Paper brick maker

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Draygor
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Paper brick maker

Post by Draygor »

Hi everyone,

By about August of this year, I will be selling my Edwardian fireplace and grate (not in use), and fitting a wood burner in its place. I have had the fireplace valued, and this will practically offset the cost of the wood burner/boiler. I am going to choose a wood burner/boiler that will heat enough water to run the appropriate number of rads in my house.
To be even more self sufficient in this area, I don't just want to go collecting firewood (although I will do this as well), I want to recycle all our junk mail and newspapers etc.

I have 2 questions: How much paper does each brick take to make approximately, and how long can I expect each to burn for?

many thanks
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Brakersway
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Re: Paper brick maker

Post by Brakersway »

They are hard questions to answer.
How much paper,,,,,,,, Genuinely depends on the quality of the paper and what size your brick maker is.
How long they burn for is also highly subject to the previous answer.

The best way to look at it is, that it is free, green and effective. They will burn for however long they fancy, depending on how many are burning at once, and you will get as many as you can be bothered to make.

Tip for old phone books and catalogues. Leave them to soak whole over night, roll them and tie them with string. When they have dried, they are great as is, and saves a lot of tearing and squashing etc.

Most of our waste paper and cardboard just gets stuck in an old water butt in the garage along with quarter of a bottle of bleach. We stir it occasionally too. When I have a free afternoon etc, I go out and squash a load into large old dog food tins with a sash cramp and some metal discs I cut out to fit. We usually end up with around 40 or so for an afternoons work.

I used to just tip it out onto a large hydraulic press at work, then chop up the resulting behemoth block on the circular saw, into more manageable pieces.
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manda
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Re: Paper brick maker

Post by manda »

I can only say what our experience is....I get all the shredded papaer from work (pre shredded for me - kind eh?). We fill one of those plastic bins with paper and soak it for a few days till it goes mushy and out of that we get 13 bricks (hubby counted) - we mix them in with wood and they burn with little mess as for time could't really tell you that as we haven't burnt them on their own sorry.
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Badmonkey
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Re: Paper brick maker

Post by Badmonkey »

I got one of the paper log makers while ago and on average it takes about 1 newspapers to make one brick, but then again it depends what size newspaper you use in first place, having said that I have friends and family now shredding newspapers and their old bills, etc for me )t' . I mix my paper in one of those bendy builders type buckets and when its full I get approx 8 bricks.
The main problem I have found though is the length of time it takes for them to really dry out.. much longer than the manufacturers of the paper log maker actually state!!!. As for burning time again as an average 30-45 mins per brick depending on if you leave your fire dampers open - more oxygen flow - faster the burn, simple really :? If I were you crack on now with the brick production if you want them dry and ready for winter >gl<
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Richard
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Re: Paper brick maker

Post by Richard »

Hi there,

This may help a bit......

[center][youtube]<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PVGUui9XdgI&hl=en_GB&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PVGUui9XdgI&hl=en_GB&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>[/youtube][/center]

From.... http://www.downthelane.net/eco-log-maker.php


Richard )t'
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newto
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Re: Paper brick maker

Post by newto »

Lots of questions.........

Why the bleach?

Can you use any paper? ( ie glossy magazines etc....?)

there´s talk of mixing sawdust..... but how small. ie can wood chips be used.?


Vey informative video Richard, and that led me on to ther u tube videos, some about making one´s own charcoal, from agricultural waste...... might try that.as I have a metal oil drum, and agricultural waste wont be aproblem,anyone tried it?

Also I have some containers with coal slag...... doesnt burn well at all, ......but I was wondering if i broke that down to samller bits, could I incorporate that in some briquttes?

Also I dont have a paper log maker, so am going to see wahtsortof heath robinson contaaption I might be able to make from waht i do have!

The only thing that will NOT be a problem , is drying them!
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Richard
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Re: Paper brick maker

Post by Richard »

Hi,

Good idea with the Heath Robinson, the only thing to make sure about is to get as much water out of the block or it takes ages to dry.

The bleach has some chemical reaction, but we're talking a very tiny amount like a couple of spoonfuls.
One comment on youtube (which I didn't delete) was that I am endangering peoples lifes with the bleach, but this simply helps to break the paper up a bit quicker and any bleach would soon evaporate out anyway.
I don't use bleach myself.

You can use glossy paper, but I would tear it up into very small pieces as it obviously takes longer to break up.

The only thing about the paper log make is that you need access to lots of paper. I'm lucky as I bring home newspapers from cricket so build up a fair store. You're probably looking at 2 / 3 newspapers for one brick.

It is quite a lot of work making these, it really depends where one stands on frugality and recycling for environmental purposes.

I saw the video on using leaves which looked interesting and may try that when I have time.

Richard )t'
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Re: Paper brick maker

Post by newto »

Thanks for that Richard

I was wondering about the bleach, mainly so as to be able to re-use the water, maybe on the garden.
access to paper and cardboard is not really a problem. I dont have as much left as I did ( worked for a newspaper a while back), but can collect quite a bit.

I also thought of using theempty milk cartons, soak them seperately and remove the metallic liners, before adding to the mix.

Apart from the drying time, which with the high temps here shouldnt be a problem, is there any other concern for the size of the "logs"?

I got hold of avery large plastic container some while back, so will start bunging paper etc in that, though I´ll have to cut the lid off first.!
Then I´ll work out and experiment for the "press" !
A freiend did say she was going to be lent a log maker, but that hasnt happened !
At the present I,m thinking drainpipe, car jacks, and anything weighty!

trial and error on that score. If I come up with anything useful I´ll let you all know!
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Richard
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Re: Paper brick maker

Post by Richard »

Hi,

Sounds interesting, I for one would be very keen to hear of your progress - any new idea has to be good (as long as it works of course!!!!!).

