What if everything collapsed tomorrow? What if the shelves on the supermarket were empty? What if you've never even planted a garden in your life... and your life depended on growing your own food? Don't panic! Check out my book Grow or Die and learn what you need to survive a crash: amzn.to/3jwPvUP Get my free composting booklet: www.thesurvivalgardener.com/simple-composting/ "Compost Your Enemies" T-shirts: www.aardvarktees.com/collections/vendors?q=The%20Survival%20Gardener
I love your shredder bucket and edger blade chopper. That bucket lid is inspired. But I think forming logs or bricks would be a more useful and less time consuming product. Thanks for the video! :-)
You can speed up drying time if you have 3 or 4 of those buckets full of holes (2:02). Instead of 1 bucket, distribute the paper soup into 3 or 4 buckets, then press the water out. The thinner those paper disks you have (2:20); the faster water would dry up from those disks
use a centrifuge to remove the water , I use one in my fiber processing it cuts way down on drying time I use one called a spin dryer , but you could make one
If you were to make it into a charcoal brisket it might make it faster. Put it in a metal container amd poke a hole in the lid dont let the fire or embers touch the brick and when it stops smoking out the vent hole itll be ready. Works great!
Very clever shredder. Can you tell me what type and size rod you used to make the drill extension? Also are the edger blades welded or just sandwiched between two washers and nuts? Thank you
She said you can make about 20 in an hour. I'm assuming they don't have 20 buckets so I'd take it that you can just plop them out immediately once they are sufficiently pressed.
I had to get rid of lots of important documents and it would have taken forever to use a shredder with 8 sheets at a time, empty the small bucket and then later letting it cool after overheating. I put the paper in a large blue irrigation barrel with water, a cup of bleach and I used a garden soil cultivator with the 4 claws that I spin by hand and it worked amazing. It is so much better at destroying documents, faster and far more compact than paper shredder. It completely destroys the documents. I will try to use a 5 gallon cement spiral mixer next time. ... I probably don't even need the bleach but I am sure it helps in destroying the paper. Next time just let the water and time destroy the paper. I thought about making paper logs and I like how they made the logs with the buckets. When I do the paper logs, I will definitely leave out the bleach.
It would actually save you time. Especially if it's a cross cut Shredder. The Chopping and mixing process would go much faster because the papers already in itty bitty bits.
if those bricks were made using also glossy or color paper, or laser printed paper, is it safe to breathe their smoke when burnt or to cook something with a fire started with those?
If you have concerns... IT IS NEVER SAFE TO BREATHE SMOKE... any kind of smoke... even if made from regular paper, wood, or those you mentioned.... You can cook on them if your food is cooking in/on a pot or frying pan. Don't cook directly on them like burgers and hotdogs on grills over open flame.
Anything but the shiny stuff? Right at 00:43 there's plastic coated packaging in your bucket... If you want it to burn clean and don't want toxic ash, you simply have to leave that stuff out.
Elias Clarke yes, do everything by hand. Shred paper into strips with your hands and soak it with water and then squeeze it out by hand and then leave it in the sun ☀️
Depends on the paper and the type they are talking about (documents, cardboard, beer labels) I believe those have loads of chemicals. However, newspaper usually is just plant products shredded into pulp and then mashed into paper and then printed with soy based ink. I don't know if the chemicals run off of it when you squeeze the water out of it but I would assume most do. Think about it this way. If you take a white towel and completely soak it in mud. And then let it dry. And then soak it with water and squeeze all the water out. The water will take a lot of the mud with it. I'm sure you could probably get any paper back down to just plant fibers if you rinsed it enough.
The prefab fire logs have just as many chemicals in the adhesive used to bind the sawdust together. Also, there's no telling where the sawdust was sourced. If it's virgin timber, it's fine. If it's millings from plywood construction, you've got even more chemicals. Burning virgin Timber is the only way to assure you get none of the chemicals. And the whole point of this exercise was to not burn virgin timber.
