Quote Originally Posted by MaggieMay View Post
When I used to have a fireplace someone gave me some wood they called starter wood or turpentine wood I believe. How does the wood get that way? Where can it be found?
It's also called lighter knot, lighter pine, fat lighter, and probably has a few other names. It's wood from the stunmp and roots of a mature pine tree. I have seen it taken from onther conifers as well,cedar trees can produce lighter. I have purchased it in some grocery stores in the country. If it's high in resin it will ignite no matter if it's wet or not. As far as I know it lasts for ever.
I would visit a low priced department store or outdoor/camping store. If you really want it and you can't buy it. You need to find a clearcut where pines have been harvested and look for busted up stumps. They used to use pine stumps to make turpentine. But almost nobody uses turpentine anymore so the stumps probably stay in the ground unless they are in the way, then they get turned over and piled up with the rest of the wood. If you don't know what to look for you can check wood frgments by scraping or cutting with a knife and then snif. It should look reddish brown and have a very strong pine sap smell and you should be able to see sap crystals.