I found a use for all of the full bucket I have of pellet dust (saw dust like) from last years Clean

I have a full bucket of pellet fines and dust from last year and didn't know what do do with it all. I found out that you can mix it with parafin (canning) wax and it makes those fire logs that they sell in the store. You can use them for campfires, or in a fire place. I need to find away to do it over a burning wood stove, or campfire as it is an energy intensive process.

I will post pics of the ones I made yesterday, later today and tell you more about the process I used to make them.

It is simple though. You melt one block of the wax, and mix in your pellet dust and fines, until it is a very dense mixture,poor it in paper dixie cups, and let it cool.

Some of you will have pellet stove tops that get hot enough to melt the wax, so you can use the top to melt the wax, and it won't cost you any extra energy, you will just be using what the stove already produces to heat the house.

Talk to you later!

Mark

magsf11 said:

might have to try that for the summer campfires. I just use my fines to clean up any oil spills.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I was going to post pics but no one seemed interested so I never did. It is real easy though. I melted one block of parafin wax from the brand name Gulf wax in a cleaned out dog food can, and then slowly added the fines and dust while stirring it with a wooden skewer. You dump it in, stir it, and wait for it all to get wet, and then add more. After you top it off, if it looks rough, take another paper cup and tamp down the top.

I haven't burned these yet, but I'm going to send some with my friend, and have him try them.

Mark

DMZX said:

Mark,

This is a noob question, but how do you separate the fines and dust from the pellets?

Click to expand...

I simply use a large plastic pasta colander that my wife didn't want. I pour most of the bag into the hopper and dump the last bits into the colander. T

he finer particles drop through the large holes in the plastic leaving only pellets.

..and it's not a silly question at all.

Mark

Haubera said:

Or... not to rain on some parades, but... some of us just dump the bag in the hopper and let the hopper run low every few days so we can make sure those fines have run through. Only large amounts of fines will bog down a good stove. (yeah, I know I'm fairly new, but I've already tested this out on my stove through last winter and my answer is based on my results.) Sorry, but I think the "sawdust sifters" may be a bit OCD. If I discover later that I have problems with how I'm working this, then I will fully apologize to the sifters.

Click to expand...

I think you will discover later that the fines cause problems. Besides, some people like to build things, thus the plans. I don't want all of the fines in my stove. Of course, last years, and probably the ton I got this year of Cleanfire Supremes were all fines. Last year, even though I sifted them, I got a lot of fines in the stove.

Last year, I started to get smoke in the hopper and had to take the slide plate out and scour it with steel wool.

Mark

tinkabranc said:

A full bucket in one season? Thats alotta fines!
Making firestarters is a good use for them.

I do not sift my pellets, but that pellet-sifter ShortStuff built is a great idea
for those that do.

Click to expand...

Yeah that is an awful lot of fines! Cleanfire Supremes they were..

skidozer said:

FOR THE HOME MADE FIRE STARTERS you can do the same thing with dryer lint.

Dryer lint goe up in flame like crazy.

Click to expand...

Good to know! Does it have to be cotton lint?

tjnamtiw said:

I bet they would work in place of fat wood for starting a wood fire.

Click to expand...

That's the idea. I think those presto fire logs are the same basic thing. Maybe a little different.

Mark

SmokeyTheBear said:

The fines can also be tossed into the compost pile as can the ash.

Just be certain to test the ph (and correct it if needed) before applying any of the resulting compost to area for acid loving plants (if you compost the ash).

Click to expand...

A composter is my next project. I will look for plans to build one out of wood as I have no idea what I am doing, and don't want to buy another piece of plastic garbage.

stoaf88 said:

I always just dump the bags right into the hopper. If there are fines at the end of the bag I just throw them out. I can't believe you had a whole bucket of fines. How many tons did you burn?

Click to expand...

Most of the fines came from the initial 2.6 tons of cleanfires. I burned a total of about 3 tons.

I tried burning a lot of the left over dust this summer around the fire pit but it mostly puts the fire out. I still have 3/4 bucket.

Maybe I should specify. It is a coal bucket, not a 5 gallon bucket. Don't want to mislead anyone.

It is still more fines than I had seen.

Mark

A friend of mine is supposed to deliver a small cast iron wood stove for me this weekend, so I have decided that is what I am going to use to heat and melt the wax for free, so I can make lots of these Wax/dust logs without using costly energy.

Mark