Swedish Candle

[GerryS]

I picked up something that looks really cool yesterday. I havnt had a chance to play with it yet, maybe tonight. A portable campfire....http://timbertote.com/

Ok, kind of. It's a pre drilled/cut Swedish candle. There's a l shaped hole bored through the middle joining an intersecting sole on the side...supposed to burn for a couple hours. I've seen these made be splitting and reassembling a log, or simply by going a little crazy with a chainsaw...

I'm hoping it works as well as it looks....by concern is it does....but my local Meijer won't restock them when they're gone....the biggest problem with innovative solutions...

[stumphugger]

I make them. I showed my friends how to make them so they do it too. We've all got chainsaws and we know how to use them.

We refined the name and we call them Scandihoovian candles. My problem is finding chunks of wood to make them out of. Right now, I've got a hemlock that I had felled and it is so limby that I decided to candlize it. It is still green and they'll have to season a while--a real long while.

We also discovered that during the Fourth Of July, you can buy packets of chemicals that make different colored flames. Now, this is the discovery, if you do not follow the directions on the packet, and instead, throw in the packet instead of sprinkling, the colored flames will last almost an hour. Your candle becomes colorful.

I'd like to sell them, but I wonder about liability. We usually use "accelerant" (our saw gas) to get them going. We are experts at playing with fire, don't try that at home!

[GerryS]

Got video of how you make em? Seems pretty simple....if you've got a 3 inch forsner bit and a drill press driven by about 20 horse

I can't wait tonight the thing....I've studied them for a while, and they are sound in principal.....I'm more curious what the market penetration is.....are these guys gonna be around in a year....

[stumphugger]

We use our chainsaws and rip down two ways making a what looks like an X going down from the top. It's pretty simple. One guy bored in with the tip of his saw on 4 sides, then cut in at the bottom of the boring which released the wood and made a hole for air intake. That burned the best of any of them that I've seen, but boring straight on with a chainsaw is hard to do and he had a bruise on his leg from the saw pushing back. I've got some pictures but it will take me a bit of work to post them
so I will return later.

[lancew]

I just take a chainsaw and make a ...tic tac toe ...if you will. no need for a hole. throw a little gas on it or charcoal fluid, let it soak for a bit then lite it. burn long time, high flames , lots of light , lot of jealous campers. lol.

[GerryS]

Have to try that....need a chainsaw now....

[toolman]

Here is an instructable on one.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Swedish-Torch/

Jerry

[lancew]

Have to try that....need a chainsaw now....

Gerry, If you don't have a chainsaw, you can use a bow saw (pruning) with the aggressive teeth you can do the same thing. it wont take you 5 minutes like it does with a chainsaw. lol. but I have done it with bow saw numerous times due to........boredom.... in the end its always worth it. if possible you have a chunk of wood you can always have a friend or relative cut it for you .

[stumphugger]

Here is the compiicated one being made

These are made the X way and were made from some gnarly maple I had.

The Fourth Of July colored candle.


I have decided that if a chunk of wood is too knotty to split with my maul, it is a candledate to make a candle out of. I forgot to add that I run the saw up and down to make the kerf wider for better burning.

[GerryS]

Kerf width was my concern....the band saw approach wouldn't take much out...thinking that completely splitting, then binding back together with sissle twine might be a deent idea to get a long burn...A hands off fire.

I'm going to try to get out thurs night for a long weekend....I'll see what damage I can do at he park, assuming I can get decent fuel...last year all I cold get was nasty punky stuff

Nice color addition!

Hoping for improving conditions....

[stumphugger]

We were camping in a CA state park. We is a group of chainsaw folks who were volunteering our services. A few professional timber fallers were part of the group.
The fire pits were made to meet pretty harsh fire prevention conditions. It was a steel ring about 3 feet high with the fire contained at the bottom. It was hard to get heat out of it. I made a candle and we got more heat with it than with a conventional fire.

Another name for it is a Chaser Heater. A chaser is a logger who stays up where the logs must be unhooked after skidding and does the unhooking, and any more cutting off of limbs that is needed before sending the logs to a mill. In the winter, chasers will often have a warming fire going, or sometimes, one of the candles.

[Fyddler]

I have been wanting to try this for a few weeks now. I saw someone on Craigslist selling them, and found neumerous instructables on the subject. Just been looking for that perfect dry log.

[GerryS]

I tested them, this weekend. They burned beautifully except it was pine and the smoke was dark and pitchy. It did burn long with a good flame. 2 to 3 hours without being touched. It didn't throw a lot of hear out. By itself, it was mediocre. Useable but not great.

BUT if you teepee stack hardwood around it before the sides collapse, wow! Now we've got a game changer! The coal bed left behind was massive. Even on wet ground Ill be buying a couple more of these for later use....my inner pyro was quite happy indeed!