Briquette Maker

[Itzal]

Hi all,

Looking at a Briquette Maker, as below. Has anyone got one similar and are they any good or worth while? How long do they burn for?

Seems a cheap alternative which is environmentally friendly.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Briquette-M...MM/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1343392818&sr=8-12

 

[Suffolksteve]

Hi Itzal,

This comes up fairly often, the general consensus is they are hard work, take a long time to dry and burn ok, but not amazingly well. The summary is they generally aren't worth the effort required unless you have a lot of space, time and steady source of paper.

Having said all that I don't have one so I can't personally comment on them though in principle it looks a great idea.

 

[Itzal]

Thanks Steve, they do seem to good to be true.

 

[Miyagi]

My late Gran made briquettes for the fire for years. She used loaf tins (with a brick on top for weight) to shape them.

A lot cheaper than buying a briquette maker I'd think?

Liam

 

[Itzal]

I wonder if making it with shredded paper would make them slightly more compact and burn longer.

 

[Toadflax]

I still have one but, as others have said, it's a lot of effort for not too much return (IMHO).

I found in particular that a lot depends on the paper you use. Anything with the 'shiny' printing on it (e.g. a lot of magazines) don't do well. Newspaper and 'normal' paper weren't too bad but, as for most paper, there is a fair bit of residue left after burning.


Geoff

 

[Miyagi]

If you've got access to the shredder waste, you could make briquettes, though some printer paper just blackens and turns into fine ash quite quickly.

Add wallpaper paste, green food colouring and , et voila you have bushcraft papier mache!

Liam

 

[Tetley]

I have had one (bought from B&Q) for the last three year , I work in an office and am the person that empties the shredder , I then put it all in a tubtruk add water and then make briquettes ,I make 4 or 5 at a sitting 2 or three times a week , they sit in the shed on rotation to dry out and we havent bought logs for our fire for the past two years it is hard graft ( especially in winter) and they take an age to dry but we really appreciate them over winter Keeps us warm and stops a bit of landfill.

Bob

 

[Toddy]

Would adding scrap candlewax help or just make for really filthy smoke ?

cheers,
Toddy...............who has somehow acquired four quality street tin loads of scrap wax. It's too heavy to post but if anyone's nearby and wants some, they're very welcome.

 

[Miyagi]

Scrap candle wax (I've some from Welsh cheeses) should burn hot and evaporate without too much smoke.

I use them in BBQ's to help the charcoal take.


Liam

 

[wingstoo]

Better off going to the car boots and finding an old fruit press for wine making, a lot more pressure can be applied to get even more water out, you almost need to turn the papers into a pulp to get it working properly.

Candle wax is okay for small fire lighters, but adding to whole briquettes might be excessive, though adding sawdust to the pulp might be a good idea.

You would probably need a two or three year rotating stock to make sure they are dried out properly.

 

[rik_uk3]

Mom had one years ago and it was not great. Lot of flaffing about for not a lot of result.

 

[spiritwalker]

i used one for a year but if your using a woodburner they are not too good as i discovered...

basically they produce alot of clogging ash which blocks the grate and the draw is reduced so you have to keep poking them. But it is free i suppose i made about 50 bricks the first year but after that i barely make them at all now as once the word is out you have a burner the offers of wood come thick and fast if you can be bothered to pick stuff up. I reckon they would perform alot better in an open fire situation but havent tried to be sure

 

[Fin]

I'm definitely in the "not worth the effort" camp.

Bought a cheap one years ago with the intention of making briquettes for the wood burning stove, and ended up making a huge mess and trying to manage the drying of a load of soggy briquettes in our never ending damp summers.

The mess involved in manufacture, the drying problems - not to mention the amount of ash produced when they burn...nice idea in theory - but a definite no! no! no!

 

[hobbes]

I have had one (bought from B&Q) for the last three year , I work in an office and am the person that empties the shredder , I then put it all in a tubtruk add water and then make briquettes ,I make 4 or 5 at a sitting 2 or three times a week , they sit in the shed on rotation to dry out and we havent bought logs for our fire for the past two years it is hard graft ( especially in winter) and they take an age to dry but we really appreciate them over winter Keeps us warm and stops a bit of landfill.

Bob

I think that's very impressive. Good for you! I'm not convinced these things are that green, but that's some proper self-reliance.

 

[treadlightly]

Its one of things that's a good idea on paper but not in practice. They don't burn well in my experience.

 

[spandit]

The ones I made burnt fine but as mentioned, it's a lot of effort for not much result. It's far more effective to get hold of an old pallet and chop it up - nice and dry immediately and burns hot