Cardboard Fire Bricks and Foxtel Firepit

For those who enjoy outdoor living in the cooler months, here are two projects of mine

Firebricks

I have been busy making firebricks from cardboard and paper.

Apart from the brick maker, I purchased 5 plastic buckets and a paint/glue stirrer (from Bunnings), total outlay ~$20



A house being built next door has a skip loaded with cardboard and timber trimmings.

I asked the builder and he was more than happy for me to help myself to the contents provided I didn't make a mess.

There are quite a lot of timber trimmings which in Tas is mostly untreated pine. I don't use MDF.

I particularly focus on clean cardboard/paper that is not glossy. 

Leaving it out overnight makes it very easy to tear up and put in buckets of water.

The following day, two minutes with the paint stirrer in the drill turns the contents into mush (or to use a more technical term, paper mache). Each bucket yields 2+ bricks

The bucket contents it tipped into the brick maker and a new firebrick is born. I put the brickmaker over a bucket to catch any spillage so you could probably do this in the kitchen subject to kitchen boss approval (don't get your hopes up)

I lay the bricks on a piece of trench mesh (also from the skip) to dry for around 3 months.

Foxtel Firepit


This was made from two satellite dishes I bought from the local tip shop for $5 each. The dishes come with mounting hardware, pipe and brackets.

The only additional items are a paving slab, two dynabolts and a hinge.



If the fire needs "a bit of a rev up" I use an airbed pump (Kmart $4) with a short length of 1/2" copper pipe (also from the skip)

Also, the lid can be closed when you are finished your festivities (or run out of wine!) to extinguish the fire

Very creative Dave, have you got data on how long each brick burns for and how well the burn/produce heat? Maybe more people should be doing that to get rid of cardboard. We seem to get quite a bit of it each fortnight.

Our Foxtel dish now large water bowl / bird bath for our furry and feathered friends.

GSX1100G wrote:
Our Foxtel dish now large water bowl / bird bath for our furry and feathered friends.

You only need two more for your firepit.

I wonder how many other uses these dishes have been put to.

I'm open to ideas on a more efficient way to make my cardboard mache.

My present technique with the paint stirrer and plastic buckets is not munching up the cardboard as quickly as I would like, 2 minutes is excessive in my opinion.

I have considered cutting some teeth into the paint stirrer but I run the risk of chomping up my 80c plastic buckets.

Any thoughts?

BTW 1. the staples in the cardboard boxes stay in the mix. They come out of the fire along with the ash and finish up in the vegetable garden, probably rusting away.

        2. I try to get rid of as much sticky tape as possible as I don't consider it good to be burning too much plastic


I'm also considering an old twin tub washine machine as an alternative. Off to the tip shop next week or Gumtree

Ewok1958 wrote:Very creative Dave, have you got data on how long each brick burns for and how well the burn/produce heat? Maybe more people should be doing that to get rid of cardboard. We seem to get quite a bit of it each fortnight.

Actually, NO!

If you can provide me with the specific gravity and moisture content of my cardboard bricks I would attempt a calculation. Only kidding !!!

What I can tell you is that this form of fuel is very cheap (zero) plus your time and the bricks put out a surprising amount of heat

How about a bath tub or laundry tub for mass production.
Have a spare up the back and waiting on a couple of neighbours to get around to removing theirs.
Good idea re: plastic tape. Staples can always be thrown in
a tin and taken to tip later.

GSX1100G wrote:How about a bath tub or laundry tub for mass production.
Have a spare up the back and waiting on a couple of neighbours to get around to removing theirs.
Good idea re: plastic tape. Staples can always be thrown in
a  tin and taken to tip later.

I cannot imagine what Australia Post would charge to send a tub to Tas.

It would also take the rest of the year to get here if they use their lame three legged camels.

I think an old concrete laundry tub would be able to take a bit of a beating. Back to Gumtree.

I then need to make my paint stirrer a "bit more aggressive" to chop up the cardboard a bit quicker.

