The Smokestack is my cold smoking system that I have been working on for the past few years, well I only mess with it during the cold weather. I have tried putting a piece of coal in it, under it ice under the cheese and so on, but have found it's all unnecessary. Give this a try the next time you smoke cheese. Sorry I didn't take any pictures of it in use, but will on the next batch.
My Smokestack is made from an exhaust tip for a car, but I think just about any piece of pipe would work. I didn't drill any holes, but it wouldn't hurt to try putting one or two in it for lighting. What I did do is put a screen in it made from some doubled up expanded metal to hold the wood slivers.
The cheese, sharp cheddar and hickory.
The Smokestack
I light with a Bernzomatic, I torch the side of the metal until I see some smoke. The heat from the metal seems to keep it going for the first few moments and then it just keeps going.
The Smokewood. This stuff works perfectly because it's all slivers, but I bet the pellets would also work. It comes in a few different flavors too.
Give it a shot, maybe you can help get it dialed in even better.