Journey's End

In November 2008 I had an idea - burn logs to provide heat and visual enjoyment. It was a simple idea and as it's turned out it's been fairly simple to achieve. Tonight I lit my first fire and burnt my own seasoned logs - and it was fantastic.

Picture 1: Ready for the off - fire stacked up using the "top down" method - basically the biggest logs at the bottom, followed by smaller logs and kindling and "sloppy knots" newspaper. By far the best method for a good long lasting fire.

Picture 2: Early days - the paper burned off, the kindling well in and the smaller logs catching.

Picture 3: "El Scorchio" - still some flame but getting down to the real heat of charcoal logs.

What have I done?

Well it had to come to this one day. I've removed my mirror, mantelpiece and cast iron fire surround and taken out all the old gas living flame gubbins. I've created a new slab for the fire back / grate to sit on. Tomorrow I'll cement in the fire back and lintel and tidy up with any bricking in/etc. I still need to buy some fireproof rope to sit between the fire back and the cast iron surround but I reckon it should all be installed and set up by next weekend.

Pictures: 1st - before picture with old gas fire in and old black fire back, 2nd - everything taken out/off, 3rd - all the bits, plus a hoover for all the cleaning up.

Wood Envy

A new term perhaps?

Wood Envy: the feeling one gets when visiting a friend's house and seeing he has some huge logs sitting on his drive.

A term I've been feeling tonight. A routine trip to the pub turned into a nightmare when I spotted the offending logs on my friend's drive. I hatched a cunning plan for last orders, the drop off then double back for a midnight raid but alas... I was foiled. Maybe it was the full moon or my friend's sixth sense but when we arrived to relieve him of his wooden burden, there he was sitting proud atop his wooden throne. Hail King Lumber!

The gasman's been

The plumber turned up today and unhooked my gas fire - so all systems go for the fire back installation. Hopefully it'll be done sometime over Easter, I've got a week's holiday, so I'll try to fit it in between lying in bed and watching telly and eating my chocolate eggs.

Bored of logging

I never thought I'd say it - but here it is: "I'm bored of logging."

I think it's those darn big logs again, they are really hard work to saw and split - they've pushed me over edge and I've had enough.

I'm sure I'll get that twinkle in my eye come winter but for now I'm hanging up my axe and sorting out my golf clubs - now that the clocks have gone forward there is other free time things I can pursue.

I'll still be blogging as I've got an impending fire back installation coming up and other fiery things to do.

Looking down my chimney

I've had a look down my chimney today! Unusual you might think, wouldn't someone look up a chimney? Well yes, you're right, unless of course you're standing on the roof, then you look down the chimney. Let me explain - today I finished off a little job I started last year, namely the painting of my flat roof dormer on the front of my house. Whilst I was up there I checked my chimney stack and I had a good look down the chimney itself. I was a bit surprised that the chimney wasn't lined (I'd been warned to look out for this on various articles I'd read on the t'interweb) and it also appears never to have been used as an open fire as there's very little dirt in there? Anyway, apart from all that it appears to be sound and I'm planning to sweep it soon - and with this done I can organise my plumber to take out the old gas fire and then start the installation of the new fire back - it's all coming together.

Spring awakening

A mild breeze, buds on the trees and birdsong in the air - everything you need as you stride into the woods armed with your backpack and bow saw. Spring is on it's way. Best of all I think I heard my first woodpecker today - well at least I think I did. A succession of pecking sounds coming every twenty seconds or so - I'm not sure if the poor thing was feeding, looking for a mate or making a nest - but I felt truly honoured to have heard it in my little patch of woods. I was pleased as punch, I could have almost laughed out loud. ha-ha-ha-HA-ha.