I'd make the logs the size of a house brick, same as the log maker, any bigger may have a drying problem. Even in a Greenhouse they take a week or so to dry out.

Richard )t'
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LittleBrownFrog

Re: Paper brick maker

Post by LittleBrownFrog »

I don't use bleach, and I normally just chuck the pulpy residual water into the compost.
SouthernDave

Re: Paper brick maker

Post by SouthernDave »

Just to add to this thread....

I ran a very un-scientific experiement on this last year. I made bricks of differing materials and found that:

Newspaper Only Bricks - Made as per manufacturers instructions that came with the brick maker burned best to almost no ash and with good heat, dried quickly from pulp and gave off good heat.

Brown Cardboard Bricks - After lengthy soaking made super bricks but sadly didn't burn as well although looked like they should, left more ash and took and age to dry out.

Newspaper/Card 50-50 Mix - Burned better but the different pulps hard to get to stick together properly and took a while to dry out.

Shredded Confidential Waste - Made a dense block that looked great but burned badly. Long time to dry out too.

Mixed Blocks of All The Above - Burned okay, lots of ash and an age to dry out.

I did not try leaves. I dont thin the milk cartons are a good idea as they are plastic or wax coated and this may release toxic or noxious fumes if burned in an enclosed space..... :?

In short, just stick to newspaper and put the rest on the compost!! )t'
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Richard
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Re: Paper brick maker

Post by Richard »

That's very interesting and informative SouthernDave.

I found my newspaper logs burnt slowly in the Rayburn for about and hour, sometimes more.

I do confess to putting 'neat' thick silver foil waste (if I have any which is not often) at the back of the Rayburn to reflect the heat more.

I'm sure there are many new laws on Rayburn do's and don'ts, but I'm still here to write this post!!

Richard )t'
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Re: Paper brick maker

Post by newto »

well.........

I started shredding paper, cardboard etc.......
and also used a cross cut shredder.
I got lent a paper log maker...exactly as in your video Richard.........

Didnt like it at all.very hard to use and compress the stuff enough.had to resort to standing on it!

also I found that several "logs" came apart as they dried, so I tried larger bits of paper....some still fell apart.
Then I put 2 unsoaked sheets into the machine, before putting the soaked bits in, and wrapped it all up.

Better.they didnt fall apart

Unfortunately I found this back breaking work, as the only container suitable for soaking is rather tall.

I tried with and without bleach......... no real difference
either way , the mess stank to high heaven after more than a few hours.

My idea then was to do it some oher way.

I got hold of some heavy plastic drainpipe type stuff ( assorted sizes and lengths from the local tip)

cut it to useable lengths (between 8 & 12 " best depending on diameter)

drilled loads of small ( tiny ) holes in them
needs LOTS at bottom and top, and several on the rest. The more holes the better, but not too many to compromise the strength of pipe.

I mush the paper / cardboard down , using drill and plaster mixing attachment
( the longer the paper /cardboard is soaked , and the smaller the pieces, the less electricity needed)
Then I just pour the resulting sludge into the tubes, and let it settle. Lots of water comes out, then I add more and repeat process.
Then I compress it by hand, just using my fists and body weight, and keep repeating the process till the tube is full.

Leave to dry .in tube
this takes several days. Eventually it contracts away from the sides enough just to be shaken out , or a little helpful shove from one end, then more drying.

I personally found this a lot easier than with the log maker. the drawback of course is that the "logs" occupy the pipes for quite some time......... but I just keep finding more odd bits at the tip.

I have also incorporated almond shells in these... ( not too many at at time or the log splits into sections when taken from tube) and have some orange peel drying for next batch, and will also put some eucalyptus leaves in, (when I can get to where the trees are)....albeit that as will probably only use the log burner , the scent wont really be noticeable.

I was planning to add something to make the compressing easier/ quicker
but decided against it as I have assorted lengths and diameters, and this process has been working fine.

The logs seem to be burning ok............
but I am using a mix of my logs, real wood, both logs and odd bits from pallets etc, so hard to quantify how well they work.

They burn....they give heat............... ergo....good result!


I will keep on doing this.or at least until I use up all my stock of paper, cardboard, old magazines etc.....but to be honest............ for the time and effort
needed I´d ratherhave gone wooding, but that was not possible due to no transport ! having said that....I do have a batch soaking.to be done tomorrow!
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Re: Paper brick maker

Post by chickenbrain2009 »

)hlp> I have one of these but have never been able to produce a decent brick. I have tried leaving the newspaper to soak etc. I end up with two main problems, the bricks tend to fall apart and they dont burn well, I just get a blue flame with little heat, where do I go wrong ?
Pam
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Re: Paper brick maker

Post by newto »

Hi Pam , and welcome to the site!

Im afrraid I cant help' re the heat output or blue flame.but

as far as them falling apart... I found thta too, so before putting the soaked paper in..put in 2 sheeta of unsoaked paper, then fiñll it with the soaked stuff, and wrap the sheets over it then compress.... they dont fall apart then....
kind of like an envelope round the mush!

maybe someone else can help re the blue flame or heat outputt, but then again..any heat is better than none!

I must say though that from the few fires I have lit so far, I seem to get a longer burn , and more heat from my round ones, done in old drain pipes....
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