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DIY Finnish candle. Video and photo instructions

DIY Finnish candle. Video and photo instructions


The original mini-bonfire is also called taiga, Indian, Swedish candle. Thanks to the peculiarities of making Finnish candles and the use of intense flame, they successfully replace traditional fires on hikes, at picnics and evening gatherings in the yard. You need a minimum of tools and skills, 5-20 minutes of simple effort, and you will get a source of vertical flame with a burning duration of half an hour to 7 hours.

4 ways to make a Finnish candle

Using any method, a Finnish candle is made with your own hands from chock, sometimes replaced with a block of wood logs. Acceptable use small stumps, if only one piece of log is required. The duration of combustion depends on the length and diameter of the workpieces.

Method 1. Candle with paraffin wick

  • Burning time: from 30 minutes.
  • Production time: 20 minutes.

Tools and materials:

  • drill with drill 20-30 mm;
  • saw (manual, electric or diesel engine);
  • sawing sawhorses;
  • lighter;
  • block for a candle;
  • a block of larger diameter for counterweight;
  • paraffin or wax;
  • paper or newspaper.

To get a fire with vertical burning, just light the wick. We recommend installing Finnish candles away from trees on paved or concrete areas, cleared ground, fire-resistant tiles, or a metal stand to prevent the surrounding vegetation from catching fire.

Method 2. Candle made from logs

  • Burning duration: up to 2.5 hours.
  • Production time: 7-10 minutes.

Tools and materials:

  • axe;
  • a log or four logs.

Manufacturing sequence

The whole lump is split into four equal parts. The logs are installed vertically in the form of the original log. When a Finnish candle is made from ready-made firewood, logs of the same length and cross-section are selected, which together form a solid log. The design provides good air flow, but is not wind resistant enough.

Method 3. Three logs

  • Burning time: from 7 hours.
  • Production time: 5 minutes.

Necessary materials: 3 logs of the same height. No tools required.

Manufacturing sequence

Simplest a way to make a long-burning Finnish candle with your own hands. The blocks are installed in a circle with a small gap between them. Then a fire is built in the inner “well.” Unimpeded access to oxygen contributes to an intense flame, and thanks to large diameter the burning time is extended.

More heat is generated than with other taiga candle designs. It also ensures the greatest stability of a disposable oven. Disadvantage (the flame can be blown out by the wind. Tip: as it burns out, move the logs to the center to maintain the burning intensity.

Method 4. Primus

  • Burning time: up to 3 hours.
  • Production time: 20 minutes.

Tools and materials:

  • axe;
  • saw (optional);
  • wire;
  • a log or several logs.

Manufacturing sequence


This design provides intense hot flame. In the first two hours after ignition, you can cook or boil water on the mini-oven. The optimal size is considered to be when the length of the block is twice the diameter. You can create mini-bonfires with a height of 20-30 cm.

Tip: if you plan to cook, then make a Finnish candle with two shorter logs to improve air flow to the flame. Useful uses of a disposable stove in the household

The design represents a vertical furnace pyrolysis combustion. The peculiarity of this type of flame is the simultaneous combustion of both wood and the resulting wood gas. As a result, less soot and ash are formed, and the heat transfer of the flame is higher. Even a two-hour use of a Finnish candle helps solve many problems of arrangement and relaxation.

Culinary uses of Finnish candles

In the absence of summer kitchen and on hikes disposable ovens easy to adapt for the following tasks:

  • cooking in cauldrons;
  • singeing carcasses poultry, game;
  • boiling water;
  • heating food.

Unlike a stationary summer kitchen, a Finnish candle can be used anywhere on the site, or taken with you on a picnic or on a trip.

Landscape decoration

Mini bonfires are convenient to use for temporary illumination of dark areas without landscape lights. They create a warm cozy atmosphere and can complement the decoration of outdoor seating areas for special events. Finally, the spark plugs will be replaced street fires and fireplaces will help you relax by the fire during your evening relaxation.

Repair and construction use

Concentrated combustion has determined the advantage of using a Finnish candle compared to conventional fires for the following work:

  • firing, heating of metal;
  • melting of roofing felt or lump bitumen;
  • firing and drying various surfaces and blanks.

Easy to manufacture, disposable ovens are compact, simple device, intense combustion and easy transportation. This enhances the attractiveness of Finnish candles for home or tourist use.

Video instructions for making a Finnish candle


Hello, dear users of this site. It's summer. The most convenient and good time for nature trips, picnics, and fishing. In general - the most best time for an active holiday.