Here's a video of something similar to what I heard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy3g3p9P5k8&feature=related

Money matters

I've just been summing up how much I've spent so far on my little project and I'm a bit shocked!!! Especially seeing that this was supposed to be "free heat"! This is the breakdown:

Things bought so far: bow saw - £7, splitter axe - £5, wood used for shacks - £30, fire back and lintel - £80, drain rods with sweep brush head - £25, grate and fire bricks - £15, ash pan - £2, brush and shovel for ash clean up - £3, fire guard - £24.

It's heading to £200 quid!!! yahhh - I hope this fire is good when it's finally installed.

Thought of the day

I've been reading a forum/discussion board about log burners/burning wood today and some old fellow on there summed it up nicely...

"I couldn't be more happy" he said. "I love all the 'faffing' that goes with it, i.e. scrounging wood, chopping, cleaning, etc. I find it really satisfying."

I couldn't have put it better myself :-)

How much is enough?

I've only gone and done it! All the wood I'd collected has now been sawn and chopped. I've been playing log tetris all afternoon and now both of my wood stores have been filled completely (with a little left over). The tall one is about 3foot by 7foot, the short fat one is about 5foot by about 8foot. They can now get a sun tan over the summer and dry out as much as possible. I think this ends my wood collecting phase.

==> Update 15/03/09: I just can't stop collecting wood!! I've started a new pile behind my garage now - but this has to be the last lot I collect because I've run out of room after that. I reckon this new pile will be my winter 2010/2011 supply - so it will be 2 years old when I burn it - perfectly seasoned. The stuff in the pictures above will be just 1 year old when burnt but should still be OK. Also I've had a bit of a disaster with the thin wood shelf/shack thing above - the shelves have started to sag! The thickness of the wood I used in the construction isn't sufficient for the weight of the logs - I reckoned on packing each section so that it supported the weight of logs above it - but as the logs season/dry/shrink then they become no longer packed tight and the shelf above suffers. I'm going to unpack and repack next weekend which should sort it.

Skulduggery not so pleasant

New developments at my local wood source. The council have been back with the chainsaw and cut back the massive stump of a tree and kindly left some huge chunks of wood. This seems to have sent out a message to the wood collecting community and every man and his dog (they always seems to have dogs) are there collecting bits.

I myself popped along and grabbed as much as I could carry, had a brief chat with numerous others who were helping themselves from the pile. Actually overdid it on one load and as I bent over to put on my backpack a big log popped out the top, banged me on the head and rolled off - and what was worse was that a dog walker saw me do it and rushed over to check if I was alright. "Yes" I said. "Head fine, coolness in tatters" I thought.

And from what I've heard /seen there's been some skulduggery going on - not only pure muscle and backpacks (i.e. me) have been involved - yesterday I saw a man with a wheelbarrow (sullen fellow) and I've heard that someone came down with a horse. A horse!!! Now that is CHEATING!!

Chim Chim Cheree

Chim chiminey
Chim chiminey

Chim chim cher-ee!

A sweep is as lucky
As lucky can be

Oh yes, more new equipment - this time a set of drain rods with a sweep brush attachment (basically what Mr Van Dyke is carrying). I'll be dancing on the rooftops in no time at all!!!

But seriously, for safety's sake, I need to sweep the chimney before I light my first log fire and then sweep it at least once a year or more depending on how much I use it. Don't know how much professional sweeps cost but it's bound to save me money after a few sweeps.

Opportunity missed

There was a tree in a park near my work place that had been blown down recently. It was lying there ready to be sawn up and carted away. I thought I'd get around to it at some point in the future, but no - when I walked past today the council have kindly chipped it for me. D'oh. Never mind there will be other trees, won't there?

It's a question which I'm not too sure about -all the wood I have harvested has come from a particular patch and I'm wondering where I will find other stuff when this lot is used up. I've a good feeling that I'll be able to manage, but what if I can't and I end up having to buy wood?

With my ethos being that I'd be getting free heat - buying wood goes against the grain (if you'll excuse the pun).

The mother-of-all wood shacks

Another month another wood-shack-cum-shelf structure thing.

