Growing up, we wanted to play with whatever we were told not to touch. Well, our grandparents and parents are right to not play with these. These tools are sharp and are designed to deal with fire and wood; wood in the fire to be exact. That set is called a fireplace toolset. Some people use these as statement pieces in the living room, while others use them for their proper use. Typically, this set includes six individual tools. Below are descriptions of the tools and their purpose.
Tools & Purpose
- Spade – Appears similar to a flat shovel. It is often associated with digging, mainly used to pick up ashes, hot coals, and burning embers. Moving around the ashes and providing a cleaner burn, there will be a decrease in smoke production. Typically is used after a fire is done burning, use this to clean ashes and coals once they are cooled by scooping them into the ash dump door.
- Tongs – Similar to the ones for cooking, but these are much larger. These are large enough to grab logs, pieces of wood, and breaking up burnt wood to provide more oxygen. More oxygen creates more flames and less smoke.
- Fireplace Broom – A tiny/small broom that is used to sweep out ashes from the fireplace once a fire has been extinguished. This is important to have because all fires create ash, it is specifically designed to fit in the fireplace to clean.
- Bellows – Not one of the more commonly known tools, but is used to blow a controlled gust of oxygen into the fire to increase the flames. There is a valve on the end to direct the wave of air. It is used to help start the fire by increasing the flame size and heat. Typically used to light the kindling.
- Fireplace Poker – A long metal extended rod with a pointed end, similar to a Philips screwdriver. It is used to move burning wood in the fireplace.
- Andiron – A rarer tool and known as a ‘log-dog’. It is a horizontal bar that is used to hold/support logs that are fed to the flames. It allows more air to pass through, producing a cleaner burn.