Not for nuthin' but somehow there is a missing labor cost to all of this. As a Eagle Scout, I've made a commitment to never buying firewood. Fine. I can gather plenty here in New Jersey. But since there is no real market for mashed recycled paper as firewood, either because of its low BTU potential or the cost would be prohibitive, I see this more as a 'feel good' hobby.
I agree - the labor is a problem, especially with this method. I've seen better press systems. Makes more sense in a cheap labor environment without as much firewood available. My favorite idea is growing coppiced or pollarded fast-growign hardwood species deliberately for fuel. Here I'm going to try inga, gliricidia and mahogany, among others. Back in the states mulberry, chestnut, hickory and oak were good as well. Also plum and fruit wood prunings, some of which doubled as excellent smoker fuel. Thanks for stopping by, Mark, and merry Christmas.
Why not try to use a mulching lawnmower to chop up the paper empty the bag into the mix. Add leaves to it too? Sawdust might make a better binding agent.
Then there is the trusty paper shredder? Find somebody that uses paper shredders all the time like a bank tell them you can guarantee their records will not only be made unreadable but chemically altered forever.
That would be a terrible idea. Especially since they are throwing cardboard and stuff that has chemical sealers and adhesives, ink, gloss (magazines) Like I said, not a good idea to use for food. This would be good for a well ventilated wood heater however, and you might be able to use the cooktop for food. Just have to make sure your stove and flue are all sealed and vented properly.
I wouldn't. There's a lot of chemicals that go into making and printing paper. With a BBQ where your food is in direct contact with flame and smoke, you probably shouldn't use anything but charcoal or quality hardwood
the problem is that there is a lot of glue and ink in those papers, whish aren't really good for the environnement once it's burning (sorry for my english )
That is not dense... He just picked up that big paper brick with his fingers like its nothing, u can tell its very light. If it was dense like real wood, it would be much heavier. It will be hard to the touch like wood, but not dense unless you make your logs with a high pressure set up in which case it can be just as dense as normal wood, and will dry out in a few days.
My thoughts too. And they added way too much extra work to the project. Hell, just shred the paper first. Then the water bath. Then stuff the wet mass into a 4" dia PVC pipe about one foot long - press it - then push it out to dry.
when making "soupy" paper pulp, the ink mixes with the water. then the inky water is allowed to drain. Paper pulp is compressed to remove more inky water. after drying, "probably" more than 97% of the ink was removed from the paper
To be honest, this looks a good idea but is NOT. ;) Recycling paper this way will cost more trees to be cut down to make new paper. It takes much more energy to make new paper from trees then from old paper. BUT much worse is the fact that you burn all the ink that is on the paper. This is not so ECO. But if you're looking for a perfect way to evaporate chemicals into the air. This is the way to do it.
This makes no sense. It is not free unless your time is free. My time has value. Additionally, you paid for the electricity to run the drill which is also probably not from clean energy. There are dead branches all over the place unless you live in the desert. They would require less energy to burn and produce a lot more "free" heat than these paper bricks. If you want to burn unused paper, by all means do so, but if you just put them in the fire as they are, without forming bricks, you will get the same energy yield. I would challenge anyone who disagrees to debate the science of what I am saying.
Have you ever tried to burn a large amount of plain paper? It burns awfully due to the dense layering along with terrible burning ash from the thin paper floating away. Energy yield is not everything. Sticks burn for minutes, these can burn for hours and the amount of energy you're using to create them is practically nil. The active time spent making them is also pretty short
What if everything collapsed tomorrow? What if the shelves on the supermarket were empty? What if you've never even planted a garden in your life... and your life depended on growing your own food? Don't panic! Check out my book Grow or Die and learn what you need to survive a crash: amzn.to/3jwPvUP
Get my free composting booklet: www.thesurvivalgardener.com/simple-composting/
"Compost Your Enemies" T-shirts: www.aardvarktees.com/collections/vendors?q=The%20Survival%20Gardener
genius setup guys. thank you for the inspiration.
