Seeing that thread about everyone's hunting camps made me think about a project my dad put me onto. So, my 4 year old and I went to it this evening.
You will need: cardboard egg carton, candle making wax (parrafin type), and saw dust or wood chips or shavings of some sort.
So, what you need to do is get a pan ***Not one of your wife's good ones*** and melt the wax you got at the grocery store in it.
(http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae71/gudspelr/Homemade%20firestarters/MeltingWax.jpg)
While you got that going, go ahead and put your wood stuff into the egg carton. I used some of my hickory chips for my smoker-took out the big chunks and put enough in to cover the bottom plus just a bit more.
(http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae71/gudspelr/Homemade%20firestarters/Chipsin6Egger.jpg)
Then, once the wax was all melted, I used a plastic measuring cup to pour the wax into the egg carton.
(http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae71/gudspelr/Homemade%20firestarters/Pouring.jpg)
Now one thing I sadly didn't think about beforehand was the likelyhood of the cardboard getting saturated and wax leaking out.
(http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae71/gudspelr/Homemade%20firestarters/Oops.jpg)
Thankfully we have one of those glass top stoves, so I just scraped off the wax and tossed it back in the pan to melt again.
More in a minute....
Since I'd made a pretty decent mess with the 18 egg carton, I decided I should quickly get the wax paper out and put both cartons on some of that. Once they were all poured up, I took them out to the garage and put them on the cool concrete to harden.
(http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae71/gudspelr/Homemade%20firestarters/Needtorefill.jpg)
You can see in the above picture that the wood and cardboard soak up some of the wax; the six on the right needed to be refilled. I took the cartons off the wax paper after they'd hardened up enough and found out where more of the wax had gone...
(http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae71/gudspelr/Homemade%20firestarters/Leakage.jpg)
But, I just took off the extra wax and after melting it again, filled the low ones back up. Now comes the fun part. Once sufficiently hardened, I cut off one of the little buggers.
(http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae71/gudspelr/Homemade%20firestarters/CutthemApart.jpg)
I trimmed most of the excess cardboard off the top, leaving a short lip, then took it to the back yard.
(http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae71/gudspelr/Homemade%20firestarters/Fire.jpg)
Darned near shocked me how well it burned. After about a minute, the green grass appeared as if it may cause the fire department to be called, so I hosed it off. Here's how it looked after.
(http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae71/gudspelr/Homemade%20firestarters/AfteraShortBurn.jpg)
So, there you have it. Whole thing took me 15 or 20 minutes-would've been shorter if I hadn't messed up a few times... I'm thinking next time I do it, I might put a small amount in each spot to harden first, maybe lessening the leakage? I'm also assuming that if you use saw dust, it'd probably soak up that wax really well. Either way, they look like they'll be good and handy to throw in the pack. :campfire:
I'll eventually have to try this.
I think I'll try to use some of those ridiculously handy, and now hard to find, 35mm film canisters!
(Do you think the carton on the outside of the wax is needed? If so, that'll ruin my 35mm plans.)
Soilarch-
I'm not sure, to be honest. I know the cardboard was what lit on fire first-one of the reasons I used this kind instead of the styrofoam egg cartons. Didn't think that plasticky smoke would be all that great. Also, I did notice when pouring the wax (I tried to do it right when it melted) that by the end, it started bubbling and sizzling a bit when it hit the wood/carton-I think because it was getting kinda hot in the pan? Not sure how a plastic type container would do with the wax at that temp... All that said, this was my first run at it-you might have great luck with a different container.
The egg carton material acts like a kind of wick, I'd use that instead of film canisters. Unless... you were able to find some really green minded company making cardboard film canisters :D
If I may make a suggestion, use a double boiler to melt the wax. That sort of wax is pretty flammible and using a double boiler will forestall any potential flames on the stovetop. That would be even more difficult to explain than the spilled wax on the counter top.
Also, if you don't have sawdust, dryer lint will work, too.
Guy
We used to use the pine shavings for hampster bedding and small paper cups.
gudspeir, that is a great pictorial.... i have made those and they work fine .....but i tried a another DIY firestarter that is way ,way less labor intensive and easier to start: rub a cotton ball in vaseline then store that in a little square piece of al. floil. starts with one strike of the magnesium and burns long time .the wax ones work fine but these fast and easy. good thread.
The shave'ns from a pencil sharpener or your arrow taper tool will work also. I also use cotton balls and vasaline.
I've been making those for years! They work great! I use dryer lint for the matrix in the egg cartons instead of wood chips...
Thanks for sharing!
Very nice- good ideas here.
:thumbsup: :campfire:
Old crayons work great to if you dont have wax
you can also shave the wax or crayons and put them in the carton then put it in the microwave for a few seconds
an old cheese grater works great
dryer lint
Good show, Thats how my Boy-Scout do it.
I have found that a Bic lighter works really well also. :bigsmyl:
9 volt battery and steel wool.
kuch has it: vaseline on a cotton ball--I put 3-4 of them in an old pill bottle. One strike from a magnesium firestarter and you have a flame for several minutes, long enough to get some sticks and twigs going and work up to bigger stuff!
FRITOS are my favorite fire starter,And I have talked dirty to my tinder and got it hot.I got a lot of charm...LOL
If you want a mold other than the egg carton try using the plastic easter egg halfs. We all should have access to some in acouple of days. I do prefer the cotton ball or dryer lint with vasiline because it's more compact.
Duct tape ripped into narrow strips burns readily. Is there anything you can't fix with duct tape?
Take the rolls from the inside of TP. Fill with cotton balls or dryer lint. I usually tape one of the ends. Heat the wax and pour into the TP rolls. Let cool and then cut into discs. Just another variation but works just as well. Good post. Thanks for sharing. Good pictorial.
Great idea, will make some with my kids this weekend.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :campfire:
Thanks guys-some other great ideas, too. That's what I love about his site, always learning something.
Another trick with the vaseline and cotton ball starter is to cut McDonalds Straws into two inch lengths and stuff with the saturated cotton balls. Seal them by holding the end with needle-nosed pliers over candle or stove to melt the ends closed. To use, split the straw and picks out some of the cotton. These will burn for several minutes.it is also easy to carry a handful of these in your pack.
I carry a small canister of char-cloth made from old t-shirts. Char cloth works excellent to catch a spark from my flint. I also carry cotton balls/vaseline, and i keep a small candle on hand as well. I prefer to keep several easy and light wieght methods to make fire, so I never have to depend on one means to get one going.
I wonder, with this method picture, if adding some small strips or pieces of birch bark into the paraffin along with the woods chips would work to get it good and hot? Gonna have to try it.