Safe wood scraps for wood-burning stove?
user-54856
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A friend wants wood scraps for their wood-burning stove. It’s in their living space and seems to be well vented. Excluding CCA or other treated lumber, are other wood products or wood species a potential health hazard when burned? I guess I’m most concerned about the glues in plywood, MDF, chip board, etc., and osage orange (hedge) may burn too hot.
Replies
I think you've got it covered: No treated lumber and no plywood or other man-made sheet goods. It's conceivable that some exotics might cause problems, but I doubt that there is much information available on them. You might want to avoid Grevillea (lacewood) for example, since it contains oils that are chemically similar to the ones in poison oak/ivy.
Some woods really gum up the works with creosote, and some produce voluminous quantities of ash (ash, for example). I think you can probably find lists via a Google search that list domestic woods that are preferable or to be avoided.
-Steve
You're right, its pretty easy to find lists comparing the relative burning qualities of various wood species. What I haven't found is a more scientific basis for excluding certain wood products. CCA is fairly obvious as a don't burn, but plywood and even MDF and chip board are not so obvious. Can anyone suggest a source of information? Maybe a government brochure.
Edited 3/8/2008 10:43 am ET by Troost Avenue
Troost,
Try this: http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/ (Forest Products Laboratory)
You may have to search about there but I would think they have something, maybe via their search function.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Most domestic hardwoods (oak, maple, birch) are relatively safe to burn; poplar burns very fast and HOT! I would pretty much avoid coniferous wood species. Great for kindling though.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob
You forgot the King of the orange glow-- Hickory. In my neck of the woods this is the wood to burn.
Once it's down- split it right now. Do what you want ASAP. Once she dries - it's all over mate. Making parts years ago from hickory, I let it sit too long. I could barely get a bit thru the stuff it was soooooooooo hard.
dan
Edited 3/7/2008 9:04 pm ET by danmart
dan,
Hickory has only crossed my path twice. Used to sell a bunch of it for flooring used in commercial stores. Customers loved it cause it was harder than nails! The other time was for smoking stuff on the grille. We don't see that much up here.
Maybe I'll be seeing more if that damn weather doesn't change pretty soon. SNOWING to beat the band now!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob
Thought I would reply to you for a couple of things
Hickory. The stuff is everywhere here in NC. If you want to split the logs its great. Chair parts for a windsor are easy. Just don't let the stuff dry. It is the hardest American wood I have fooled with once its dry. Just give up and go back to the house. Done.
A friend of mine from Bath showed up with 3500 feet of Red Birch flooring last week for his house. He brought it back from Maine. It was a "gift" from a friend. The stuff was 3/4 t/g 3 1/4" clear long pieces. The two of us put in 2600 sf last week. Sanded, screened and finished it yesterday. This stuff is beautiful. The oak in my place looks weak next to this. My friend told me its everywhere you look in Maine. Do you see it in NH in your neck of the woods?
dan
Edited 3/8/2008 5:33 pm ET by danmart
dan,
I can get it in Lyndonville but it's a bit pricy or so I am told. For 4/4 they're asking $7.75/bf! no width specifiied, less than 10"W!
I just talked with another logger today but didn't ask about Red Birch, but I'm seeing him tomorrrow. If he has/can get any it'll be logs but my sawyer is reasonable and can mill it into flooring too and has a kiln.
I'll check it out for ya and let ya know.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 3/8/2008 9:17 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
DO NOT BURN ASH OR HICKORY! Send it to be! I use this wood all the time to make things!
Will
What do you use Hickory for? Do you harvest your own or do you buy it kiln dried in rough lumber?
I have so much available in log form(cut down 16'lengths) and trees needing to be cut down its crazy. Nobody wants the stuff. I'm thinking of making a heavy workbench with the stuff??
It makes good bending wood but after it dries I can not get 3 holes drilled and I need to resharpen the bits. Red Oak is just so much easier, I skip the hickory.
Flooring and Hickory. If it was good stuff for flooring, it wood be stacked to the ceillings in NC. It splits much to easily once it dries.
Last project with hickory: chair hoops and spindles.
dan
I buy mine local from a hardwood supplier.All I can say I saw some at a reasonable price there.. And it went from there.. I do not mind sharpening tools.. Hell, my first job was sharpening tools and drills for Brown & Sharp screw machines!I mostly work with very hard woods.. Not sure why.. Just used them and found they were not THAT bad to work with. BUT I was not in a hurry!It splits much to easily once it dries. ??I have made a few archery bows from laminated Hickory and ash.. Hickory outside and Ash inside. Middle strips of Hickory. 50 lb pull or so.. I cannot pull harder at my age!Yes Gorilla glue! NEVER had one break! Twist or otherwise.. Now all I need to do is learn to hit the target more often!Hickory is NOT for everybody.. I was trying to say it is NOT that hard to work with sharp tools...Staining is another matter but I cannot finish anything well! I can 'build almost anything'.. Getting a nice finish I need HELP!Edited 3/9/2008 11:34 am by WillGeorge
Edited 3/9/2008 11:42 am by WillGeorge
I have made a few archery bows from laminated Hickory and ash.. Hickory outside and Ash inside. Middle strips of Hickory. 50 lb pull or so.. I cannot pull harder at my age!
Very interesting use there. I know some guys down here that use the Ash for that project but can't recall the Hickory in the mix. I don't do much laminating so I am out of that league. My experience with the oak, hickory and ash has all been split out pieces from straight grain wood.
Hickory is by far the best for bending without heat but I go ahead and heat it up any time I use it for shaping. All my axe, hatchet and froe handles are hickory. I have made 50 wedges over the years for splitting logs with hickory and the mauls for beating a froe are hickory. Rough stuff not photo quality mind you.
dan
Edited 3/9/2008 11:55 am ET by danmart
I AM NOT a expert at Bow making.. Like anything I make I experiment.I use the inner slab of Hickory for some inner strength.. I laminate most of the inner bow with Ash for flexibility. Outer shield of Hickory to help prevent denting. I have no idea what I'm doing but seems to work for what I do... No, i'm not trying out for the Olympics!By the way.. I forgot to mention the Ash and Hickory are split and I Plane/Sand from there for a flat slab.. I do not try for the traditional as in the book 'Making Indian Bows And Arrows.. The Old Way.. By Douglad Spotted Eagle'..EDIT again:My Son brought my latest bow to Colorado and he has lost a few arrows he cannot find! OK.. so he said he used them expensive carbon fiber ones!Edited 3/9/2008 12:17 pm by WillGeorge
Edited 3/9/2008 12:21 pm by WillGeorge
I would not burn softwoods like pine. While not dangerous due to fumes, it will build up in the flue and cause a flue fire.
If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it.
And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Not necessarily. Creosote condenses on the inside of the flue because of the difference in temperature between the flue gas and the metal (like breath condenses on a cold window). With a hotter flame the temperature difference may be greater but the gas moves faster up the flue and has lest time to condense. Hard woods tend to burn cooler and more slowly and may actually produce more creosote build up than hotter and faster burning soft wood. In either case, if the wood isn't dry you're asking for trouble. Google for 'best fire wood' and you'll find lots of good stuff. However, I'm still looking for an answer to my original question about burning wood products like plywood, MDF, etc. but have sent an inquiry to the government forest products laboratory. I'll follow up if they have anything to say.
Troost,
I found the FPL site but didn't look around all that much but that should get some answers for ya.
As to burning engineered products; plywood, MDF, etc. I'd be concerned about all the glues used in them to hold em together. Might not be all that bad as far as creosote is concerned but in the case of a backdraw I'd not want to breathe the smoke!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
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