Every time, going out into nature, many people take with them a pile of firewood or coals on which to cook food. It is not always possible to find dead wood at a vacation spot to use as flammable material. Therefore, I want to tell you how you can make a so-called Finnish candle. The good thing about it is that it doesn’t take much time to make and it burns for quite a long time. To make such a device, you only need a piece of log, a drill with a drill bit and a chainsaw.

The author of this master class initially took a small log and worried about making it easy to saw. To do this, he drills a hole in a shorter log, drives a stick into it, and also makes a hole in a second, longer log. He puts on a small log and a longer one and already saws. Here's how it happens and what comes out of it.





Next, he takes a regular paraffin candle and drips paraffin into the cuts from the inside.


Then he takes a newspaper several centimeters longer than the depth of the slot in the log and crumbles candle shavings into it. The edges are also melted with molten paraffin. The resulting part is inserted into the slot of the block.





Then this wick is set on fire and the candle flares up.


This is just one of the options. Usually in nature, my friends and I have prepared a candle blank in advance, a thicker log and no candles with a wick. Extra waste time. In our slots, small ones are already poured in nature. wood shavings, dry grass and set on fire. Much faster and more convenient. According to the author, this candle burns for no more than half an hour. And the production time is twenty minutes. In our case, the production time is no more than five minutes. And it burns longer. But this depends on the thickness of the log. Easy to install - or worth it on its own if Bottom part the logs are wide enough, or dug into the ground. All you need to do is prepare the fish soup and boil the tea. So there you go. But in general, it’s quite a convenient and useful thing. Saves time and effort!

Fans of outdoor activities, as well as hunters and fishermen, know how important it is to properly build a fire in order not only to keep warm, but also to cook camp food on it. This is especially important in winter or in slushy conditions, when you constantly need to add firewood and make sure that the fire does not go out. Give warmth and light for a long time, and also provide fire safety in nature, a Finnish candle will allow, other names of which are taiga, Swedish, Indian. This fire design is easy to move without fear of burns, and it can burn all night. How to make a Finnish candle will be described in detail below.

Cooking with a Finnish candle

An effective candle for burning is a log with a diameter of 12 cm and a height of more than 18 cm. When building a fire, the type of wood used does not matter, but it is better not to use conifers due to the release of resin, which sparks and cracks. In other cases, the main thing is that the wood used is dry, but not rotten. The proportions of a Finnish candle depend on its purpose: for heating it is more convenient to use a thick and long log, for lighting it is more convenient to use a long and thin log for ease of carrying, and for cooking the candle should be thick and short.


Finnish candle for cooking

Finnish candle: how to make, video

The simplest method is the so-called camping method, or making a Finnish candle from a ready-made log, if one is found in the forest. You need to select three cuts of the same size and place them in a circle close to each other. A fire is lit in the middle. Uniform burning in all directions will be ensured the right choice chock in height, which should be two diameters of the logs in width. If you place a three-liter pot on these logs, it will boil in less than half an hour. As the logs burn out, they will need to be placed in a “hut”, and then simply add firewood.

If it is possible to use a chainsaw, you can make a Finnish candle yourself in the following way: take a thick log at least 50 cm long and cut it crosswise in the middle to about three-quarters of its height. If the log is too wide, you can make cuts so that the log is divided into eight “slices”. If you make more of them, then the Finnish candle will burn out faster. The log needs to be well secured to the ground, supported by stones or slightly dug into an earthen depression. Sawdust, dry fuel or a mixture for ignition are placed inside the cuts.


If you don’t have a chainsaw, you can make a Finnish candle using an axe. The log splits like a regular wood splitter, only into identical logs. Then they are gathered together and tied at the bottom with wire. A thick branch is inserted into the middle of the hearth, which serves as a kind of wick for Finnish candle. If the log is not too large, a branch can be stuck into the ground, then it will act as a leg for the fire.

If there is no tool nearby, you can assemble a Finnish candle with your own hands. Thick poles with a diameter of at least 5 cm are collected and installed around the branch in the same way as the method described above. On inside The pole located in the center needs to be scored with a knife so that it ignites faster.

You can watch the video on how to place a Finnish candle correctly.

