fire starters
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In a message dated 11/26/2000 8:58:40 AM Central Standard Time,
SandraDodd@... writes:
to do this? Like, where to get the cedar, how long do they have to be, what
kind of wax (are there more than one kind?), how much wax do you shoot for?
Thankful for any info you can provide.
Carron
SandraDodd@... writes:
> Yesterday I split little matching (matching length) cedar sticks to dip inOoh, Sandra, cool (uh, hot?) idea. Are there any special instructions on how
> wax to bundle to give to friends as fire-starters.
to do this? Like, where to get the cedar, how long do they have to be, what
kind of wax (are there more than one kind?), how much wax do you shoot for?
Thankful for any info you can provide.
Carron
Colette and Andrew
This is a neat gift idea! I have heard that you can use pine cones as
well! Since we are the fancy type of people, we cut up our gallon
milk cartons and use that as our fire starters.
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!
Colette
----- Original Message -----From: Cararmst@...Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2000 6:30 PMSubject: [Unschooling-dotcom] fire startersIn a message dated 11/26/2000 8:58:40 AM Central Standard Time,
SandraDodd@... writes:
> Yesterday I split little matching (matching length) cedar sticks to dip in
> wax to bundle to give to friends as fire-starters.
Ooh, Sandra, cool (uh, hot?) idea. Are there any special instructions on how
to do this? Like, where to get the cedar, how long do they have to be, what
kind of wax (are there more than one kind?), how much wax do you shoot for?
Thankful for any info you can provide.
Carron
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Colette and Andrew
That was supposed to read ..... since we are NOT the fancy type of
people. Geesh. Sorry about that.
Colette
----- Original Message -----From: Colette and AndrewSent: Sunday, November 26, 2000 7:14 PMSubject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] fire startersThis is a neat gift idea! I have heard that you can use pine cones as well! Since we are the fancy type of people, we cut up our gallon milk cartons and use that as our fire starters.Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!Colette
[email protected]
yeah you can also melt down old crayons and candle stubs in a double boiler (
an old bowl over a pot with bowling water) and pour it over the pine cones or
into the bottoms of the milk cartoons it works really well.
max
an old bowl over a pot with bowling water) and pour it over the pine cones or
into the bottoms of the milk cartoons it works really well.
max
[email protected]
I use candle drippings and stubs. I collect them in coffee cans between
times, and melt them on the stove, with the coffee can inside an older (used)
pot which is sitting on something. Sometimes it's a cookie cutter or a
"church key" can opener, and sometimes the edge is up on top of a little
stoneware cookie press. Something not too tall, not too important, and which
won't be ruined by being in boiling water for a while. That's to keep the
can from hopping around in there in making a mess. Trust me.
Then put aluminum foil on the counter next to where you're going to be
working.
If your kitchen is all fancy, do this on a coleman stove or portable
hotplate, on a yucky table in a yucky place in your house or yard. I've done
it different ways.
So get the wax melted. It doesn't matter if there are aluminum votive-candle
wick-bases in there, or old aluminum foil or labels. Let'm be in there.
Dip sticks or bark or whatever, in kindling-sizes, like the size of your
finger, and long enough that you have a handle to deal with. Wax on half the
stick is fine.
Lay them out on aluminum foil or in a cardboard box (like beer or cat food
come in is good, or the lid from a case of paper), but the aluminum foil on
the counter can keep wax from making such a mess.
You can let the wax get hard again in the same can for next time.
My husband recommends this (and I do it sometimes; did this time): Put water
in with the wax. You can dip higher up on the stick with less wax. The
stick gets wax going in and coming out. Having water under the wax in the
can doesn't hurt it. The wax floats.
This is not the greatest thing on the planet for the chimney, so you might
want to get the chimney cleaned as often as you should have already (or more
often, if you're a meticulous person who always calls the chimney cleaners on
time).
There's more aesthetic value in starting a fire with this than with paper,
though, and paper has that danger of floating up and out and onto your
neighbor's roof. Yuck. No waxy-stick has ever floated up. <g>
These don't make the first-pass firestarters, but the second. Still start
the fire with teensy-kindling, but if you put in some small stuff and then a
couple of waxy sticks as a second layer, the wax will drip down on the other
stuff.
Sometimes I take the still-hot leftover wax outside and pour it where the
wood has been being split, or where there's a pile of bark we've had for a
couple of years from some tree that had really stringy bark. And then the
next day or so I go out and pick up clumps of wax-with-wood-crud things which
look ugly and aren't good enough for gifts and might have dirt in them, or
leaves or dog hair, but they're great for home use. The pretty sticks go to
my friends' houses. <g>
For kids who are old enough to deal with hot wax and fire (not many of them
are; some adults aren't!) it's fun and not nearly as crazy-making as dipping
candles. But it might be a good warm-up practice for future candle dipping
(which also sometimes uses that water-in-the-bottom mix).
