View Full Version : Pine Stove
PurpleHeath
13-05-2005, 10:22
many people probably saw Ray's mears programme last night i was just wondering if anyone had used the wood stove, if so how effective was it? :confused:
Tantalus
13-05-2005, 11:02
no didnt see it
dont have a telly sorry
not much chance of me seeing it any time soon either
but i am interested in the idea, would be delighted if someone could post a description or even pics
cheers
Tant
take a pine log about 2 foot long. use a saw to make two lengthway cuts at right angles as if quartering the log, but only going down about half-way. (He also suggested actually splitting the log into qtrs and sticking the ends into the ground - keeping the 4 bits close together.
Stand the log upright
Stuff tinder materials into the bottom of the cuts, and light.Use the top of the log as a place to put your billy of water.
From what I saw, the log starts to act a bit like a candle, only quite a bit hotter, and he said it will burn for quite some time.
I've got a suspicion that you'd need a log that's pretty well infused with resin for this to work well.
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/jegs11/new/id194.htm
take a pine log about 2 foot long. use a saw to make two lengthway cuts at right angles as if quartering the log, but only going down about half-way. (He also suggested actually splitting the log into qtrs and sticking the ends into the ground - keeping the 4 bits close together.
Stand the log upright
Stuff tinder materials into the bottom of the cuts, and light.Use the top of the log as a place to put your billy of water.
From what I saw, the log starts to act a bit like a candle, only quite a bit hotter, and he said it will burn for quite some time.
I've got a suspicion that you'd need a log that's pretty well infused with resin for this to work well.
I remember seeing these a while back in one of the gift catalogues, and it had a small tub of something like fire gel in the top. It was advertised as something like an instant campfire...!!!
Found one..!! and it used to be sold by IWOOT
here...!!! (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/jegs11/new/id194.htm)
If you turn the log over and cut at 45deg to the top cuts,you create a chimney effect through the middle too.
Cheers
Peter
What you need is dead standing pine, we call it a "toppfura". This was often made so people could make their coffe, probably used a lot by the people that worked in the forest back in days.
I use them quite a lot in the garden on autum evening.
Just get a dry log 2 cuts with the chainsaw one way and 2 at 90 degrees and start a small fire on top.
takes the chill from the air, doesn't burn the lawn and the kettle/ mulled cider heats up a treat.
bambodoggy
16-05-2005, 00:42
I'm off up the woods next weekend with my chain saw to get a couple of birch tree's for a group camp I'm going to at the end of the month... If I think on and see a standing dead pine then I'll have it down and make up two or three of these things to try out with my friends in Sussex.
If I do get some then I'll take a photo or two to post on here to show people.
Cheers all,
Bam.
I nearly had a go on Sat, couldn't find my chainsaw though!
Yeah, let us know how it goes, it would be interesting to know how much heat it gives off etc
many people probably saw Ray's mears programme last night i was just wondering if anyone had used the wood stove, if so how effective was it? :confused:
PH they have sold these stoves in the camping shop in forest row near Ashdown for ages. Ray lives near there so probaably got the idea from there (younever now) I tried one ages ago and it does work but its really only something you can use once.
You can do a similar thing with a smaller (wrist thick) piece of wood and a lapplander saw - mini stove which will boil a brew in a mug but remeber to point one end of the stake so you can stick your mini stive in the ground as the smaller they are the more unstable.
I guess you could use them for many things? For thin ones just as a basic candle.
PurpleHeath
16-05-2005, 09:37
PH they have sold these stoves in the camping shop in forest row near Ashdown for ages. Ray lives near there so probaably got the idea from there (younever now) I tried one ages ago and it does work but its really only something you can use once.
heehee! :D :D
well you know what Isaac Newton said when somebody congratulated him on his work, he said "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of gaints." ;)
heehee! :D :D
well you know what Isaac Newton said when somebody congratulated him on his work, he said "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of gaints." ;)
He was taking the mickey out of Leibniz (a very short person!) when he said that, for having the audacity to come up with calculus at the same time as he did...
You donīt need a chainsaw to cut down a dead standing pine, most of the time the bottom is rotten so they are easy to just push down. They can also be used for a long log fire where they will burn for a long night and with smaller pieces you can make nice torches like this one.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/sajberjohan/torch_3.jpg
Biddlesby
16-05-2005, 18:39
Well I didn't use pine, but I managed to make one just the same. My kindling and stuff didn't light very well - so I made a campfire nearby, then, when it was hot enough, shoved it on top. Through some blowing and poking I eventually managed to get the fire to go down enough to resemble Ray's roaring-flame version. I cooked some pine needle tea on it (delicious!), like he did, and also the carrots for tea :p.
If anybody can recommend some good stuff to use to get the fire going straight away (can't remeber what he used), I'd be grateful.
Here's a picture of my attempt - it caught up lots more flame later but my battery was running out. I had to lower the quality and size quite a bit to fit under the 30kb limit :/.
TheViking
16-05-2005, 18:47
I just thought I'd pop in and say, as Gary pointed out too, that Ray wasn't the first in history to make these things.
I think it's a sami 'invention'. You take 4 logs and tie them together. Cut the top flat, so a pot can stand there. Put hexi tabs between the 4 logs (small logs) and light them, saw that on a program once, the host called it a sami-kitchen. :)
cheers
bambodoggy
16-05-2005, 21:19
If anybody can recommend some good stuff to use to get the fire going straight away (can't remeber what he used), I'd be grateful.
He used mainly birch bark with a few pine twigs... :D
Biddlesby
16-05-2005, 21:39
He made it look so easy :p. I had some birch bark, but I only used it for the campfire.
I seem to remember him saying he learnt it from Finland, but my memory is terrible. At least, I think it is.
I just thought I'd pop in and say, as Gary pointed out too, that Ray wasn't the first in history to make these things.
I thought that Ray had said that they'd been using it in Sweden (or Scandinavia?) for many years, I don't think he said they were his invention?
PurpleHeath
17-05-2005, 09:20
He was taking the mickey out of Leibniz (a very short person!) when he said that, for having the audacity to come up with calculus at the same time as he did...
heehee!! :D :D
i have to admitt that i didn't know where the quote came from i just knewn that newton said it! :rolleyes:
TheViking
17-05-2005, 14:09
I thought that Ray had said that they'd been using it in Sweden (or Scandinavia?) for many years, I don't think he said they were his invention?
You're right, I should maybe have pointed out that I didn't see the show (due to only having 2 channels). It's just often when people see Ray doing something, they get their eyes up, but I guess it's normal behaviour. :)
The power of television.......
innocent bystander
17-05-2005, 15:10
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... :)
Fenlander
19-05-2005, 16:53
This may be of interest!! :D
http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20050526.p.Tree_Trunk_ Torch
Biddlesby
19-05-2005, 17:36
Haha nice linking.
It's quite a cheap price. That picture is so fake, though.
FruitBatInShades
07-06-2005, 15:58
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.
bambodoggy
07-06-2005, 19:40
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... :o
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... :o
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.
Biddlesby
07-06-2005, 20:31
Mine was a bit too deep so there wasn't much heat. It was well seasoned wood though.
I agree - they are a bit over the top for normal use 'cause of the time they took (for me anyway) to make.
bambodoggy
07-06-2005, 21:20
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 :D
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. :D
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.... :)
FruitBatInShades
08-06-2005, 07:21
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
08-06-2005, 09:37
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.
"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..... :p lol
Actually 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. :)