there should be a simple process/kit to turn junk mail into the shape of a fire log to burn in the fireplace. paper is dense and a paper log could burn as long and hot as wood. a year of junk mail could probably provide a winter of fuel. simply rolling it up doesnt work. it doesnt burn well. maybe it needs to be packed together differently, or soaked in something.
-- gnormal, Nov 15 2002

(?) Log maker http://www.ecozone....Eco_Gadgets_23.html
Don't worry [8/7] - I've found it. That makes this idea baked, I guess. To add a new halfbaked element [gnormal] might have to propose a log maker which made logs out of waste paper that actually looked like real logs... or something [hippo, Oct 04 2004]

(?) mail sorter Inquisition_20mail_20Sorter
also worth investigating. [ye_river_xiv, May 24 2009]

AKA paper log maker http://www.paperlogmaker.co.uk/
Because Hippo's link didn't work for me. [ye_river_xiv, Feb 03 2010]

Rolling candle stubs in paper and tying with wire works pretty well.
-- FarmerJohn, Nov 15 2002


Baked. We have one. In the UK you can buy a "log press" from places like garden centres, and also mail order. You put your junk mail and/or newspapers into a tank of water and get them nice and soggy. Take the resulting pulp and dump it into the press. Push the levers down hard, and it squidges out a load of greyish, yucky water. Open the press and remove the "brick" which is by then surprisingly solid.

Leave to dry for about a month, under cover. They light fairly easily and burn steadily (and hot ! - but slower than wood), leaving a light, fluffy ash. The presses cost about GBP £20 -£25. You can produce about 30 bricks an hour if you have enough scrap paper. We will try to find a link.
-- 8th of 7, Nov 15 2002


<popular sitcom>GNorm!</ps>
-- RayfordSteele, Nov 15 2002


Hey [8/7] where's that link? For some reason I get about 5 unwanted catalogues a day, plus assorted magazines, flyers, credit card applications etc.
-- hippo, Nov 15 2002


[Hippo], oddly enough we bought our press mail-order from a glossy catalog that came in a Sunday newspaper. I have also seen them on sale in our local garden centre, although not for a while. It's a messy process, and you need to store up a good deal of paper to make it worthwhile, but it's free fuel ......
-- 8th of 7, Nov 15 2002


[hippo] - re link; yes, that's exactly the one we have, but we only paid about GBP £20 plus shipping. It works really well. We also have one of the can crushers that is shown on the same page.

Note: for premium quality logs, we take bags of shredded computer listing paper home and pulp it, the logs from that are superb; dense, even, clean burning. But the shreddings are bulky - you only get about 6 logs from two huge bags of shreddings that fill the back of the car.
-- 8th of 7, Nov 15 2002


Great, now I'm having to print off all my spam as well just to keep warm.... the voluminous junk mail from the company that sold me the log-maker in the first place has finally dried up.
-- lumbered ip, Nov 16 2002


lets pack the pulp into toilet/paper-towel tubes for nice lil mini logs.
-- gnormal, Nov 17 2002


that's a good name for it- Finito
-- gnormal, Nov 17 2002


// Beats running a chainsaw //

"I love the sound of chainsaws in the morning .... "
-- 8th of 7, Nov 17 2002


So instead of making logs, you're getting rid of them.
-- FarmerJohn, Nov 18 2002


Try adding nutmeg, coriander or lavender to spice up your log-making. Ordinary home compost added to the mix will assist in creating a slower burn with a more neutral ph emmision. For Peat's sake I'm logging off.
-- lumbered ip, Nov 19 2002


There you go, mix the junk mail into your compost. After one year add pine seeds. After 30 years cut it down and saw into logs.
-- FarmerJohn, Nov 20 2002


...just misread the last part of the title as "fir e-logs" - premium web-enabled firewood, perhaps?
-- hippo, Nov 20 2002


I distinctly recall burning colored glossy newspaper inserts when in kindergarten and marvelling at the colored flames produced. The inks must have contained metals. Not sure if this would still be the case.
-- bungston, Feb 03 2010


// burning colored glossy newspaper inserts when in kindergarten //

What happened to the kindergarten ? Did it burn to the ground ?
-- 8th of 7, Feb 03 2010


They do still burn colourfully. I just burn the junk mail as it comes. There's probably a better use for it though. I hear that paper bricks are only useful as kindling though.
-- nineteenthly, Feb 03 2010


You hear wrong.
-- 8th of 7, Feb 03 2010


/Did it burn to the ground ?/

No, the concrete pad was about 4 inches off the ground.
-- bungston, Feb 04 2010



random, halfbakery