Crayons tend to stink and spaark, but I've used some as additives. I
wouldn't recommend them. Some colors stain badly (even on bricks and such)
if dripped.
Sandra
times, and melt them on the stove, with the coffee can inside an older (used)
pot which is sitting on something. Sometimes it's a cookie cutter or a
"church key" can opener, and sometimes the edge is up on top of a little
stoneware cookie press. Something not too tall, not too important, and which
won't be ruined by being in boiling water for a while. That's to keep the
can from hopping around in there in making a mess. Trust me.
Then put aluminum foil on the counter next to where you're going to be
working.
If your kitchen is all fancy, do this on a coleman stove or portable
hotplate, on a yucky table in a yucky place in your house or yard. I've done
it different ways.
So get the wax melted. It doesn't matter if there are aluminum votive-candle
wick-bases in there, or old aluminum foil or labels. Let'm be in there.
Dip sticks or bark or whatever, in kindling-sizes, like the size of your
finger, and long enough that you have a handle to deal with. Wax on half the
stick is fine.
Lay them out on aluminum foil or in a cardboard box (like beer or cat food
come in is good, or the lid from a case of paper), but the aluminum foil on
the counter can keep wax from making such a mess.
You can let the wax get hard again in the same can for next time.
My husband recommends this (and I do it sometimes; did this time): Put water
in with the wax. You can dip higher up on the stick with less wax. The
stick gets wax going in and coming out. Having water under the wax in the
can doesn't hurt it. The wax floats.
This is not the greatest thing on the planet for the chimney, so you might
want to get the chimney cleaned as often as you should have already (or more
often, if you're a meticulous person who always calls the chimney cleaners on
time).
There's more aesthetic value in starting a fire with this than with paper,
though, and paper has that danger of floating up and out and onto your
neighbor's roof. Yuck. No waxy-stick has ever floated up. <g>
These don't make the first-pass firestarters, but the second. Still start
the fire with teensy-kindling, but if you put in some small stuff and then a
couple of waxy sticks as a second layer, the wax will drip down on the other
stuff.
Sometimes I take the still-hot leftover wax outside and pour it where the
wood has been being split, or where there's a pile of bark we've had for a
couple of years from some tree that had really stringy bark. And then the
next day or so I go out and pick up clumps of wax-with-wood-crud things which
look ugly and aren't good enough for gifts and might have dirt in them, or
leaves or dog hair, but they're great for home use. The pretty sticks go to
my friends' houses. <g>
For kids who are old enough to deal with hot wax and fire (not many of them
are; some adults aren't!) it's fun and not nearly as crazy-making as dipping
candles. But it might be a good warm-up practice for future candle dipping
(which also sometimes uses that water-in-the-bottom mix).
Crayons tend to stink and spaark, but I've used some as additives. I
wouldn't recommend them. Some colors stain badly (even on bricks and such)
if dripped.
Sandra
[email protected]
In a message dated 00-11-26 21:31:27 EST, you write:
<< Like, where to get the cedar, how long do they have to be, what
kind of wax
how much wax do you shoot for?
fence post (depends what part of the country you're in!), or maybe from an
old fence that's broken and downed. It could be redwood or pine or anything
else, I guess, if it's dry enough to split into little sticks. Those slats
that go into chain link fences can be split up pretty easily if other kinds
of wood aren't available.
Treated lumber wouldn't be a good idea. Go for firewood.
Cedar's easy and fun to split, and smells GREAT!
I split it with a hatched, on a sheet, sitting in front of the fireplace
watching movies. I start with firewood which has a straight grain and I
split it smaller and smaller. The bark can be peeled and torn into little
curly bits. I can take a piece of firewood down to molecules and never miss
a word of the movie. (Okay, I exaggerated: just down to splinters...)
Sandra
<< Like, where to get the cedar, how long do they have to be, what
kind of wax
how much wax do you shoot for?
>>Forgot two questions: cedar can come from a lumber yard, or from an old
fence post (depends what part of the country you're in!), or maybe from an
old fence that's broken and downed. It could be redwood or pine or anything
else, I guess, if it's dry enough to split into little sticks. Those slats
that go into chain link fences can be split up pretty easily if other kinds
of wood aren't available.
Treated lumber wouldn't be a good idea. Go for firewood.
Cedar's easy and fun to split, and smells GREAT!
I split it with a hatched, on a sheet, sitting in front of the fireplace
watching movies. I start with firewood which has a straight grain and I
split it smaller and smaller. The bark can be peeled and torn into little
curly bits. I can take a piece of firewood down to molecules and never miss
a word of the movie. (Okay, I exaggerated: just down to splinters...)
Sandra