If you burn wood in a fireplace or an outdoor fire pit, you’re constantly looking for kindling.

Scrap wood cutoffs left over from the workshop, which are not large enough to be useful for anything else, are a great source. But how do you cut them without injuring yourself?

One way is to make a little safety stake — just a narrow strip of wood with a screw going right through the end to hold the board in place. You can use a nail as well.

Tap the safety stake gently into the board you want to chop, and then grab your axe and chop the board.

This works whether you need to chop a 1×10, 1×4 or firewood.

Just one word of caution: When burning scrap wood, never burn pressure-treated lumber.
Only burn untreated wood.

Watch the video above to see Joe’s Simple Solution.

Editorial Contributors
avatar for Joe Truini

Joe Truini

Radio Show Co-Host

Joe Truini is a contractor, author, and the host of “Simple Solutions” on Today’s Homeowner TV and the weekly Today’s Homeowner radio show. He has worked on both large commercial projects and residential remodeling, and has written for national publications such as This Old House and Popular Mechanics. He has also written eight books, including three best-selling shed-building books. Joe lives in Connecticut with his family and enjoys hiking, traveling, and baseball in his spare time.

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