I've done it the last couple of years, and can never remember what works and what doesn't. So my half azzed how to:
Materials: old candle, saw dust. I've tried dryer lint, but it's harder to break when dry, and ends up with hair in it. Gross.
Wax is super messy, and super hard to remove. Keep that in mind when assembling your cooking implements.
I used an aluminum pie plate to melt the wax. I found that it works fine over low/medium low heat, although most apparently use a double boiler.
Cover a baking sheet with foil. Cover it completely. Tape the seams (remember the part about messy wax).
Spread a layer of sawdust on the pan. Thin layer (maybe 1/2") works best. That way you can break off chunks when you're done. Much easier than trying to cut them, which sucks.
Pour molten wax over sawdust. The ratio is the toughest part. You want all the sawdust to be covered, but no more than that. It's tough to get everything evenly coated; I mix the wax into the dust by hand, kneading it like dough. Gloves help here.
Smoosh the mixture tightly into the baking sheet. Pack it tight all along the edges as well
. This keeps it from becoming a crumbly mess.
Let it dry. Put it into the freezer if you're impatient.
When dry, break it into pieces. I get about a gallon bag full from a large cookie sheet, a gallon bag of sawdust, and a 4" tall round candle. That's a lot of fire starters.
Should have taken pics, maybe next year.
Total time, 30-60 minutes, total cost $0.75 for the candle. I stole the disposable pie plate from my wife. Plus the cost of the foil and tape.
Materials: old candle, saw dust. I've tried dryer lint, but it's harder to break when dry, and ends up with hair in it. Gross.
Wax is super messy, and super hard to remove. Keep that in mind when assembling your cooking implements.
I used an aluminum pie plate to melt the wax. I found that it works fine over low/medium low heat, although most apparently use a double boiler.
Cover a baking sheet with foil. Cover it completely. Tape the seams (remember the part about messy wax).
Spread a layer of sawdust on the pan. Thin layer (maybe 1/2") works best. That way you can break off chunks when you're done. Much easier than trying to cut them, which sucks.
Pour molten wax over sawdust. The ratio is the toughest part. You want all the sawdust to be covered, but no more than that. It's tough to get everything evenly coated; I mix the wax into the dust by hand, kneading it like dough. Gloves help here.
Smoosh the mixture tightly into the baking sheet. Pack it tight all along the edges as well
. This keeps it from becoming a crumbly mess.
Let it dry. Put it into the freezer if you're impatient.
When dry, break it into pieces. I get about a gallon bag full from a large cookie sheet, a gallon bag of sawdust, and a 4" tall round candle. That's a lot of fire starters.
Should have taken pics, maybe next year.
Total time, 30-60 minutes, total cost $0.75 for the candle. I stole the disposable pie plate from my wife. Plus the cost of the foil and tape.
![[Hearth.com] made some fire starters today](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/188/188538-010307d85bae22d9b7044bed195e8605.jpg?hash=UR1-zyWS9I "[Hearth.com] made some fire starters today")
