Fire Blocks are my Doughnuts

Having made the twisted fire-starters from a previous post, I decided to do some experiments on the production of some fire-blocks. These are great for putting with a fire-starter together with whatever fuel you are using (coal, charcoal, wood). Once again, I am working on making use of recycled materials.

For this project I used:

• Cardboard egg cartons
• Loo roll inner tubes
• Newspaper
• Lids from takeaway coffee cup for a mould
• Bottom of takeaway coffee cup for a mould
• Bowl for soaking

The following photos will lead you through the process with a conclusion at the end. During my experiments I wanted to make the briquettes or blocks as similar to a doughnut shape as possible.

STEP ONE

Put some water into a bowl and shred your card/paper material into the water (the water will cover the shreds). Leave to soak for at least half an hour so that the paper becomes soaked and squeezable.

STEP TWO

(This is the fun part!) Take some of the soaked paper/card and squeeze it into the moulds, pressing as much water out while squeezing into the mould. Then leave this to dry on a windowsill. Depending on temperatures, this could take 2 days to a week to dry. Have patience!

STEP THREE

Once the doughnut blocks are completely dry, carefully take them out of the moulds by pressing the bottom of the coffee cup lid or bottom of the cup cut away mould. You should then have a lovely dry fire-block.

TIP

You will find that the plastic coffee cup lids and the coffee cup bottom moulds will last for some-time as your moulds.

NOW FOR THE RESULTS

Let me know how your doughnut block turns out.

PS I am not sure whether it is worth making the newspaper version, but prove me wrong!