:You_Rock_ Learn from what you observe and test it out. That is the way to improve and become a masterI was looking at my hearth last night and noticed something... The better/easier the coal formation, the better cut my "wedge" was. In some of my earlier attempts, the notch didn't quite go to the middle of the... Divot? in the wood. Those were hit and miss. As I stopped and looked and starting taking the cut all the way to the center, things started happening a lot better.
You may want to keep that in mind as you try...
Of course, I'm still new to this method, and there's a really, really good chance that I have no idea what I'm blathering on about.
Doc