Pine Stove
- Thread starter PurpleHeath
- Start date
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Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
I think that a lot of people forget that ray didn't (or claim to ) invent any of the skill's or gadgets. After all it's about using the "old way's" - i.e. pre-dating any of us... 
This may be of interest!! 
http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20050526.p.Tree_Trunk_Torch
http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20050526.p.Tree_Trunk_Torch
I've used these many times. It works really well and you can get differing fire by cutting the log differently. A lot of people go wrong because they think you can use any log.
You need to use pine or rich birch and the log width is important. 8"-12" is best, anything above that and you don't get a clean burn and lose stability for your cooking pot.
2 cuts gives a good burn for stove like effect but 3-4 gives you a good heat producing one (burns quickly though). You can ensure they light by adding a little extra resin from the pine to the inside of the cuts. If it starts to burn out (they sometimes do) just treat it light a normal fire and add a few kindling pieces in the cuts.
If you don;t have a chainsaw handy! You can just split the log into quarters and place in the ground about 1/2" - 1" apart for the same effect but this does burn directly on the ground and doesn't burn as evenly.
You need to use pine or rich birch and the log width is important. 8"-12" is best, anything above that and you don't get a clean burn and lose stability for your cooking pot.
2 cuts gives a good burn for stove like effect but 3-4 gives you a good heat producing one (burns quickly though). You can ensure they light by adding a little extra resin from the pine to the inside of the cuts. If it starts to burn out (they sometimes do) just treat it light a normal fire and add a few kindling pieces in the cuts.
If you don;t have a chainsaw handy! You can just split the log into quarters and place in the ground about 1/2" - 1" apart for the same effect but this does burn directly on the ground and doesn't burn as evenly.
bambodoggy
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I made two up for the last camping trip I went on....don't know if I did it wrong but they were useless....kept going out and not much heat of them...
Wouldn't ever bother again...
Wouldn't ever bother again...
bambodoggy said:I made two up for the last camping trip I went on....don't know if I did it wrong but they were useless....kept going out and not much heat of them...
Wouldn't ever bother again...
Did you get dead grey pine that still was standing?
I can show you what you should be looking for next weekend, it burns like gasoline.
bambodoggy
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
They didn't take me more than about half a minute to make as used the chainsaw. The logs were about 10" diametre and about two foot long (60 - 65cm). I made two cuts along the grain from one end to about three quaters of the way down making a X as you look down on the log when it's standing on end.
We tried packing with birchbark and twigs but that was totally useless and went out after the birk had burned, so then we packed half a packet of hexi into them and lit that and that did sort of get them going...then they went out. Then I got fed up and chucked one on the main fire and it burned really well. Half an hour later I took it off the fire, still flaming away quite happily, stood it up as a stove and it promptly went out again. Got bored of the whole thing and put the log back on the fire where just to annoy me further it flamed up again and burned for ages!!!! lol
Despite the best efforts of myself and Tina (Zambezi's wife) and many more "helpful" suggestions and comments from everyone else I found the best use was as a log for normal fire wood.
I do have to admit that although these two logs were pine and were certainly dead and certainly looked/felt dry...I did get them off the forest floor and not from a standing dead tree. They may have been a little damp in the middle and I think were on the turn of starting to rot, so maybe it would work with proper stading dead pines.
Johan, many thanks for your offer... I'd like to check the right tree's to use with you before I bothered to give it another go at home...cheers buddy I'll look forward to that at the weekend....
We tried packing with birchbark and twigs but that was totally useless and went out after the birk had burned, so then we packed half a packet of hexi into them and lit that and that did sort of get them going...then they went out. Then I got fed up and chucked one on the main fire and it burned really well. Half an hour later I took it off the fire, still flaming away quite happily, stood it up as a stove and it promptly went out again. Got bored of the whole thing and put the log back on the fire where just to annoy me further it flamed up again and burned for ages!!!! lol
Despite the best efforts of myself and Tina (Zambezi's wife) and many more "helpful" suggestions and comments from everyone else I found the best use was as a log for normal fire wood.
I do have to admit that although these two logs were pine and were certainly dead and certainly looked/felt dry...I did get them off the forest floor and not from a standing dead tree. They may have been a little damp in the middle and I think were on the turn of starting to rot, so maybe it would work with proper stading dead pines.
Johan, many thanks for your offer... I'd like to check the right tree's to use with you before I bothered to give it another go at home...cheers buddy
I'll look forward to that at the weekend....
They are not fat starters, they need to be well lit and the wood needs to be dry and resinous, it sounds like the log you had was not. If you used a small chainsaw, chances are the cuts were not wide enough for good airflow.
bambodoggy
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
FruitBatInShades said:
"Small Chain Saw"!!!!!!! Hark at you!!!!! lol I'll have you know I used a medium sized Husky thank you very much.....
What is the world coming to when one man can make a slur on the size of anothers ChainSaw..... 
lolActually I did make the cuts fairly wide (well as wide as RM had his on his show where I first saw them), managed to cram a hexi block in there so wasn't too narrow.
As for needing to light them well.....is the best part of half an hour on a roaring two foot diametre camp fire not enough? ? ? lol
In all seriousness (and I'm just kidding with you above) I think you're right...the logs couldn't have been dry enough. I'm fairly sure they had been standing dead wood at some point but as I said I collected them off the floor and I'm thinking that the damp from the ground seeped/soaked in.
There must have been plenty of resin in them as they burned so bright on the fire just as fuel but I think the dampness stopped them burning alone.
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