Paper bricks

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Alessio

Member
Mar 3, 2010
21
0
Swansea, Wales
Anyone heard of these? My dad has a paper brick maker, basically a box which you put wet paper into, then compress it to a tight block. When its dry it ignites beautifully =D
 

alecf

Forager
Jun 7, 2009
180
0
Nr Reading
I tried making some by squidgeing it inside a plant pot. Mine didn't burn at all well though, just smouldered for a while.
 

dave53

On a new journey
Jan 30, 2010
2,993
11
70
wales
there is athread called fire logs ther is alink on it somewhere and i think there cheaper there regards dave
 

sasquatch

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jun 15, 2008
2,812
0
47
Northampton
They do work but it's a lot of effort for what you end up with in my opinion. I've had one for a few years now and only use it on occasion thesedays, my lad like to help make them so I do it for his sake more than anything! They're optimistic with burn times when advertising them I reckon.
 

Ryecroft

Need to contact Admin...
Mar 26, 2007
98
1
51
North Shropshire
Completely agree sasqwatch, I made a load, they took ages to dry out, and burnt quickly without any 'substance'. Ok to get a fire going imho, but countered by a fair bit of ash which can smother a fire too.

Not going to be making many more in a hurry.:(
 

Alessio

Member
Mar 3, 2010
21
0
Swansea, Wales
Aye, we had a bit of trouble getting them to burn as well >.< Something we tried was mixing a little bit of lighter fluid into the water when we made the bricks o_O When we lit one the flame nearly took my eyebrows off :eek:
 

sasquatch

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jun 15, 2008
2,812
0
47
Northampton
I stack them on a radiator and it dries them a treat, I've not had a problem with them burning they just didn't last very long or throw off much heat...maybe a bit of sawdust in the mix would help them go further?
 

relfy

Nomad
My grandad used to have one that didn't use any water - you rolled the newspaper round and round a spindle to make 'logs', by turning a handle and feeding the sheets in. Not seen one like it anywhere since, but it worked a treat! The logs were dense enough that they burned for quite a while and you could make them and burn them instantly as no drying needed. I imagine something like it would be quite easy to fabricate.
 

relfy

Nomad
Really? What did they call it? Now I'm thinking about it, I think the logs it produced were really very dense, so you needed to get quite a hot fire going to start with... and possibly add a coal or two now and then. But knowing my grandad he probably rolled them very tight. lol. And slow burning is definitely better than disappearing with a flash.
 

spiritwalker

Native
Jun 22, 2009
1,244
3
wirral
ive got 32 paper bricks and rising drying out in the greenhouse using the log maker i linked to in the other thread. I plan to use them when the burners running hot as opposed to initial fuel eg been burning wood until a deep bed of embers is formed its just to make my logs go further as opposed to main fuel source. THe ones i made in january are just about dry now but since the papers free even if they only last 20-30mins each its better than buying logs or coal i am also wombling shed loads (literally) of wood
 

relfy

Nomad

I love that first one - if I tried that with my drill it'd take my hand off! The piston one I've seen before.... it does seem like the two options in the UK are either wet or flimsy, though I guess the piston idea could be played with using more sturdy materials.
The one granddad had was like this one I found on American Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/UNIFLAME-News...1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1271107977&sr=8-1 ..... I must see if its hiding in his cellar or something. I guess you could remove the handle and attach a drill... hehe! Just need to be prepared with long glued together lengths of newspaper before you start.... :D

Youtube has lots of people showing their own ingenious fabrications. I like this guy's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9XZTsi-_8U&feature=related perhaps because I would never get around to making such a thing. ;)
 

helixpteron

Native
Mar 16, 2008
1,469
0
UK
They're optimistic with burn times when advertising them I reckon.

Not if you use asbestos fibres.
happy0009.gif
 

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