Most informative vid ive found yet thank you
I made these and they do not taste like I thought they would. Next time I'll add cinnamon or nutmeg.
HA!
Nice!
Bro you're not supposed to eat them with out paprika
Lol... I was about to start praying for you...Lol.
Add tumeric powder for eye appeal
I did this last year it's a very interesting thing to do 🙂 Feels so squishy. Thanks for the video.
Great ideas!👍
Yeah it takes time to get your grove. BUT thanx to yall...you have made it so easy for us! You took the kinks out...Thanx for sharing
I love your shredder bucket and edger blade chopper. That bucket lid is inspired. But I think forming logs or bricks would be a more useful and less time consuming product. Thanks for the video! :-)
You guys are awesome. I just subscribed to your channel.
You can speed up drying time if you have 3 or 4 of those buckets full of holes (2:02).
Instead of 1 bucket, distribute the paper soup into 3 or 4 buckets, then press the water out. The thinner those paper disks you have (2:20); the faster water would dry up from those disks
use a centrifuge to remove the water , I use one in my fiber processing it cuts way down on drying time I use one called a spin dryer , but you could make one
+Susan Doyon Yes - very good idea. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing. Best wishes from South Afrika...
Thank you, Marilia.
Could something else be added as a binding agent. OR as a fire starter?
If you were to make it into a charcoal brisket it might make it faster. Put it in a metal container amd poke a hole in the lid dont let the fire or embers touch the brick and when it stops smoking out the vent hole itll be ready. Works great!
Very clever shredder. Can you tell me what type and size rod you used to make the drill extension? Also are the edger blades welded or just sandwiched between two washers and nuts? Thank you
Wise
Will these light with paper or do you need a roaring wood fire first?
Can u use ashes after burning in compost?
Do you discard them from the press immediately after pressing? What's the minimal drying time before use?
She said you can make about 20 in an hour. I'm assuming they don't have 20 buckets so I'd take it that you can just plop them out immediately once they are sufficiently pressed.
You are fun.
Using paper is better than cutting trees down, hahahaha🤣. That's brilliant!
Perfect for burning outside
I had to get rid of lots of important documents and it would have taken forever to use a shredder with 8 sheets at a time, empty the small bucket and then later letting it cool after overheating. I put the paper in a large blue irrigation barrel with water, a cup of bleach and I used a garden soil cultivator with the 4 claws that I spin by hand and it worked amazing. It is so much better at destroying documents, faster and far more compact than paper shredder. It completely destroys the documents. I will try to use a 5 gallon cement spiral mixer next time. ... I probably don't even need the bleach but I am sure it helps in destroying the paper. Next time just let the water and time destroy the paper. I thought about making paper logs and I like how they made the logs with the buckets. When I do the paper logs, I will definitely leave out the bleach.
Can this process use shredded paper to begin? I’m got loads of shredded paper and and having trouble finding how to recycle it.
I'm sure it would work.
It would actually save you time. Especially if it's a cross cut Shredder. The Chopping and mixing process would go much faster because the papers already in itty bitty bits.
if those bricks were made using also glossy or color paper, or laser printed paper, is it safe to breathe their smoke when burnt or to cook something with a fire started with those?
Allegedly, a lot of inks are now soy-based and non-toxic. I would avoid cooking directly with them, though. My faith isn't that high.
If you have concerns... IT IS NEVER SAFE TO BREATHE SMOKE... any kind of smoke... even if made from regular paper, wood, or those you mentioned....
You can cook on them if your food is cooking in/on a pot or frying pan.
Don't cook directly on them like burgers and hotdogs on grills over open flame.

Based David Spade
Anything but the shiny stuff? Right at 00:43 there's plastic coated packaging in your bucket... If you want it to burn clean and don't want toxic ash, you simply have to leave that stuff out.
