there and rake up several buckets of "giblets" from the hydraulic splitters and am good to go.

 

I found my 2.5 lb blacksmith hammer drives an axe head right through the oak easy peasy. Much easier than swinging an axe. Worked like a champ.

 

I busted an axe head doing that.

 

I forged ax head should not break, must have been cast.

 

Thermite...
[emoji14]

 

OOOooo that's good!

 

I've had several people over the years question me over my obsession with dressing mushroomed tools back to clean and chamfered. I've only read and heard about accidents like these, but it made a major impression on me. Life is dangerous enough, why add to it with things that can be quickly resolved.

Keep an eye out for a blacksmiths cold cut. Sort of like a hand-held 3# splitting maul. Used, they are about $25 or less if rusty and need a handle.

 

My favorite kindling spitter is watching my son and his friends spit it from the cabin porch swing with a Jack Daniels! We been taking the boys up to the cabin since they were out of diapers. Every year on the weekend after Thanksgiving, about 15 of us go up and we'd cut firewood for the year, spit and stack it and have a hell of a good time riding four wheelers and then sitting by the fire outside and have a couple toddies, followed by some roast pork, grilled dove breasts, baked taters, fresh bread and a couple apple and cherry cobblers baked in cast iron Dutch ovens in the fire! Yeah, it's a tough weekend! I can't believe how quickly the boys grew into men!

 

Hammer that is a nice cabin! That's the style I'm thinking of putting up on my land.

You build it or was it already on the land?

 

My Dad, brother, brother in law and me built it. Used the lumber from dead standing hemlocks that we saw milled into boards. Working on an addition. When we get that done, the wife may never see me again!