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I WON!!! Yes it was just an ebay success, but that's not the point.

The thing I won was just a brick maker block thing, but it's pretty awesome. As usual, I'm adapting the system (what, S13 not playing by the rules?!?!? Unheard of!!!). I'm making a paper mashey style broth (paper shredding's and water), mixed with sawdust (we have a lot of animals and an abundance of wood chippings, but also a neighbour whose a tree surgeon whose cool enough to save up the shredded stuff for me), then using ash as a binder.

So far I have only made 1 log, but I have LOADS of stuff to make about 15 to 20 bricks. It's amazing how much stuff you can put into making 1 of these bricks!!!

I'll give a proper review soon as I've burned a few of the bricks, but so far I'm holding some good potential for this device.

Here's a link so you can see what I mean: http://www.primrose.co.uk/-p-54162.html?...wwodDjAA-Q

Won on Ebay for around £8.00, free collection.
My parents had one of those when we were kids.

They had half an oil drum which was then half filled with water and the newspapers were threaded and placed into the drum to and allowed to soak.

We would then have to stick our hands into the ice cold water dragging out the newspaper to put into the press/log maker thing to make the paper logs. Its amazing how much paper is needed for just one log, so your idea of sawdust may help to bulk them up.

From what I remember they burnt well, but took ages to dry out before you could burn them.

But god how we hated that contraption LOL!!
Be interested to know what you reckon to 'em after using them for a while ie is it worth the fuss and time?

Got some compressed logs and they don't really seem to last very long..
Got one a couple of month back but never used it yet. Going to make sure the paper is well mixed up and make some in the greenhouse. From what I have read and seen of other people doing it, the problems occur when they are not fully dried out, they burn bad. Lots of turning and moving when drying.

I will dry any I have out in the greenhouse, but it is still cold and damp, they would go mouldy before drying out. Store them in the shed once they are pretty dry and use them the coming winter.

I see it as a way to use up spare paper you get in summer - in winter it would be used starting the fire, in other times of the year you just hold onto it.

Then you have to store them, they need space where they will no get damp at all.
You need to get the moisture content uniform and IIRC no more than 7 or 8 % IE just enough to hold the pulp together. We made some three years ago and it took all summer for them to dry out, then I snapped the compressing lever so we binned that idea !!
Thinking about making one of these.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PAPER-BRIQUETT...27dd10fc67
It looks a lot more solid than the thing I had which I got out of the Mail on Sunday magazine offers.
We used to add some of the powdered wallpaper paste to the water in which the paper was soaking to help hold and bind them together when compressed into the bricks, but as others have said, you need to dry them thoroughly which can take an age.
Brilliant Devonian, brilliant wish I had thought of that, if I had added a bit of wall paper paste or even a bit of flour it would have acted as a binding agent which means I could use less water.

Bugger wish I'd thought of that Smile

Mrs NR says one of her chummetes adds sawdust to the newspaper pulp and that also works as a binder??
(25 January 2014, 23:07)uks Wrote: [ -> ]Thinking about making one of these.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PAPER-BRIQUETT...27dd10fc67

I've looked at something like that, but ebay came up with a cheap temp fix.

For the binding agent, I'm using a little ash. My mix is paper, saw dust, water, and as I said...a little ash (for binding).

As for drying, in the day they're sitting in the porch, enjoying the sun, while in the night...sat on a cake tray atop the storage heater. The tray allows for the underside to dry out as well as the top and sides. Genius...if I do say so myself haha.

I'll do a full review after I get some of the logs up and burning. We'll try them out, firstly on the open fire, and secondly on the neighbour's log burner (we're still to get ours fitted).
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