Good SelectionsPaper Log Maker

Great and easy to use.

This is a flimsy little contraption.But, if you don't press the hell out of it, and press slowly, without forcing it, then it works, and will last.Do it in a large bowl or something, as it is very messy.My main issue is that some of the briquettes I made about a month ago now, are still very wet and soaked, despite a good firm squeeze. Also, some of the briquettes just decide to fall apart.It all seems a lot of effort, but I will persist with it. I've made 20 so far, and want to make loads more, hopefully all ready for next winter.This summer, I'll get them all out in the very hot sun to get them dry.

Bought this to make bricks for our fire in France to mix with burning wood. We have made a few here in the UK to try, but have not yet been able to burn any in our chiminea, mainly due to the weather!! So unsure of the actual heat generated and length of burn achievable yet.Technique plays a big part; simple to use once you have grasped the idea, and a "production line" type of operation would be best advised, especially as it can get a bit messy with inks ect if using newspaper, so rattling out several at a time will be tedious, but better from a cleaning up point of view. Note: magazine paper will be ok to use, as quoted from my father, who was in the newsprint manufacturing business!! London Underground type newspapers are not good, as they have fire retardent materials.Personally, I shred all paper that has any personal details on (except news paper), and find this makes a tighter brick if you take your time to compress it, then soak for a while, overnight in my first attempt, and firmly "STUFF" ball shaped handfulls into the compartment. Compressing the brick into a reasoanbly even shape can be fiddly at first, but practise makes perfect as they say. I may even try mounting the device onto a wooden plynth for stability, but if you take your time, it should be ok. A fair amount of effort is required to get a good compression. The worst part is ejecting the brick, but once you have done a few, it becomes easier!Quality of the product? For the price, I cant complain, but time will tell to see if it lasts and is a viable soloution from a money saving and a heat generating point of view! I would NOT rely on these as a heat source alone, use with wood and you should be able to reduce the amount of wood typically used.Well worth a try!

Very good and strong, well worth the money, I've bought for friend as bought before for myself.

SoI bought this after reading the reviews and thinking this will help me save money, use up papers i usually recycle and reduce waste.HoweverFirst attempt: my wife and i ripped up some paper soaked it in water and left it a few days, then used the squasher. After some sore hands and using gloves the first attempt cane out. Not good as nothing stuck well together.Second attempt we then added a hand power drill and a plasterers mixing dril. This made the paper into a mash. Excellent we thought we could now cram even more paper itno the squasher. I then turned the squasher upside down and stood on it to get maximum effect (14 Stones of it). I added more paper until i could not phisically fit anymore into it and vowala we had our first decent paper brick. So after a month of letting it dry we thought its cold lets try them.what a disappointment, 30 minutes later we had burned two of the good bricks. Also they create a lot more ash the burning wood so cause more ash waste than normal. The fire we usually empty once a week in winter and had to do it twice in four days using the paper bricks.So we started of with a good thing using a old green bin with a rainwater attachment so we didnt use any tap water (saves the environment more), lots of paper, time to rip the paper up (or use a shredder), time to squash the paper and time to let them dry, even though for £20 we thought this would help, WE WERE WRONG.This takes a lot of time and causes a lot of waste ash. I wont be using it again and will recycle the paper for better use now.I wouldnt recommend it to anyone.Hope this helps you choose.Kind regardsAndrew

The idea of making my own paper logs is highly appealing. An infinite, free supply of used newspapers means no cost in money terms. I have made these logs and they do burn for about 15 to 20 minutes when properly dried out, and are very good at the beginning of your fire.This log maker however, is too flimsy. After about five or six logs the handles were buckling and the brick shaper was bent out of shape. You need to put a fair degree of pressure to get as much water out as you can and this product is not built strongly enough to do this.You can still make the bricks but you have to remember that the wetter they come out - the longer the drying time.In a sense you get what you pay for, and if you are thinking of buying what is in essense a great idea, think about buying a more heavy duty version.

Excellent piece of equipment have used the bricks frequently and the really give off a good heat. The bricks take a while to dry out and it can be a bit of a mess making them, but that said it is a good way to get heat. I prefer to go around offices asking them for their shredded paper which helps with the process, overall very happy.

It does what it's supposed to - ish. I couldn't get the hand of it. Tried with news paper and softwood shavings. With both attempts I couldn't get everything to bind together. Ultimately yo may as well scrunch up paper balls