[Spana]

For anyone interested and those like me who should get out more, experiments 1& 2

Ex. 1
1/2lb flour mixed to paste with hot water.  Sawdust + shavings added and mixed  then pressed into Whiskas 24 Pouches boxes. Drying on sunny window sill.  Made 6, these can be burnt in the boxes.

Ex 2.
Same mix as about but pressed into small seed tray lined with bit of plastic cut from carrier bag and turned out.   Also drying. Made 6


This is just a trial run to see how much paste is needed to make a hard brick and then to see how they burn. I also think if going on an open fire  a few herbs could be mixed in.

Using above quantities  a 3lb bag tesco value flour for paste @ 43p per bag would make 30-36 logs. So 1 log costs about one and a half pence if sawdust is free.
Well, you cant do much in this weather.

[arugula]

Well done Spana, that was quick work. I'll look forward to the results of your research.

[noshed]

Quite remarkable

[zazen999]

We get huuuuuuuge bags of sawdust for free from lottie neighbour....I think you have just given me tomorrow's experiment. Thank you. 

[hamstergbert]

Some clients of mine have a steady throughput of paperwork which for various confidentiality reasons have most of the copies shredded a month after the events to which they refer.  End result is huge grey plastic sacks of shreddies (they use industrial crosscut shredders)

I have on a fairly regular basis scrounged some of these and also have a little steel gizmo I bought from Scotts (I think) advertised along the lines of 'turn newspapers onto fuel' or some such.

I chuck the shreddies into a plastic dustbin with loads of soapy water from the washing up, sawdust and the output when I have fed twigs and other woody bits through the garden shredder, then use the steel gizmo to produce solid blocks of shredded paper which I stack up loosely to dry naturally.  The gizmo squeezes out most of the water but realistically it takes ages for them to dry out properly - last January's production sat in the greenhouse (as layers of blocks supporting growing trays etc)  all year.  For the final week I tend to chuck 'em onto the water pipes.

Thing is when I heave one onto the fire it burns beautifully - warm, pretty (yeah, I know) and leaving nothing but fine grey ash.  Really is free fuel - the bricks seem to stay intact just with the paper and the soapiness from the washing up water and perhaps a miniscule amount of resin when I am adding sawdust of woody shreddies, no need for adding flour or whatever. 

There's more, though.  When it is this cold and come down in the morning to find little left in the grate apart from a few final shreds of coal barely glowing, breaking one of my paper blocks over the knee and putting the halves break side down (with dangling shreds  that catch easily) onto the dying embers usually results within about two minutes the paper blocks starting to burn - a bit of heat and more importantly a good enough fire to chuck the normal fuel on top and Bob's your aunty's husband, effortlessly lit fire again.

You can make these blocks exactly the same with newspapers with broadly the same result if you roughly tear them up, and if I run out of shreddies when part way through a batch I usually add newsprint in lieu.  All grist to the mill.  I remain keen however on pre-shredded paper (lazy bones)!  However probably a slightly lower calorific content than Spana's sawdust logs.

I really can strongly recommend these gizmos - very robust, dead easy to use, and lasts for years (so far).

[Torreya]

Some time ago, our coalman suggested that when you make your paper/sawdust 'logs', add some of the coaldust from the coalhouse, helps them burn 'hotter'.
Also, if you are still allowed to burn coal (we are, but don't use it v. often, only when it's extremely cold!!), if you put it on the fire 'wet', it burns longer and hotter. DOESN'T work with smokeless unfortunately!
By the by, if you ever get the chance of Acacia logs, jump at them!! We were given some a couple of years ago, and they just last and last when burning!!

[Spana]

Thats a really good idea Torreya. 
My experiments were a wash out, they all went mouldy

[Knight Family]

any feedback on this? Just bought me a paper log maker this weekend and have t bins full of paper pulp ready to go. I still need to do the fire yet, but it will be there for winter.

[Poolfield2]

That's what I call planning ahead

[confused75]

I have made the paper logs , using shredded paper soaked for 3/4 weeks in a barrel then put into 5ooml tetra milk packs with the top cut of ,a couple of nicks on bottom to help it drain and stacked under the bench in the greenhouse over winter ,they were fine by the time i used nearly 9/12 month later , i have also used 2litre plastic bottles , (top and bottom removed) as moulds for the logs , as well as the bought paper log maker,.
 To use sawdust , i try to get some coal dross/dust ( helps to burn hotter  but not essential) mix it with a few handfulls of builders plaster , and pour into empty log size cardboard food boxs ,or a lengh of plastic guttering , with a bit cardboard to seperate into log sizes , leave to dry and sit back and toast you tootsies ! all free !!!  i've done it for years.

[Terrier]

I bought one of those newspaper logs gizmos. It works up to a point, but you still can't get enough pressure to get all the water out without bending the levers. The prof made logs are very dense and usually impregnated with oil. My recipe for DIY logs is saw dust/shavings, horse poo and well soaked newspaper to bind it all together. Good idea to mix in coal dust, not tried that yet. I make them a few at a time throughout the summer and stack them in a sunny nook (under cover from the rain), they're all dry by the cold weather comes. Any old clothing (if you can be bothered to shred it) can be added to the mix and all the junk mail burns just fine. Note to myself, MUST GET A LIFE!