David the good: it’s better than cutting down trees... me in my head: you still have to cut down trees to get paper
All paper are trees but not all paper is 1st cut trees. Paper is a very recycled product.
Apple press. try it.
Anyway to do this without electricity?
Elias Clarke yes, do everything by hand. Shred paper into strips with your hands and soak it with water and then squeeze it out by hand and then leave it in the sun ☀️
Let it soak for longer and churn the paper by hand. A lot more work
I thought you weren't supposed to use newspaper in the fireplace because of the light weight ashes and need to clean out more often??
There's not much left of the thin sheets once you've pulped the paper. This is closer to a puck of particle board, without the nasty glues.
Doesn't paper have a load of chemicals in it though? Would you want to breath that in?
Depends on the paper and the type they are talking about (documents, cardboard, beer labels) I believe those have loads of chemicals. However, newspaper usually is just plant products shredded into pulp and then mashed into paper and then printed with soy based ink. I don't know if the chemicals run off of it when you squeeze the water out of it but I would assume most do. Think about it this way. If you take a white towel and completely soak it in mud. And then let it dry. And then soak it with water and squeeze all the water out. The water will take a lot of the mud with it. I'm sure you could probably get any paper back down to just plant fibers if you rinsed it enough.
The prefab fire logs have just as many chemicals in the adhesive used to bind the sawdust together. Also, there's no telling where the sawdust was sourced. If it's virgin timber, it's fine. If it's millings from plywood construction, you've got even more chemicals. Burning virgin Timber is the only way to assure you get none of the chemicals. And the whole point of this exercise was to not burn virgin timber.
consider adding cement and you have gypcrete
Cement fire starter??? LOL
he smokes at 1:35 seconds! (At the top.)
And a fly on his finger at 2:32!
I Love You All!!!
Intriguing flavor.
make the wood press the same height of a car's bumper. then jack up the car a few inches, lower it down. now we're talking dense.
amatures
Not for nuthin' but somehow there is a missing labor cost to all of this. As a Eagle Scout, I've made a commitment to never buying firewood. Fine. I can gather plenty here in New Jersey. But since there is no real market for mashed recycled paper as firewood, either because of its low BTU potential or the cost would be prohibitive, I see this more as a 'feel good' hobby.
I agree - the labor is a problem, especially with this method. I've seen better press systems. Makes more sense in a cheap labor environment without as much firewood available. My favorite idea is growing coppiced or pollarded fast-growign hardwood species deliberately for fuel. Here I'm going to try inga, gliricidia and mahogany, among others. Back in the states mulberry, chestnut, hickory and oak were good as well. Also plum and fruit wood prunings, some of which doubled as excellent smoker fuel. Thanks for stopping by, Mark, and merry Christmas.
Why not try to use a mulching lawnmower to chop up the paper empty the bag into the mix. Add leaves to it too? Sawdust might make a better binding agent.
+S. McCloy Good idea.
Then there is the trusty paper shredder? Find somebody that uses paper shredders all the time like a bank tell them you can guarantee their records will not only be made unreadable but chemically altered forever.
Can you use them to grill?
Lilith Shrimski No, paper is somewhat toxic.
I wouldn't since it's scrap paper. I prefer hardwood or charcoal.
Cook them directly over those flames? NO!.
But you can cook food if you use pots or pans over the fire.
about how much water?
+Wesley Hicks It doesn't matter all that much - just enough to let it be soupy so you can shred it up.
Yes but how well do they burn in a wood stove?
They burn pretty well.
can you put this in a BBQ as fuel instead of charcoal?
That would be a terrible idea. Especially since they are throwing cardboard and stuff that has chemical sealers and adhesives, ink, gloss (magazines)
Like I said, not a good idea to use for food. This would be good for a well ventilated wood heater however, and you might be able to use the cooktop for food. Just have to make sure your stove and flue are all sealed and vented properly.
I wouldn't. There's a lot of chemicals that go into making and printing paper.
