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Friday, February 20, 2009

Home Made Fire Starter

Vthompson asked in a thread if anybody made fire starters from sawdust and wax. So, here's a batch I made today.

Here are some home made fire starters. They are simple to make and work very well. There are similar commercial ones available, but if you would rather make your own…

The materials I used were sawdust, dryer lint, wax, cardboard egg carton. You will also need a way to melt your wax. I prefer to use a double boiler method and a little camp stove. Some people like to use the microwave, but in order to maintain marital bliss I am relegated to my work shop.





I use a large block of wax that I have, but if you save wax from your candles that works great. Do not heat the wax directly over your stove. The double boiler method will keep you from burning down your house, garage, work shop, etc.





After you pour some wax in the molds stir it up a bit and then tamp it down. Note that on the open section of the carton I just poured wax on a large pile of saw dust.



When you cut the egg carton to separate the fire starters, leave the cup in tact and leave an edge that can be used as a wick (makes lighting easier). For the larger block, just cut them to the size you want. Experiment with it so you will have an idea on how long they will burn. Depending on how tightly you pack them it will change the burn time.



Here I have lit the edge of one of the egg cups and the corner of one of the pieces I cut from the block.



At five minutes.



At 15 minutes.



At 25 minutes.



The smaller piece went out shortly after this pic was taken. The larger piece went out at about 37 minutes. In damp conditions that should be long enough to get your fire going. Or you could use one to heat water if you were making a quick stop and wanted some coffee.

Original: http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?t=5859

2 comments:

  1. the only one I seen with time based pictures so far nice job give u an A

    ReplyDelete
  2. Is any particular was best. Do you know if old crayons melted down would work?

    ReplyDelete