I’ll have to try that. I still have muffin liner paper cups left over, and I bought Dixie cups, but now I need dry sawdust from non treated lumber or, preferably, shredded paper. (Right now the only sawdust we have is from treated lumber.) I just bought another 10 pound block of wax at Hobby Lobby. It’s only $15 with their 40% off coupon. That’s cheaper than I could buy old/used candles at the local thrift stores here.
I’m imagining using a Crock Pot to melt wax and keep adding paper shreds until it barely holds together then doling them out with a cookie scoop... Purely theoretical at this point.
That might work if you keep it on low. Just never melt the wax directly on a burner or woodstove. Ideally, always use a double boiler to melt the wax.
I guess since this thread has been revived I should make some more of my own. I've got the wax, shredded paper, cardboard egg cartons, old fry pan....... now where did I leave that sawdust?
I imagined that process also but i couldn't figure the ratio of wax to wood shavings and how i would know how to deal with the mixture. I thought about just spreading the mixture out on a baking sheet and then cutting it into squares but wax is hard and wood shavings wouldn't cut easy. So, individual paper cups keep it simple.
Now that the weather is a bit colder I find I can get the stove going in the morning without a firestarter. Save the firestarters for fall and spring when you are doing a lot of relights.
Masonry heaters are a different beast. Build 1, 2, or 3 fires a day and let them burn out. The goal is to burn the wood to coals then close the system and let the heat soak into the thermal mass. My stone stays between 120 and 145 degrees F around the clock right now burning about 50 pounds of wood in a single fire every day. For me, there’s always a need for firestarters and a huge incentive to come up with an inexpensive one that can replace paper and kindling.
I’ve used 1/4 of a Supercedar in the Jotul F118CB the past two mornings. Could probably get by with 1/8. These really are the standard to beat. Ordered a new shredder this week. Hope to try a batch of paper shred & paraffin starters soon. I also used two 1/4 pieces to get my ceramic grill going the other night. Way easier than the Harbor Freight heat gun.
Finally got around to a prototype with some shredded paper and old candles. The paper didn’t “clump” at all like I thought it would. I ended up trying to scoop the mass onto some squares of paper but once it hardened it was still very loose. I also grabbed a couple Dixie cups and added a scoop to them. I had plenty left so I tried the muffin tin liners with what was left. I burned one on a bed of ash in the firebox and it lasted a little over 9 minutes. Flames were strong only for the first few minutes. At this point these could probably replace paper but not paper and kindling. I’ll burn ‘em up and see what needs to be tweaked. I’m thinking they need to be compressed somehow...
I used a second muffin pan on top since the pattern is a perfect match. Then a 3/4” chunk of board and some quick clamps. A couple of bricks in place of the clamps was easier and offered mor even compression. overall- much firm cupcake fire starters that could actually be split in half.
Tried compressing the waxed paper shreds into a billet via 2” PVC conduit. SPECTACULAR failure. The loading and packing process went well but the wax seized up in the tube resulting in... confetti. I may give that method another try with some type of lubricant in the tube (thinking lamp oil).
The Dixie cup method is my favorite by far. Discovered it helps to let the wax cool a bit to help the paper pack a little tighter. I think this is scalable.
