Turn newspapers & junk mail back into logs

Step 9 Final thoughts

A final note, I advise you be somewhat selective about the kind of paper you use. Some paper like those found in magazines are coated. If this paper is burned it tends to put out a thick black smoke. I don't know what it is that the paper is coated in, but I suspect it's something to do with plastic. This would be bad for the environment, so please recycle this kind of paper.

The best kind of paper to use would be newspapers, and credit card bills(after you've paid them of course)

Below is a shot of the log dried out. An unfortunate side effect is sometimes the paper log will grow a little mold on it while it's drying. This can be seen on the side of the roll. If this kind of thing bothers you, then you should probably stand the roll on a suspended wire mesh, or chicken wire so that it can dry without sitting in a puddle.

Comments

[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

[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.