Turn newspapers & junk mail back into logs

With todays focus on saving money, more people are turning to wood, pellet and corn stoves to heat their houses. What if instead of harassing the receiving dept's of companies with their own junk mail, or recycling your newspapers, you use them for inexpensive heating in your wood stove. Mind you I have no problem with recycling, but given the option of recycling, or keeping my family warm, I choose the later, hopefully you understand.
It's mid-spring right now, and it's the perfect time to start this project as it does take some time before the logs can be used in a wood stove for the winter. We use this method for camping every year, and it saves us the trouble of finding fire wood, or money by not having to buy precut pre-dried fire wood. The benefit is that it's virtually free, provided you value your time at zero.

Step 1 What you will need:

Huge stack of news papers, and junk mail
Large container for water
Cotton string or twine
Water
And some spare time

Comments

[shannonlove]

This is good instructable but users need to be aware that many jurisdictions outlaw the burning of paper in fireplaces.

Burning paper, especially newsprint, produces a flaky ash that is easily lofted by the fire up and out of the chimney. Supposedly, the ash poises a fire hazard but I think the real objection is aesthetic . The flake ash falls like snow and since it's nothing but fine carbon it creates a black smear on everything it comes in contact with. If enough people in a neighborhood burn paper, it can create quite a mess for people fussy enough about such things.

[trailleadr]

Good point about the ash. I was unaware of any regulation regarding burning of paper. Thanks for the input. :)

[shannonlove]

If you need to speed drying, I would suggest putting them in front of your dryer exhaust. Warm moving air, even moist air from drying clothes, will speed the drying process. If you were in a hurry, you could build a little cardboard box and then just run the dryer with no load so you would get dry warm air.

Of course, you would need to pay attention to the process to guard against fire danger.

[Zex_Suik]

This is great, thanks for the idea. I was looking for some way of making logs from paper and such. The only similar solution I found was to make biofuel pellets

[lukeyj15]

What about drying them in a very low oven overnight?

[BonifaceJ]

If you had a hole in the middle and were tying them with twine, then why not run a string through and hang them outside to dry on the porch or in the garage overnight to save on the energy bills? 

[trailleadr]

If you were looking for a fast way to dry them this would probably do the trick.

I probably wouldn't do it simply because I'm looking to save money where I can, and using an oven would undoubtedly add to my overall bills.  Since it would use either electricity or some form of fuel.  This is why I do it throughout the year.  there's usually a lot of drying time between making them and using them.

[junits15]

you'd have to be extra careful that they dont burn, maybe set the oven to proofing (100F)

[sgsidekick]

I actually rolled newspaper on a broomstick I had wrapped with saran wrap.  I went to the home repair store (aka Lowe's) and picked up a cheap screen for an RV that slides into itself (i.e. collapses)  I extended the slide and placed it on the edges of 2 kitchen chairs placed next to a floor heater vent, then placed my logs on the screen.  I had no mold!  I also think the center hole helped the faux logs burn better.

[trailleadr]

that's a good thought.  Not something I had considered with the hole.  Nice!

[vardamanj]

Just a thought to add, I took "wood" glue and dissolved it in a jar, then added it to my 7 gal bucket half full of water. soak paper and roll as stated before. I just thought adding a little glue will help hold everthing together. I have a roll drying now and I will post results later. Anyone else tried anything simular?

[Evilrick]

A friend of mine had a roller just for rolling newspaper logs, don't know where he got it or if something like it can still be found, but this idea has been around for awhile and is still a good use for old paper. 

[TFElite]

Would it be bad to dry these out with a normal hair dryer?

[trailleadr]

I don't think it would be bad, but I think it would take an excessively long time to dry them with a hair dryer.  But then it really would depend on how thick they are.  Using a hair dryer with a high temp safe enclosure would speed up the process.  

[Seth Black]

Pretty cool idea.  I like this instructable a great deal.

Suggestion:
 
Instead of plain water, try using a diluted wheat paste solution.  This will act as a bonding agent, and allow for a stronger and more compact paper log.

Essentially, they would be paper mache, would require no string to bind them, would become more dense, and would be much less likely to fall apart during the burning process, which would mean longer burn time.

A tad more mess, but definitely worth the extra effort in the long term benefits. 

[trailleadr]

Nice idea.  I was looking at it in a fast food kind of way(Quick and done).  But I agree the extra step would be well worth the time.
I'll have to give that a shot this next spring.  In the mean time it's time to collect papers. 

[Seth Black]

I'm glad that you like the paper mache concept. 

Please do post an update with results, should you give it a try.  I'm sure many would find it an interesting experiment to follow.

I'd give it a whirl myself, but my current living arrangements really don't allow the space I'd need or an area to burn the logs. ;)

[shuston318]

How long would you say an average sized (like the one you show) paper log would burn? Is it comparable to a wood log as far as burning time due to the density of the roll? Pretty cool though either way, since we are all trying to reuse instead of throw out.

[trailleadr]

My apologies for not getting back sooner. That particular one burned for about 10 minutes. Some additional info on that one, it's diameter was roughly 2-1/2 inches. It was by no means a full sized one. They usually are about 4inches in dia, and will burn about 20-40 min depending how tight it was rolled. The real thing (wood log) is far more efficient as it is certainly a lot more dense than a paper log. I estimate time from the time they start to burn to the time that it falls apart into little ember chunks.

[shuston318]

Not a problem. Thank you for all of the info. If rolled tight / large enough it still makes sense to at least use one or two with wood logs, keeps the papers out of the landfill. Great instructable. Thank you again.