How to make a Swedish candle

Split log fire, this method of log burning has so many names.

This involves a little bit of work but the reward is next level.

The Swedish candle can be made from a single log or you can try binding a load of smaller thick branches together.

They both require about the same amount of work.

It just depends on what tools/wood are available.

This was my first attempt at making the candle out of multiple smaller branches.

And I was very pleased with the result…

What you need is to collect up some dead hanging wood.

If it’s been raining you want to stay clear of anything that’s been laying on the ground as

it might be too wet.

So now you have your branches all gathered up, here comes the tricky part of binding them together.

I used a voile strap to temporarily secure my branches whilst I figured out how to bend some much thinner and greener branches round.

Once you’re happy, remove your temporary strap and continue binding.

You’ll have noticed that you have a lot of slack/gaps within your bundle of branches,

so start wedging, packing out with smaller branches.

This will make your structure much stiffer and won’t wobble, making it easy to move about and cook on.

For the other method of candle making, you’ll need to have a decent handsaw and a relatively large spade or drill-bit at least 20 mm in diameter.

This is just a rough guide and you don’t have to stick to it. Just bear in mind,

the bigger the hole the better the airflow.

The handsaw is for cutting down vertically you’re basically aiming for an X marks the spot.

With your drill bit hole being the bull’s-eye.

Once you’ve drilled and sawn down just over halfway vertically through the centre of your log,

you’re going to drill your final hole through the side, picking up the vertical hole this will be your flue.

To light, any of your candles, gather up some small twigs and a bit of silver birch as tinder.

If you don’t have the silver birch, use a bit of bike inner tube.

Then build a small fire on top of your candle. This will then burn down into that vertical drill bit hole and like that,

hey presto! you should have a portable fire for cooking/heating.