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I’ve been playing with my new toy.. the paper log maker. I still can’t decide if it’s useful or not. The first lot of bricks still haven’t dried since Friday evening, but then the weather’s been so wet that nothing has really been drying.
Step 1: Assemble ingredients. Brick maker, and shredded receipts soaked in water.
Step 2: Fill brick maker with soggy paper, squeezing just enough water out so that it isn’t dripping, but not too much that it makes hard lumps that don’t squeeze together.
Step 3: Press down on the handles, squeezing some of the water out. This is (I think) the crucial difficulty with the process, the handles have a stop point which means that you get a nice brick-shape, but doesn’t let you get all the water out of the paper.
Step 4: The finished brick.
Step 5: Here’s one I made earlier. One newspaper brick and one shredded paper brick.
Haven’t managed to burn any of them yet, I ended up making 4 bricks and some pellets with the stuff floating around in the bottom of the bathtub.
Best if you soak the paper for a couple of days. If you’re mainly using shreddings, mix in with some torn newspapers, and this will bind them better. The mix should be quite soggy when it goes into the press! Good luck!
I don’t have one yet but I have been doing some reading. They suggest using newspaper and soaking for 3 or 4 days. You can also add a tablespoon of bleach to the water to help break down the paper faster. Envelopes, letters and other papers should be mixed with newspaper and you can add grass clippings to the brick mold for better combustion. The more soggy paper pulp you start with the more dense and longer burning the brick should be. And many experienced users said to do this in summer so they have 3 months or so to dry completely.
Hi
Over this week end I made 53 bricks, the weather was great in the uk and many have dried out within a few days. I added some food colouring to the water and they look great. I will add another colour soon on the next batch. I use normal newspaper ripped in one inch strips, soak overnight in a large bin then the next day make them. Have fun Lee
You have much more stamina than I do! The colourful bricks sounds lovely too, I hope they keep you nice and toasty all winter!
I Dont know how to put pictures on here, I can show you some of the bricks. You can email me at runboyathotmail.co.uk. Take the (at) out on the middle and replace with @
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