I've created a bigger version and started to fill it up with logs. I'm trying to make these logs bigger with a view in mind that I can use the smaller stuff to start the fire and get the room hot and then I can sling on a big log to burn slowly and more coolly and thus just keep the temperature nice for a whole evening.

I'm unsure how many wood/logs I'll need for a late autumn/winter/early spring season. I don't want to be rationing them and I don't want to run out in the middle of a cold snap. Therefore I'm going with the theory that too much is better than too little - it's not like wood goes off or anything is it?

Once this latest wood-shack is filled up, I'll be making the mother-of-all-wood-shacks and filling that as well.

I'm not a hippy

I may be a tree hugger but I'm not a hippy and so I've been buying lintels not lentils.

The lintel is part of my new clay fire back kit that I've bought recently. It sits on top of the fire back and helps create a non-turbulent air flow up the chimney - all technical stuff. Installation is scheduled for Easter time, hopefully it'll warmer then and I'll have a few days off to complete the job.

Talking of tree huggers, it looks like someone has been hugging my trees. My normal source of logs in the woods seems to have been raided by someone other than myself (the cheek of it!). I concluded that setting a bear trap was a bit over the top and so have gone for the tripwires and mines instead.

Update (01/03/09): Here's a pic of the fire back, unfortunately I can't put logs on it when it's sat in my bedroom!!

Bigger is not always better

Back in early posts I mentioned that I initially went for the really big logs and now I'm paying the price.

Whereas the small logs just need a little sawing and spilt really easy - the big logs are just too big to saw (I'd be sawing all day!) and they are a devil to split with my little axe. Been asking around for anyone with a chainsaw but no luck.

I think I'll persevere with what I've got but the message going foward is to get small managable logs.

The Axeman Cometh!!

A new year and a new toy - a hand axe.

I'd been eyeing it up for a while at my local Wickes until I could no longer resist it. I've been YouTube-ing videos of axe use and I'm ready to go.

This weekend I built a wood-shack-cum-shelf structure thing and filled it with newly sawn and axed logs. And I still have all my fingers!!! They are now sited in accordance with some web page advice I got about seasoning wood, in that the wood should be open to air/draught movement (to remove moisture) and should be warmed by sunlight to help seasoning/drying.

My mum popped round and I proudly showed her my achievement (like a schoolboy with a good report), she commented that "You've cut them a bit small, they'll burn really quick".

Thanks Mum - back to the drawing board.

Fun guy

I'm no expert on fungi, spores and mould (where's that bloke from Ghostbusters when you need him) - all I know is there's a strange smell in my garage not unlike mushrooms.

I do remember when I researched wood seasoning - it suggested not storing "green" wood, i.e. wet wood, in a garage - I poo-pooed it at the time.

So with Alanis Morrisseette's "it's the good advice that you just didn't take" ringing in my ears I start the slow process of taking all the wood out of the garage and stacking it on my patio. Apparently (after google research) the damp wood, still air and relative darkness of my garage is the ideal environment for mould growth.

Even my prize dartboard has taken a mould hit, at least I have an excuse for missing the treble 20 now.

Pressies

Well it is Christmas.

I've treated myself to a few things that will help in my new career as a log burner extraordinaire. These things are: a) a grate, b) an ash pan (to sit under the grate), c) a small shovel to help clean up the ash, d) a bow saw (to cut down logs into "backpack" size).

I didn't wrap them or anything, just surreptitiously hid them in my garage (so the wife don't see em).

P.S. I'm popping out to collect wood every weekend and my garage is filling up nicely.

On the 1st day of Christmas...

Well, it's the 1st of December and did I find a nice log fire behind the "1" on my advent calendar?

Did i eck!

I've had to face up to the fact that: a) it's too expensive to get the "fire back" installed considering all the normal Christmas expense, b) it would mean that the fire would be out of action for a few days/week, c) it would mean a delay on putting up the Xmas decorations and all that.

Sob, sniff, let's hope we don't have a cold winter.