- 1). Season your wood to dry it out and make it burn better. Split the wood by setting it on a tree stump and standing back. Bring the ax over head and use the momentum of the ax to come down onto the log to split it. It may take several swings. Use a wedge and hammer to split the logs once the wood is split slightly, if it is too hard to split with an ax.
- 2). Stack the wood into a cord. A cord is a stack of wood that is 8-feet long, 4-feet high and 4-feet wide, or 128 cubic feet, including the air space between the pieces of wood, says the Oklahoma State University Extension website. Stack the wood pieces evenly so that air circulates through the pile, drying the wood. Allow it to dry for one season before using.
- 3). Place softwood kindling from nearby woods, or kindling purchased from your local hardware store, at the bottom of your fireplace. Softwood burns quickly and gets the rest of the fire going.
- 4). Stack pieces of hardwood in your fireplace in a triangle formation around the softwood kindling. Use hardwoods such as cherry or oak to keep the fire burning longer.
- 5). Open the damper for the fireplace wide open and leave it open for 30 minutes as the fire burns to keep the wood burning. Refuel the fire while the coals are hot enough to burn new pieces of wood.
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