How to make a Finnish Primus candle with your own hands for cooking

The Finnish Primus candle is used only for cooking, since its heat is not enough to heat it. Its difference from a regular Finnish candle is as follows:

  • The log should have a notch inside if it is whole. If the fire is assembled from individual logs, they can be planed in the middle, then connected as described earlier, secured with rope or wire so that they fit tightly together, forming an outer side without gaps.
  • The logs located opposite each other are trimmed or pushed up a little more than the others by 5-6 cm. Made in this way, they form a structure that allows the fire to be fanned by air, while the flame will be directed predominantly upward.

Thus, the fire is concentrated inside the structure, giving off heat to instant cooking food. For cooking, it is better to chop the log into four parts, not eight. If possible, it is better to place the fire on stones or logs so that there is a gap for air below. Otherwise, you can cut a small air duct from the bottom of the logs. It should be taken into account that the hearth concentrated in the upper part of the logs will burn long time, but not too intensely, and when ignited from below, the fire will be stronger, but the candle will burn faster.


A Scandinavian or Finnish candle is a very common fire design among experienced hunters, fishermen and lovers of outdoor activities. This design good because it is represented by one single vertically installed log. Moreover, such a fire is ideal for cooking.

1. Make a Finnish candle with an ax


For this method you will need an ax and a log with even fibers without knots. First, we split the log into 6-8 logs. The wedge of each log is cut off with an ax so that when reassembly it turned out to be a tube. We lay out the logs in a “daisy” pattern, take the wire and put the log back together. The wire will hold the entire structure. The chain left over from the logs can be used to kindle a Finnish candle.

2. Make a Finnish candle with a chainsaw


One of the most simple ways. We take our chainsaw and divide the log into 6 segments, making cuts approximately 2/3 of the height of the piece of wood. That's all that needs to be done before ignition. All that remains is to place some dry wood chips in the very center and set it on fire. The only “but” is that there is not so much fuel to fit into such a Scandinavian candle. Therefore, you can add a little gasoline directly from the saw’s tank.

3. Make a Finnish candle with a drill


Here we need a feather drill for wood with a diameter of 20-30 mm. The length of the drill must exceed 2/3 of the height of the log. First, drill one hole exactly in the middle. After this, another side hole needs to be made so that it connects with the first one made along the core of the log. Lighting such a candle does not cause any difficulties.

How the candles burn


If a Finnish candle was made with an ax or chainsaw, then it will burn very quickly and will give a lot of heat and fire. This candle will burn out in about 3-5 hours. There is no fundamental difference between fires created by the first two (described here) methods. Another thing is the Finnish candle, created by drilling. This will burn almost twice as long, but the heat will be less. The latter also flares up the slowest.

Video

Continuing the hiking theme to the delight of the traveler.

Finnish candle - simple and effective for boiling water and cooking in the field.

Its essence lies in the fact that two longitudinal cuts are made in the log, perpendicular to each other, as a result of which an X-shaped crosshair is formed at the end. The depth and number of cuts depends on the desired time and intensity of combustion. The positive thing about this configuration is that you can choose total length logs and the depth of the cuts, thanks to which you have the opportunity to raise the burning part of the log above the surface or snow to the required height if you do not want your fire to fall into the snow or leave noticeable scorches on the ground. Commercial and field representatives of this configuration are often cut with a chainsaw, the chain of which is wide enough so that such a Finnish spark plug can be easily ignited later.

However, my attempts to make it using a folding camp saw were not successful, and I see the reasons for this as follows:

  • The thickness of the saw is small, which is why the existing cuts do not provide the proper air flow to ignite the insides of the log.
  • Inability to influence the processes occurring inside the log. A log with cuts is a kind of monolith that cannot be moved apart or looked inside. Everything that falls back into the cut is unlikely to be removed, again due to their small width. If you make a mistake, there is no way to correct it and, most likely, you will have to break the existing one or cut another log.
  • Smooth cuts of wood inside the cuts, which is why it burns poorly. The flame emitted by the kindling in the early stages of combustion is not sufficient for tangential ignition, and the combustion temperature is not yet sufficient to burn the fibers deep.
  • When the cuts are densely filled with kindling (sawdust, leaves, bark fragments, etc.), the air flow is further blocked, thereby disturbing the balance.

In addition to attempting primary ignition (by igniting kindling inside the cuts), I also tried secondary ignition (using coals from another fire), but although success increases, such a Finnish candle requires another fire, as well as an impressive amount of time for burning and fanning. Not that this is a pleasant and 100% reliable option.

