Fire starter question

[rajncajn]

I received a package in the mail recently that was stuffed with a large amount of finely shredded brown paper bag material. As soon as I saw it, the wheels started turning on how I wanted to turn it into fire starters. I've tried the Vaseline & cotton ball one, which works great, but it's pretty messy. I've also tried the dryer lint starters, but didn't consider that we have a dog that sheds quite a bit and burning dog hair doesn't smell so nice. For these I believe I'm going to get some paper cupcake liners, some paraffin wax and make some starter discs.

I have a few questions before I get started. I'm considering possibly soaking the paper in citronella and letting it dry before making the discs with it. It will both add a fuel to help ignite & burn as well as a much nicer odor than the burning dog hair. I don't want to add it to the paraffin because I don't know how well the oil will mix with the wax. I also think it may make it burn too quickly if it's overloaded with the oil. I was wondering if anybody else has tried adding an oil like this to their fire starters & what kind of success/failure you've had and also wanted to know if there were any other additives that you recommend putting in the starters such as sawdust or dry cotton for various effects. If any of you have tried this method too, I'd like to know if you have any tips for making the discs such as wax-to-paper ratio, is it better to just let everything settle into shape or better to use something to compress them into more of a disc shape?

[MacGyver]

Re: Fire starter question

Never added oil to fire starters, but I do think you'll want to compress anything you're putting together. The more compact your base material is, the longer it's burn. If you just put your paper in loosely, your starters will be mostly wax and will melt apart too quickly. You won't get as much concentrated flame that way.

[rajncajn]

Re: Fire starter question

Never added oil to fire starters, but I do think you'll want to compress anything you're putting together. The more compact your base material is, the longer it's burn. If you just put your paper in loosely, your starters will be mostly wax and will melt apart too quickly. You won't get as much concentrated flame that way.

Good point. I've seen a couple of videos where they just basically poured the wax over a pile of shredded paper and then, once dried, they could break off chunks to use. But it didn't look like the burn rate was very good using that method. I also prefer having something that is conformed to a shape that I can store compactly. I've already got a nice tin that I'm going to keep them in. I was thinking maybe about packing them about 1" thick and then folding the remaining paper from the cup in to make a sort of wick. Maybe even stick a match in it for easy lighting. Another idea I had while looking around the web is to top them off with some magnesium metal shavings right after I've poured the wax. Then they could be started with a flint & steel rather than a lighter. The paper cup would also act as a catch for the sparks. Might make them burn too fast though and may be more trouble than it's worth.

[MacGyver]

Re: Fire starter question

Just look at it as experimentation in pyromania. Play around with different combinations and see what works best. And be sure to report your findings!

[Moss]

Re: Fire starter question

I visited a private campground that gave out a homemade firestarter at check in. It came in about a 2 Oz. wax cup, filled with cedar shavings, they type sold in a pet store, shavings were soaked in some sort of citronella oil, then the top had a thin layer of wax with more shavings sprinkled on it, and a candle wick like a fuse on a firecracker. It worked but we had kiln dried wood that I had processed down to about pencil size to start the fire.

I made my own fire starters one time, I used the cardboard holder/carriers you get from fast food restaurants to carry 4 drinks. I cut it into quarters, so one cup holder. Filled the bottom of the cup with shredded newspaper, put a wad of lint about the size of a golf ball in the middle of the cup, soaked that in melted candle wax from the dollar store, I made 5 tubes about the size of your finger out of newspaper and then added them like building a tipi fire of the wad of wax, then drizzled the entire thing with more wax. If I ever build one again, I will time how long it burns for it worked well for me.

Experimenting with fire starters is a blast, I always buy a fire starter I have never tried before to test it. I just picked up a "Zippo" fire starter it looks like a hockey puck of sawdust. :cool:

[Mike]

Re: Fire starter question

The fire starters you buy at the camp store are so cheap and effective that it is hard for me to justify making them except for the shear fun of it. Once you start buying materials, the economic advantage is lost.

Remember to ask churches for old candles. Our old church tossed out over 150 lbs of old Baptism and Easter and Christmas candles: enough for several lifetimes of fire starter

Two more hints:

1). use more fill and less was for a better burn
2). Create a wick by dipping a cotton ball in the wax and twisting the waxed cotton ball into a cone shape, then stick it onto the fire started mold with the other materials

[MacGyver]

Re: Fire starter question

The best homemade firestarters I ever made were sawdust and wax poured into cardboard egg crates. I have a woodshop and I buy my eggs in cardboard cartons, so those two parts are easy to come by for me. I also happen to have a friend who is a candle fanatic, so I can get wax on a fairly regular basis, too. I like the egg crate idea because they're already sectioned off - you just break off what you need. I haven't made any in years though. I bought a case of Trioxane, the military firestarter about 15 years ago and, even after selling dozens on craigslist, I still have hundreds of packets left. That stuff is great. Small, compact and starts even pouring rain.