The pictures show how I use a wax-card-board milk-box as fire-starter.
The idea could be stimulating to use other types of wax-boxes in a similar
way:

- 8 in-cuts into the edges of the milk-box,
- Push-in the in-cuts
- Fill-in with some small wood-spoons (They look heavier in picture, because close to the camera)
- Light on two in-cuts and let burn for a while.
- When the "bridge" between the in-cuts burns, turn that part down and
- Put in that position into the stove upon the logs
- Add some small wood upon the burning milk-box.

So I start my commercial stove (Rink-Kachelthermo) and use it in Top-lit updraft mode.
After the woodgas is burnt, the primary and secondary air-slits are closed.
By the rest of air comming into the stove, where-ever, all charcoal is burnt slowly during hours. Naturally the stove has to be inside really hot, to work like that.

the wood-sticks are split from logs down to about pencil-diameter or little bigger. I let dry my normal (beech-)logs for at least one year. Naturally the small sticks split easier when fresh, but with a good hatchet that is no problem, they only "jump" more aside.
But if a fresh log is cut in pencil-like sticks, one can cut it directly and the pencils are very fast dry. Simplest method to see and use them if they are dry: weigh a handful of fresh cut sticks by a kitchen-scale let the sticks dry in house and test the weight-difference. I suppose they will dry within a short week or less. They loose about half the fresh-weight. -I do that as well with bigger logs to see how they loss weight under roof on the balcony, an mark the weight on the log with date.

I only put the sticks into the prepared box to light the sticks quicker. If you can put them above the laying wax-cardboard-box (without rolling aside, what sticks like to do :-) ) it is not necessary to introduce them into the box.
Certainly you have some other form of wax-cart-board-boxes. Then you must change the in-cut-geometry.
I have not every day a milk-box from one liter, so I am tinkering to pre-warm the kindle-sticks outside the stove before the stove. -If the sticks are pretty pre-warmed, e.g. in a not yet cold oven-box of the stove (few less than 100°C!) one can light them amazingly quick. I think, it can be achieved to light them with a match.

For splitting small logs to sticks I have developed my own simple method to hit exactly the desired point with the hatchet. I did not succeed the way others do.

Regards from Germany
Martin
AIR MAX PLUS