Make Your Own Egg Carton Fire Starters
George VondriskaGeorge Vondriska teaches you a cool way to get your winter fires going with these egg carton fire starters! George fills empty cardboard egg cartons with wood shavings (he recommends soft woods like pine or cedar), then pours a layer of melted wax over each shell, making sure to get all of the wood wet. When the wax solidifies, you can use your woodworking band saw to cut the shells apart. Voila, you’ve just found an easy way to start a fire!
Share tips, start a discussion or ask one of our experts or other students a question.
Already a member? Sign in
6 Responses to “Make Your Own Egg Carton Fire Starters”
Explore Videos by George Vondriska
You may be interested in
Premium Membership
Unlock exclusive member content from our industry experts.
- 24/7 Access to Premium Woodworking Videos, Projects, and Tips
- Step-by-Step Instructional Demos, Plans, and Tutorials
- 50% Off Video Downloads Purchased in the Woodworkers Guild of America Shop
- 2 Printable Woodworking Plans
Unlock exclusive member content from our industry experts.
- 24/7 Access to Premium Woodworking Videos, Projects, and Tips
- Step-by-Step Instructional Demos, Plans, and Tutorials
- 50% Off Video Downloads Purchased in the Woodworkers Guild of America Shop
- 2 Full-Length Video Downloads to Watch Offline
- 2 Printable Woodworking Plans
Gold Membership
$370 Value
Get everything included in Premium plus exclusive Gold Membership benefits.
- 24/7 Access to Premium Woodworking Videos, Projects, and Tips
- Step-by-Step Instructional Demos, Plans, and Tutorials
- 8 Full-Length Video Downloads to Watch Offline
- 3 Full-Length Woodworking Classes to Keep for Life
- 7 Printable Woodworking Plans
- Discounts on Purchase-to-Own Content in the Woodworkers Guild of America Shop
- Access to Ask the Expert Program
- Exclusive GOLD LIVE Streaming Events
Why couldn't you lite one off for us? Just as a demonstration of how well they work. Also, would this process work for fire bricks? Or would they burn up too fast to be usefull?
Tubes from toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls work well too. Cut them into 2” lengths and follow the same process as the egg carton. I use wax paper under them.
I’ve been making these exactly like you did, but before I got a bandsaw, I used my table saw to quickly cut them apart. I make 100+ at a time to last the whole winter. The wax build up on my bandsaw is definitely a problem. What’s the best way to clean off the wax?
Smiled the whole time. As a bee keeper this comes in handy and the smell of beeswax is a heavenly scent to work with. Thanks, George for the twofer.
Wow !!! I was surprised to see this video when I was viewing some of the wood video projects . When making my fire starters for my wood burning stoves, I basically use the same method but insert a small length a wick into the top of the fire starters ( saved from the used melted candles ) to get the starters burning or just bend over a side flap from each starter. I place my egg cartons outside on a cool day and the wax hardens in no time and then I just snap each one off, ready for the wood burning season........
When I do it I use soy wax that you can buy online and I leave the carton together for camping that way it is semi weather resistant. If you dont like the wood shavings you can also use dryer lint.