Artificial fire logs

[daylen]

In the past I've made paper bricks for burning and they've been ok, but not great. I've decided to try again this year as I've found a source of lots of newspapers. I've stored up a load of sawdust from various woodworking projects over the last couple of months and am going to mix this in with the paper.

I've also got a good source of used coffee grounds and I know that you can make coffee logs but looking at the various "recipes" online they all seem to be 50% coffee and 50% wax and sugar. As I don't have a free source of wax and sugar this actually proves pretty expensive and I may as well just buy actual logs to burn.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with making coffee logs without wax or sugar? Or whether it would worth simply putting coffee grounds into the mix with the paper and sawdust?

If anyone has experience, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise, I'll post my results although I won't be burning the logs until next winter.

[grenfell]

Tried them myself years ago and decided it wasn't worth the effort. Being a joiner I quite often produce a lot of sawdust , chippings and so on. I was running some timber through the thicknesser today and it doesn't take long to be ankle deep . Put into the woodburner lose I find it makes for good kindling to get it going. A bit messy to put in lose once it's alight but still doable although you probably keep warm by having to get up and feed it frequently. What i tend to do is put the waste wood in boxes and the wax paper bread bags and just feed the fire with them.
I've heard and tried the wax method but I have to admit the sugar is a new one on me. There's only my wife in the house who drinks the occasional coffee so we don't get the grounds and what few I have managed to get have gone on the compost heap. I would have thought just mixing in in with the paper would be fine.

[Vitamin c]

Please don't take this the wrong way but surely you can go to you local industrial estate and find company's who have scrap wood off cuts or wood chip it takes a little getting used to but with a old blanket to protect you boot it's easy and your soon develop a eye for suitable stuff

Eventually you find the right place a be able to return time after time.

Good luck.

[jansman]

It’s always interesting to hear what people burn to keep warm. I’ve always balanced it with the attitude of how much energy in and how much energy out? I probably spend more time than I should processing firewood .However, it’s free,and given how fuel is going…

Saying that though, during my furlough ( oh happy days! ) I built a new coal bunker.I had a LOT of coal dust / slack. The old boy two doors down used to mix six parts coal dust,one part sawdust,and half a part cement. Mix it dry,then add water so was just the dry side of wet. He used a 3” plant pot as a mould. I did the same.Packed the mix into the plant pot,then turned it out onto a flat surface to dry. They worked well,and it used up a resource I had already purchased by weight.

[grenfell]

I remember my father making them and telling me when the local pits were open they made and sold them too . He called them coal bricks which I assumed at the time meant they were brick sized but in retrospect that seems a bit large. Father would use all sorts of containers from cardboard boxes to plastic drink cups.

[daylen]

Please don't take this the wrong way but surely you can go to you local industrial estate and find company's who have scrap wood off cuts or wood chip it takes a little getting used to but with a old blanket to protect you boot it's easy and your soon develop a eye for suitable stuff

Eventually you find the right place a be able to return time after time.

Good luck.

Nothing taken the wrong way at all . I live in central Sheffield and most of the places that have scrap wood, sell it. I can get it cheap, but not free. And for every place that is giving it away free, there'll be 1,000 people after it!

However, I can get free supplies of newspaper, sawdust/shavings, and used coffee grounds. If I can turn those into usable fuel for a bit of effort, then I'll happily do that

As for the coal dust, I've seen that before but hadn't thought about it. I do know several people who use coal a lot and so will ask what they do with the dust/bits.

[Arzosah]

daylen, how about used oil from takeaway shops? It doesn't set like wax does, but it sure is flammable!

[grenfell]

I live in central Sheffield and most of the places that have scrap wood, sell it. I can get it cheap, but not free. And for every place that is giving it away free, there'll be 1,000 people after it!

However, I can get free supplies of newspaper, sawdust/shavings, and used coffee grounds. If I can turn those into usable fuel for a bit of effort, then I'll happily do that

As for the coal dust, I've seen that before but hadn't thought about it. I do know several people who use coal a lot and so will ask what they do with the dust/bits.

Puts a slightly different light on it. Case of needs must . If you can get the materials for free then it wouldn't make sense to lose that advantage by buying wax and whatever especially if you are working to a budget. I'd say to try a bit of experimentation. Try making small coffee logs without the wax and sugar and see how they burn. You may even be able to substitute the coal dust with coffee and add a bit of cement to bind it together. A bag of cement is less than a fiver and would make an awful lot of bricks. If there is any building work going on near you it's possible there may even be a part bag in the skip.
As I mentioned I don't come into contact with coffee grounds very often so have little experience but thought I'd google uses for.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/us ... TLE_HDR_19
A few ideas there although I'm not sure of using them to deodourise a fridge sounds a good idea as I find that coffee in a fridge makes it smell of , well , coffee.
If you do try please let us know how it works out.

[jansman]

I remember my father making them and telling me when the local pits were open they made and sold them too . He called them coal bricks which I assumed at the time meant they were brick sized but in retrospect that seems a bit large. Father would use all sorts of containers from cardboard boxes to plastic drink cups.

Must be an age thing!

[rik_uk3]

My parents had a paper log maker back in the 60's and it was a lot of effort for not a lot of heat. I got one myself around 05, same result:(

If you have one plus time on your hands it would be something to do but don't expect much from the 'logs'