Will this work well?

[greenphotos]

Hi,

We are going camping soon and as the place we are going doesn't have much wood it would be unfair to be cutting thier forest down...

So I have a large log that was spare and wondered if I drilled out as showing in the picture below would it split/burn so we could do one of those fires which you can pull the log apart to get embers and cook, then push in together to burn more.

Always best to be prepaired and seeing as I have the log here I could make it ultra easy do set up when we get there.

Just wondering if it will burn as I imagine it should?

Sorry for the speedy photoshop efforts, it isn't really designed for this kinda thing.. ;-)

Thanks all!

Mark

 

[commandocal]

I cant understand what the picture is trying to describe? a star fire,where you pish the log in slowly to burn it or is it describing feeding the fire through a hole in the ground and push it along the tube that says Air In? sorry

 

[greenphotos]

- It's not a great diagram.... The idea hopefully is to keep the log in one peice and burn as shown above, but then it should burn in half leaving 2 seperate peices of log we can use as a star fire... does that make a bit better sense?
I was hoping it will burn the log in half rather than just set the whole thing alight.

I've edited the pic with text showing top view side view etc....

 

[decorum]

I think I know what your trying to do but I'm unsure as to whether it'll perform as you want it to. I deeply suspect that it'll burn in half instead of splitting it as intended - unless you partially split it first.
Have a look at this thread and see what you think: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24228&highlight=nurding

 

[Fallow Way]

it should work, but as with many things in firecraft, it is all about proportion. You will need a decent size hole to allow enough air through, plus the fuel and while this is not difficult conventionally, from scratch in the wilds, it would be time consumming with moderate advantages.

In splittin gthe wood into half, then one of these halfs into quaters, you could then chop the areas you are wanting, that is probably going to be the most efficient practical option sans drill etc.

You could also acheive the same thing with 4 smaller logs.

It seems to be an idea to have a simple, slow burning, raised platform fire almost.

Let me try this photoshop thing and do a pic. - ok, 5 mins of trying and it is obvious that isnt an option.

When I get change I`ll try my take on what I think you are trying to accomplish and post them, see if it is of any help.

 

[decorum]

No, I wasn't thinking along the same lines after all . Sorry, my misunderstanding.

 

[British Red]

I'd be tempted to stand it on its end and put a cross cut into it with a chainsaw on the end and light fires in the cross. Managed well it will bur for hours.

Red

 

[Biddlesby]

I would imagine you would have to be careful to stop the air hole from blocking up with ash during the lighting of the fire. I don't imagine it would burn very deep. But I don't see the advantage. Stealth? Raised off of the ground? It seems to take a lot of work, when you could start out with a star fire.

But you should definitely give it a go and see if it works. I look forward to the pictures .

 

[greenphotos]

Thanks all - yo uare probably right it's not going to be the most effective idea but at least it'll be fun rocking up at the campsite with the biggest firestarter ever hehe
I'll be setting to it with the 30mm drill tomorrow to make the air hole etc, and we shall see... - I almost want to start de-barking it and using that as kindling once dried in my garage... then I thought about carving fire-> <-fire onto it but maybe that's going too far... lol

Still, I have found a great campfire food, not very 'bushcrafty' but does taste excellent:
https://secure.thegoodfoodnetwork.co.uk/food-06390050003400196E22070E.html
Duck and Sausage and beans... superb..

Mark

 

[hanzo]

You might want to consider a lot of air holes on both sides of the log. It will create more of a chimney effect and will probably burn through your log faster and hotter.

 

[WhichDoctor]

I don't see why it wouldn't work in theory but whether it would be worth the effort I don't know. The trick would be to get the wood on the inside of the hole to catch without having so much kindling that it blocks up the air holes with ash. Maybe if you chiseled grooves into the sides of the hole it mite catch faster? Looks like a lot of work but it will be interesting to see what happens.

Best f luck and happy experimenting .

 

[Mike Ameling]

It might work ... it might not. The only real way to know will be to conduct your experiment and see. Plus, then you DO HAVE a little experience with it, and can then better decide if the effort is worth the results.

In my humble opinion (yeah I know IMHO - I just choose not to use them - part Luddite), I don't think the effort is worth it past the "novelty" of the experiment. I would just use it as a back log, building a small fire of sticks/twigs against the middle of it. It will the reflect the heat, and also start to burn through. Give it a quarter turn/roll after it's burned a while. Eventually it will burn through and you can start pushing the ends into the fire ala Star Fire.

Good luck on your experiment. Will be interesting to hear the results.

Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[sploing]

AHHHHHHH! I've just figured your diagram out. I thinks it's an interesting Idea but I can't see it working too well to be honest, I suspect the air hole would quickly become blocked with kindling and eventually, ash. I'd just saw it up if were you

 

[WhichDoctor]

Have a look at this thread and see what you think: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24228&highlight=nurding

You could try doing something like this just side on, cut a cross into it with a chain-saw like Red said but on the side rather than the end. It would have a similar effect but less lightly to get blocked up or drill the hole as before and then cut across it rather than making air-holes.

Oh this is fun just thinking about it .

 

[Bozle]

I think you'd need a fair size fire to set the log going and I don't think a drilled hole could be large enough to take the mass of wood needed- what about a log sized bundle of several large sticks ~1-3inches across tied using wythes?
It preserves the portability of the constuction and would increase the fuel to oxygen ratio so would help the wood catch better. A couple of these togeather could be used to set a thicker log well ablaze. Although the only use I can imagine for this is if you needed to prepare the fuel and transport it before you could burn it.