I have a wood stove which was becoming smokier and harder to light - not enough air flow. I added the rods one at a time, using my Dewalt drill to rotate the brush after attaching each length, then removing one length at a time and rotating again on the way down. Slow and steady, careful not to over-rev the drill. The rods were strong enough to push all the 8 metres up and supple enough to bend into the chimney when pushing in from the front of the fire. I removed a rubble sack of gritty deposit, which collected in the body of the fire (it didn’t billow into the room) and the fire works as it did when first installed. Now I have the brushes, I’ll make this an annual process.