Don't burn Dictionaries in your Jotul (or any other stove...)

[recppd]

I was cleaning out a room today and ran across an old Webster's dictionary that hasn't been used in years - broken binding, etc... It was "the big one" that measured about 4+" thick! So, since the stove was already burning I thought I'd get some BTU's out of the pages. BIG MISTAKE! If anyone has burned books in their stove before (not book burning), you will know what happened shortly thereafter...it expanded like a bag of microwave popcorn! It basically killed the existing fire and created a huge mess

 

[Mike Wilson]

SMACK :exclaim:

 

[recppd]

SMACK :exclaim:

so noted...

 

[BrotherBart]

Damn. I can't remember to warn about everything. Have done that though.

 

[ourhouse]

I'll try to rember that one.

 

[smirnov3]

Are telephone directories still okay??

no.

_Tom Sawyer_ by Mark Twain - ok
Bible - not ok
plays by Shakespear - ok
Playboys - not ok (heat makes them expand too much)

 

[tradergordo]

Tossed a mormon book into the fireplace at a hotel I was staying at once just to see what would happen. It burned pretty well actually, of course burning any paper creates fly ash, I wouldn't recommend it in a stove. And burning a Gideon could land you in hell

 

[begreen]

_Tom Sawyer_ by Mark Twain - ok
Bible - not ok
plays by Shakespear - ok
Playboys - not ok (heat makes them expand too much)

Hmm, interesting point. I would think the european stoves would be more tolerant of r and xxx rated material. Does Hustler give off more btus than playboy? Or is there too much tits and ash?

 

[DriftWood]

_Tom Sawyer_ by Mark Twain - ok
Bible - not ok
plays by Shakespear - ok
Playboys - not ok (heat makes them expand too much)

Hmm, interesting point. I would think the european stoves would be more tolerant of r and xxx rated material. Does Hustler give off more btus than playboy? Or is there too much tits and ash?

Sell them online. Have you seem what the old Playboys go for ebaY!!

 

[Gooserider]

What about those "Newspaper Log Rollers" that make "logs" out of wet newspapers, catalogs and other such junk mail? They are basically a trough with a roller in them that you fill with water and then roll papers into until you have about a 4" diameter roll with an approximately 1/2" hollow in the center. The rolls are secured with a couple of wire twist ties (something else to dig out of the fire box later.... (BTW, I have made some rolls with phone books as part of the content...)

After rolling you need to let them dry for several months, then supposedly (according to the mfgr) you can burn them like normal logs. I wouldn't have bought one, but I was given one by a friend that was moving into a wood burner free apt. I wouldn't want to use it alot, but it keeps our junk mail out of the trash / recycling stream. It takes less strength, but I think it is more of a pain and definitely slower than making a comparable amount of split firewood.

I doubt they would be good burned as the primary fuel 'wood' but will they do that much harm in an old non-cat, pre-EPA stove if you burn one every few loads of regular wood?

Gooserider

 

[kd460]

I burn magazines and catalogs from time to time. Phone books as well. I just keep them around an inch thick, and toss one in usually during a relaxed fire. It makes me feel better becouse I hate junk mail (almost as much as telemarketers).

Hey Gooserider, what do you ride? I run a 1971 Triumph TR6R. I love it when I park next to a $30,000.00 Harley and people just gravitate to my bike. It makes me giggle. KD

 

[Gooserider]

I burn magazines and catalogs from time to time. Phone books as well. I just keep them around an inch thick, and toss one in usually during a relaxed fire. It makes me feel better becouse I hate junk mail (almost as much as telemarketers).

That works sometimes, but often I find big chunks of unburned pages when I go to shovel out the ashes. It seems like if they get into the ashbed without getting totally consumed they won't burn at all.

Obviously I use lots of crumpled up newspapers and catalogs when I'm starting a fire, but that doesn't happen all that often or use that much. I will use one thin newspaper (local town weekly) and maybe 2-3 catalogs starting a fire The log roller thing will use 3-4 papers and a dozen or so catalogs per 'log'

Hey Gooserider, what do you ride? I run a 1971 Triumph TR6R. I love it when I park next to a $30,000.00 Harley and people just gravitate to my bike. It makes me giggle. KD

As you might guess from my avatar, I ride a Moto Guzzi California II. It is actually a real one of a kind machine as I have extensively modified it over the years since I bought it as a wreck w/2500 miles on it... It now has about 130K at a guess, and has a home built sidecar w/electric lean adjust, a leading link front end, and custom wheels to let me run car tires (MUCH better mileage when you have a sidecar rig) It isn't fancy though, as I also ride 365 days / year, and in all weather so it is an "organic rat" bike. (Obligatory burning content - It does only offer limited capacity for scrounged wood, the GF's mini-van is better for that)

Best one I saw for making people steam when the onlookers go to the "wrong" bike was a few years back at an Italian Bike Meet,
the (at the time) importer had come up from the warehouse with a truckload of new bikes, which they parked in "Guzzi Row". One of our more (in)famous New England Guzzi riders, "Guzzi Guy Roberts" who is noted for his rat Guzzis with unusual paint jobs, and all sorts of odd stickers and other things attached to them pulled up and parked next to the new bikes. Folks would come down the row, look at the new bikes and give them the "very nice" nod. Then they'd get to Guy's bike, stop, stare, get out cameras for multiple pics, etc... The Importers were seriously ticked although they tried to be polite about it, everyone else was amused

Gooserider

 

[Gooserider]

....a trough with a roller in them that you fill with water and then roll papers into until you have about a 4" diameter roll with an approximately 1/2" hollow in the center. The rolls are secured with a couple of wire twist ties (something else to dig out of the fire box later.... (BTW, I have made some rolls with phone books as part of the content...)

After rolling you need to let them dry for several months, then supposedly (according to the mfgr) you can burn them like normal logs.

Sounds like 'one step forward, two steps back', to me.

I sort of agree... I've seen these roller things for years, and always thought they looked a bit gimicky. I wouldn't have bought one but this was basically a "dumpster dive" - if I hadn't taken it, it would have been thrown out. Now that I've used it, I certainly wouldn't reccomend it as a primary fuel maker, but it is an OK way to take some of the waste paper out of the trash stream.

I do recall seeing a story on TV many years ago, about some guy that claimed to heat his house 100% w/ junk mail, and he had some kind of rolling machine to make logs, but my memory is that it was fancier than this one. It was mostly played for laughs about this guy who not only got his fuel for free, but got it delivered to his door by "Uniformed government employees" - all he did was call every company he could find and ask to get on their mailing lists. Claimed he never actually BOUGHT anything from the catalogs, said he didn't even look at them!

If I was trying to make such a machine from scratch, I think I would try to set it up to turn from the outside rather than from the center, I think the best design would be sort of like a miniature version of those round hay bail machines.

Gooserider

 

[Jay H]

Good thing I saw this thread. I got a telephone book when I don't even have a landline... I was considering burning it but too wondered about all the flying little bits of ash that paper tends to do... I guess I will recycle it with the normal paper recycling folks..

Jay