With a BBQ where your food is in direct contact with flame and smoke, you probably shouldn't use anything but charcoal or quality hardwood
Why can't the shinny stuff be used? still burns?
Toxic.
You can but it has a lot of plastic in it. Probably wouldn't make a big difference if it was a small amount of the total mix
the problem is that there is a lot of glue and ink in those papers, whish aren't really good for the environnement once it's burning (sorry for my english )
Your English is fine. That could be a concern.
Like to speed up the process use hot water
That is not dense... He just picked up that big paper brick with his fingers like its nothing, u can tell its very light. If it was dense like real wood, it would be much heavier.
It will be hard to the touch like wood, but not dense unless you make your logs with a high pressure set up in which case it can be just as dense as normal wood, and will dry out in a few days.
3:30 These are cut down trees.
Just giving you crap is all...
not gonna lie that paper logs just like a patty
Hamburger or cow? LOL
Hammer toe
Wow. A CZcams video that tells you how they made it instead of showing you.
Glad you enjoyed it - thank you.
David The Good could you use sawdust instead of paper
I don't think it would stick together unless you had some kind of a binder.
amen
My thoughts too. And they added way too much extra work to the project. Hell, just shred the paper first. Then the water bath. Then stuff the wet mass into a 4" dia PVC pipe about one foot long - press it - then push it out to dry.
I guess if you didn’t have a drill bit setup to chop the paper you could use a sharp scissors.
Bury the paper and compost it! Worms love to eat decaying paper.
'It's like renewable wood' um...
+ElectrofizzStudiosCo Hehheheh. All wood is renewable, for sure. ;)
"Better than cutting trees down".? Um , where do you think they got the paper from?
Of course the paper originally came from trees, but no trees need be cut down when you use leftover scrap paper.
Funny thing. language , isn't it?
Z
super reinforced paper mache' like a wasp makes for its babies.
Yes - good analogy.
too much talkin not enough demonstrating, also how about a burn test ?
Comment below you and me Both! Look like hamburger patties, I've got to go get tomatoes slices....
Why don't you save all your paper instead of doing that I didn't add your paper to your fire
yea burning ink in your home...how smart!
Fahrenheit 451 style.
when making "soupy" paper pulp, the ink mixes with the water.
then the inky water is allowed to drain.
Paper pulp is compressed to remove more inky water.
after drying, "probably" more than 97% of the ink was removed from the paper
najsi prijebany ste
Are those Walmart hamburgers..
Okay - that's awesome. A+++ comment.
Are those half-kilo burgers?
Nope they look like IKEA hamburglers,just add drink and you have a sit down party...
Hey... I like that. They do!
They probly burn better than they taste...I hope!
To be honest, this looks a good idea but is NOT. ;) Recycling paper this way will cost more trees to be cut down to make new paper. It takes much more energy to make new paper from trees then from old paper. BUT much worse is the fact that you burn all the ink that is on the paper. This is not so ECO. But if you're looking for a perfect way to evaporate chemicals into the air. This is the way to do it.
Trees already been cut. Nobody cuts trees just to make paper bricks
This is one of the worse instruction videos talking over each other and no clear instructions have switched off
This makes no sense. It is not free unless your time is free. My time has value. Additionally, you paid for the electricity to run the drill which is also probably not from clean energy. There are dead branches all over the place unless you live in the desert. They would require less energy to burn and produce a lot more "free" heat than these paper bricks. If you want to burn unused paper, by all means do so, but if you just put them in the fire as they are, without forming bricks, you will get the same energy yield. I would challenge anyone who disagrees to debate the science of what I am saying.
Yes, I agree. They were making paper bricks so I let them explain it. There has to be a less time-consuming way. For me, that is generally sticks.
Have you ever tried to burn a large amount of plain paper? It burns awfully due to the dense layering along with terrible burning ash from the thin paper floating away.
Energy yield is not everything. Sticks burn for minutes, these can burn for hours and the amount of energy you're using to create them is practically nil. The active time spent making them is also pretty short