In general, I consider this configuration not the best. If you have a chainsaw - yes, but only with a camping saw - it is better to use other configurations. Wider holes can theoretically be obtained by making not one, but two cuts on each side at a distance of about a centimeter from each other, with further removal of the wood between them. But in this case, I consider the labor costs too significant and ineffective to even start doing this. In addition, for this configuration you generally need to have a saw with you, otherwise longitudinal cuts in a log it’s not possible at all.

Finnish candle - configuration 2

This configuration eliminates most of the problems with narrow cuts and the need for a saw, because To create it, you can get by with an ax, or even just a knife if you don’t have any other tools. Moreover, for this configuration, not only a smoothly sawn log will be suitable, but also its severed counterpart, which will not have such a smooth surface.

With an ax or knife using and/or, the log is split into quarters. If they are not completely even, it’s not critical, because... We are interested, first of all, in the possibility of installing dishes on top of a Finnish candle, and not in appearance.

Next, on the inner surfaces of each quarter, using the same ax or knife, many notches should be made, peeling off part of the wood in the form of splinters and feathers. Their direction should be opposite to the direction of fire movement, i.e. the fire inside the log should flare up not along the chips, but “against the grain.” This wood chips will subsequently play the role of kindling for the Finnish candle, significantly accelerating and simplifying its ignition.

The next step is to cover the treated quarters with soil and tie them with wire or rope at the bottom, which provides the necessary support and stability when placing the utensils on top of the log. After fixing, the spaces between the quarters are filled with kindling and small combustible materials (sawdust, leaves, pine needles, bark fragments, etc.)

The significant advantage of this configuration over the previous one is the following positive aspects:

  • The ability to influence the width of the gap between the quarters of the log. They filled too much kindling and blocked the flow of air - the quarters can always be moved apart and some of the materials removed, after which the soil can be compacted again and one step back. This Finnish candle forgives some mistakes that the previous configuration does not allow.
  • Notches on the inner surface of the quarters flare up much faster and easier than the smooth walls from the previous configuration due to the increased contact surface. Thanks to this, less external kindling is required.

Among other things, this configuration ignites equally well using primary (ignition with tinder and kindling) and secondary ignition (with coals from another fire). So, in the photo above, several coals were simply thrown into the Finnish candle, and then everything happened by itself. There was no need to inflate anything, because... To control the air flow, simply move the quarters apart to the required width. The notches inside the log quickly raise the flame above its surface, and the Finnish candle goes into its working mode.

Finnish candle - configuration 3

This configuration requires the most materials to create, but it also has the highest efficiency and run time in my experience.

For the third configuration of the Finnish candle, you will need as many as three logs of approximately the same length. Fortunately, it is almost always possible to cut them from one tree trunk. The length and diameter of the logs are selected based on the desired operating time and the duration of cooking of certain dishes.

Try to choose a log without bark, or additionally debark it before proceeding. Bark is a tree’s natural protection from many negative factors, including fire, so logs with bark, due to their increased density, flare up much worse. On outside For three of the six log halves you will need to make notches that are already familiar to you from the previous configuration. They, as in the previous case, will act as kindling and help spread the flame over a large area inside the future Finnish candle.

After the notches are made, place the halves with them in the shape of a triangle, with the notches inward. Remember also that the flame inside the Finnish candle should go against the “wool” formed by the notches. With the remaining three halves, prop up the notched halves as shown in the photo above.

Next, the channel inside the three halves should be filled with tinder and kindling and ignited. Until the moment when the logs themselves ignite, you will get some kind of semblance inside the logs, therefore in the early stages you will observe mainly a large number of smoke coming out of the bowels of a Finnish candle.

But as the temperature rises and the coal base accumulates, the logs themselves will light up, and your Finnish candle will go into its operating mode, accompanied by a high flame. This design resembles an eternal flame, with long tongues of flame and a clearly distinguishable roar during operation. But this configuration is good not only, and not so much as the ability to replace logs as they burn out. This is not a monolith (like configuration 1), there are no connected or twisted elements (like in configuration 2), so you can replace any of the burnt-out internal logs with one of the spacer halves at almost any time. All that is necessary for this is to lift the dishes from the Finnish candle, take one of the supports, place it in place with the burnt inner log and lower the pot or frying pan back. The place of the support can be taken by the next half, prepared for the next replacement of logs.

In terms of labor costs, efficiency, success and flexibility of the organization, the Finnish candle in this configuration seemed to me the most effective. You do it independent choice, and feel free to share your experience of organizing a Finnish candle in the comments.

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