Replies

1. 
   WillGeorge | May 26, 2005 01:19am | #1

   Has anyone had any sucsess  making logs for the fireplace using sawdust and newspaper?

   I did that back in the 70's and my house burnt down!

    

   I posted this?? I do not think so???

   
   

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   Edited 5/27/2005 12:44 pm ET by Will George

1. 
   scott345 | May 26, 2005 02:48am | #2

   how does that hapen?

2. 
   nikkiwood | May 26, 2005 07:03am | #3

   I vaguely remember seeing some low-tech machine that was sold for that purpose years ago. As I remember, you would wet the newspapers , and the gismo would press them into logs, that they claimed you could burn in your fireplace.

   Burning them must have created problems, because I haven't seen that gismo for sale for maybe 20 years.

   As far as sawdust is concerned, isn't that what "Duraflame" logs are about? But you probably need to add some binders (like paraffin, maybe) and have access to a heavy duty hydraulic press.

   ********************************************************
   "I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there."
   -- Herb Caen (1916-1997)

1. 
   forestgirl | May 26, 2005 09:19am | #4

   I use pressed logs to augment the firewood in the shop stove.  I don't think there's any binder in them.  They appear to be held together purely by pressure.  Different brands differ greatly in density and efficiency. 

   IMHO, any effort to home-make logs using sawdust and newspapers is doomed.  I doubt they'd burn efficiently at all.  The sawdust and shavings could be made into quick-starter thingies though, by mixing them with wax in little molds.  I wanted to do this last fall, for use during the winter, but no one seems to carry paper condiment cups anymore!  Everything is p-l-a-s-t-i-c!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

1. 
   MarkRD | May 26, 2005 04:52pm | #5

   Try Dixie cups - the kind you use in a bathroom or try muffin tin liners - I think you can still get those in paper...Mark

   Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.

   View Image

2. 
   Ricks503 | May 26, 2005 04:57pm | #6

   Mark has it - they also come in a couple of differant sizes, and whats more, most of them are coated in wax1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go        4 - get a new board and go back to step 1

1. 
   forestgirl | May 26, 2005 08:18pm | #7

   Mmmmm, yeah but most of 'em are bigger than I had in mind.  I was hoping to find a big bulk-thing at Costco, make a few hundred of 'em. :-)forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

1. 
   Ricks503 | May 26, 2005 08:45pm | #8

   I found them at costco - that is where I buy mine for the bathroom - still they have a couple of sizes1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go        4 - get a new board and go back to step 1

2. 
   tms | May 26, 2005 09:49pm | #9

   Hey Jamie,Back when I was a Boy Scout, we used cupcake wrappers and a muffin tin. They worked great, and I can remember one wet day when that's all we had to heat water with.Tom

3. 
   forestgirl | May 26, 2005 11:47pm | #10

   I'll give it a try, Tom!  My favorite wet-camping memory is waking up and resorting to burning a  very suspenseful page-turner of a novel for lack of anything else that was dry enough!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

4. 
   Gene | May 27, 2005 03:18pm | #11

   In my Boy Scouting days, we used paper (not styrofoam) egg cartons. They were the perfect size for embedding in the fire, and easy to store and transport as a unit. Just tear one or two off as needed.

5. 
   joinerswork | May 27, 2005 03:23pm | #12

   Gene,

   Ditto on the paper egg cartons.  Our troop does this once a year or so.  We save up the empty cartons, and candle stubs.  I provide the sawdust, I think that's the only reason they keep me in the troop!

   Cheers,

   Ray

3. 
   Ricks503 | May 29, 2005 09:32pm | #16

   I use a lot of the little candles for pumpkins and such, when done, I save the little tins that they come in and mix some sawdust and candle stubs or parrafin (from canning) and fill the tins, let cool and pop out  and save for camping.  I used to get the wooden kitchen matches and dip them in small bundles of 8-12  into melted parafin to take camping when I was in scouts - make great waterproof matchs and in a pinch, if you have a number of the bundles, you can used a small bundle whole as a starter1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go        4 - get a new board and go back to step 1

1. 
   forestgirl | May 29, 2005 10:17pm | #17

   All kinds of cool ideas here.  Thanks!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

2. 
   WillGeorge | May 29, 2005 10:24pm | #19

   parrafin (from canning)   I remembers that!

   Reform school.. We had to wax the hardwood floors EVERY night using that stuff!

3. 
   joinerswork | May 27, 2005 03:26pm | #13

   scott,

   One of my older friends, notorious for being chea--  er,  frugal, used to roll up newspapers and bind them with wire twists.  Then he'd fish out the wire from the ashes, and reuse that!

   Regards,

   Ray

1. 
   WillGeorge | May 27, 2005 07:50pm | #14

   used to roll up newspapers and bind them with wire twists.  Then he'd fish out the wire from the ashes, and reuse that!

   You know my grandPa?  He did that.. And collected Chicago CTA paper transfers.. He had Buckets of transfers..

   However he soaked the news paper in something (as I remember) I do not know what.. He said they outlased hardwood logs???

   My brandpa was so cheap I remember he got a discount for helping put the coal in the house coal bin from the truck out in the street!

   I do remember that OLD truck.... HUGE!  Had 'CHAIN Drive' to the back wheels.. I think it went about 20 MPH TOPS!

   I was just a kid but.. I think I remember that!

1. 
   joinerswork | May 28, 2005 01:32am | #15

   Will,

   I bet Grandpa soaked the papers in water, so they'd stick together. 

   Yeah those oldtimers that made it thru the depression knew how to save a penny. 

   Cheers,

   Ray

1. 
   WillGeorge | May 29, 2005 10:23pm | #18

   Water???  gee he had a rain bucket on the house gutters he used!