Pro tip: the wire brush on a drill beats hand scrubbing every time on heavy glaze
Had a two story colonial out in Dayton last week with so much glazed creosote in the smoke chamber that my hand brush barely scratched it after 20 minutes. I grabbed the drill mounted wire brush I usually save for fireboxes, and the same spot came clean in about 4 minutes flat. Hand scrubbing left shiny streaks and took forever, while the drill spun through it with steady pressure and no gouging. I still finish with the hand brush for the tight corners and the flue, but the drill does the rough work now. Total job time dropped from about 3 hours to just under 2. Any of you running a specific drill brush grit for glaze, or do you stick with the standard stiff wire?