Paper logs

[Ranga]

Anyone had any experience with making their own firewood logs from paper? Would be keen to hear from your experiences.

Briquette Recycle News Paper LOG Maker FOR Fireplaces Stoves BBQ'S Brick Block | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BRIQUETTE-RECYCLE-NEWS-PAPER-LOG-MAKER-FOR-FIREPLACES-STOVES-BBQS-BRICK-BLOCK-/141595029344?hash=item20f7b8af60:g:7N8AAOSwkNZUiO2 n)

[austastar]

Hi,
Yep, in one word, "woeful"!
Cheers

[Barefoot Dave]

Ranga, I've got one here if you want to try. The bricks take a while to dry.

[Blknight.aus]

you dont need to buy one of them, if you can shred the paper or pulp it some you can make logs in PVC pipe.

grab a meter length of with a screw cap fitted, grab a length thats a snug fit, hamer a plug into it, fill it with sand.

fill the first pipe with the pulp, slide the second pipe in side and let the weight compress the paper down expelling the water unscrew the end cap and use the insert to push out your log.

if you have access to the paper shredder at work use that paper.

pop lid buckets are great for making the initial mix, fill it with paper and water, stick it in the car and let your daily drive agitate the mix. If you have an A class shredder the stuff that comes out will naturally bind up once its been wet and allowed to settle so just pour it into cake tins or the like and sit them near the fire.

they do burn a bit faster than some woods though.

[vnx205]

This person was unimpressed.

Tales from under Black Hill: The Truth about Making fuel Briquettes from Newspapers (http://blackhilltales.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/truth-about-making-fuel-briquettes-from.html)

[Blknight.aus]

one of those hand cranked mincers is also a good way of turning the paper into pellets. they knock out and dry the same amount of paper in a shorter time and if you time it right in the drying process you can compress them together.

[ramblingboy42]

I tried with old newspapers, using a copy of the commercially available presses......even after weeks of drying in the sun you could break them open and they'd be still moist in the centre.

after leaving some dry to months (and you had to cover them if it rained) I could burn them but they offered very low heat and smouldered a lot.

gave it up as a bad job.

[Blknight.aus]

the only time I ever recall having problems with that is if the bricks had been over compressed or the outside papers were complete and there was only limited void space for the moisture to exit from..

it helps to try and dry them where there is some airflow.

we used to stack them by and use them in the water heater as well as the wood stove.

IIRC the instructions tell you to only put so much weight on the handles to much over compresses the brick.

[Tank]

Know what Dioxins are, probably the most dangerous Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP) known to man.
The most common way to produce this deadly toxic is to burn Chlorine at low temperatures.
Newspaper and especially magazine paper (shiny and pure white) is bleached with Chlorine to get it white from it's natural brown colour, so if you burn it in your BBQ you are flavouring your food with Dioxin, mmm. tasty.
Same goes in your slow combustion heater, real good for the environment, Regards Frank.

[vnx205]

I have always believed that dioxins are a serious threat to human health, but I just stumbled across this article that casts some doubt on that.

https://www.heartland.org/policy-documents/instant-expert-guide-facts-about-chlorine-and-dioxins

I don't know anything about the institute that published it and have no idea how credible a source it is.

The article contains statements such as, "No credible study to date has shown an increased risk of cancer, developmental disorders, or other illnesses attributable to exposure to "background" levels of dioxins or other organochlorines. Until very recently, even scientific studies of people exposed during industrial accidents to extremely high levels of dioxins failed to find any long-term adverse health symptoms."

I was actually trying to find out if newsprint is still being bleached with chlorine. I know that its use has been significantly reduced.

[debruiser]

We used to do this as kids.... nothing better to do... and used a hydraulic jack and a tin + piece of wood cut to fit. Jack went in a little frame - think shop press.....

Yes they took ages to dry, but they burnt ok, not as good as real wood. They are however cheap and if you have the time to wait for them to dry then not too bad I guess.

[The ho har's]

Know nothing about paper logs, though if you need wood you know where there is heaps of it, you just have to cut it up;)

Mrs hh:angel:

[Ranga]

I've got access to plenty of wood ;)

The thought was to make logs that stack perfectly (being straight edged), and re-cycle paper which would otherwise go to land fill.

Maybe I'll just stick with the logs :cool:

[Tank]

I have always believed that dioxins are a serious threat to human health, but I just stumbled across this article that casts some doubt on that.

https://www.heartland.org/policy-documents/instant-expert-guide-facts-about-chlorine-and-dioxins

I don't know anything about the institute that published it and have no idea how credible a source it is.

The article contains statements such as, "No credible study to date has shown an increased risk of cancer, developmental disorders, or other illnesses attributable to exposure to "background" levels of dioxins or other organochlorines. Until very recently, even scientific studies of people exposed during industrial accidents to extremely high levels of dioxins failed to find any long-term adverse health symptoms."

I was actually trying to find out if newsprint is still being bleached with chlorine. I know that its use has been significantly reduced.
There usually isn't any "long term" studies because it kills pretty quick, largest source for Dioxins in Australia is Bushfires and Domestic Wood Heaters, see NPI, Regards Frank.

[loanrangie]

I've got access to plenty of wood ;)

The thought was to make logs that stack perfectly (being straight edged), and re-cycle paper which would otherwise go to land fill.

Maybe I'll just stick with the logs :cool:

If you put the paper in the right bin it will be recycled not go in land fill.