To think, I have already invested $4 in 5 plastic buckets. Oh well, the cost of research and development 


BTW I think I have found out why it sometimes takes several weeks to get items sent from Sydney. Therer are two Sydneys, one in NSW, the other in Nova Scotia, Canada

Maybe the tip would be a good source, or a drum up to say 50 L ??. Cut the top out and dunk. Could try tearing pieces a bit smaller, would keep you warm and after a year or 2 would have armslike Arnie

BanditDave wrote:

Ewok1958 wrote:Very creative Dave, have you got data on how long each brick burns for and how well the burn/produce heat? Maybe more people should be doing that to get rid of cardboard. We seem to get quite a bit of it each fortnight.

Actually, NO!

If you can provide me with the specific gravity and moisture content of my cardboard bricks I would attempt a calculation. Only kidding !!!

What I can tell you is that this form of fuel is very cheap (zero) plus your time and the bricks put out a surprising amount of heat

No, I was thinking of something far simpler and more practical, ie you start the fire at 4.00pm on a cold Tassie winter's day and switch it off at 10.00pm, ie 6 hours. How many bricks would be consumed?

GSX1100G wrote:Maybe the tip would be a good source, or a drum up to say 50 L ??. Cut the top out and dunk.  Could try tearing pieces a bit smaller,  would keep you warm and after a year or 2 would have armslike Arnie

I have no intention of looking like Arnie. I seek "low energy" solutions

Well a steel drum or concrete tub will do a great job

Next to modify the paint stirrer to make it "more aggressive"



Open to ideas. As I see it, no idea is stupid.

Maybe cut the ring into a "toothed" pattern.

I could also cut teeth into the two side bars.

I know if I get too carried away the whole thing will collapse and I will need to visit Bunnings for a replacement.

Ewok1958 wrote:

BanditDave wrote:

Ewok1958 wrote:Very creative Dave, have you got data on how long each brick burns for and how well the burn/produce heat? Maybe more people should be doing that to get rid of cardboard. We seem to get quite a bit of it each fortnight.

Actually, NO!

If you can provide me with the specific gravity and moisture content of my cardboard bricks I would attempt a calculation. Only kidding !!!

What I can tell you is that this form of fuel is very cheap (zero) plus your time and the bricks put out a surprising amount of heat

No, I was thinking of something far simpler and more practical, ie you start the fire at 4.00pm on a cold Tassie winter's day and switch it off at 10.00pm, ie 6 hours. How many bricks would be consumed?

Buggered if I know!

All I know is that the bricks are incredibly cheap apart from the labour which can be minimised by using a big mixing vessel as suggested by GSX

In my Foxtel Firepit which was an uncontrolled burn they used to last around 1 hour

I guess if all depends on the airflow so in a slow combustion heater with good air control they should last considerably longer

And I feel this is a far better solution than burning trees. After all, these were once trees so shouldn't upset the greenies too much as I am just recycling.

Hit the leading edge of your stirrer with a grinder for a nice sharp edge.

Do you attach that to a cordless drill ?

Ewok1958 wrote:Very creative Dave, have you got data on how long each brick burns for and how well the burn/produce heat? Maybe more people should be doing that to get rid of cardboard. We seem to get quite a bit of it each fortnight.

HA! well there ya go!
 I read BanditDave' OP, I googled "what is a fire brick?" and got "Fire brick. A fire brick, firebrick, or refractory brick is a block of refractory ceramic material used in lining furnaces, kilns, fireboxes, and fireplaces. " etc.

I was amazed that you could use cardboard and wood and a bunnings paint stirrer to create a brick that will not burn.

Told my wife I was amazed and was considering making some "firebricks" for a fire pit out in the back yard - going to have to reconsider that decision and maybe just look for a satellite dish instead.

Sorry if I misused the term "firebrick" which is traditionally used for fireproof bricks. These firebricks burn.

My Foxtel Firepit was very successful and not overly expensive. It is also sort of portable

Mine cost me $11 being 2 x $5 for the dishes (from the tip) and $1 for a hinge.

The paving slab and dynabolts I had laying around but should these need to be purchased the project would still come out under $20

Next one I built I will shorten the vertical pipe by about half for better appearance

An airbed pump with half a metre of metal pipe on the end to poke into the fire can save a lot of huffing and puffing and potentially scorched eyebrows should you be trying to burn green timber or other difficult fuel.