Nails in the wood...

[crow]

Forgive if this is redundant...
I will be using a hearthstone tribute. soapstone. no ash pan.
the wood i bought looks to be well seasoned , rings when i strike the pieces together.
the wood dealer says he seasons unspit log lengths for a year to a year and 1/2, then splits to order.
it had a slight smell when it was first delivered , but not like new green wood. i've had it stacked with a loose tarp to sheild from rain
for two months now (waiting for the stove to be installed next week) and what smell there was has gone.
it has little or no bark. but some of it(not a lot) has nails in it.
the stove manual says not to burn wood with nails in it beacause it can damage the soapstone...
what do you all think?
I'm was dismayed to find nails in the wood to begin with. others i have spoken to say it's pretty common.
and it's only a fraction of the load. but when you're paying for wood , you want to be able to use it all.
and the peices that have it have to many to remove.
is it common for people to season wood this way? or do most people season it split and stacked?

 

[saichele]

I don't worry much about it. If I see chunks of metal I pull them, but I've found nails and other bits of metal inthe ash. I'm fairly certain a metal (steel or cast) stove doesn't care. Not sure why soapstone would be different. If the tree was near people for any length of time, someone tacked a sign or hung a fence on it.

Where it really gets you is inthe cutting. Hit a nail with a chainsaw and things slow down pretty fast.

Steve

 

[Woodburner]

Steve:

I am not concerned either about a few nails in the firewood. I've been burning various HearthStone stoves for many years and pay little attention to a nail in the firewood. I took a quick look at the Tribute owner's manual and can't find any reference to nails. I would be curious to know where you read that, maybe I just missed it. I tried to reach the guy who writes our manuals but he won't be in until later.

Also, let your firewood dealer know that wood doesn't really dry out until after it is split. You can cut it and leave it stacked for several years, it still won't really dry out until after it has been split. If you are covering your wood, make sure you don't cover the sides. That will trap the moisture in the wood.

 

[fbelec]

i've burnt wood with nails. all that happens is you shove it out with rest of the ashes.
if your fire sits directly on soapstone i still wouldn't worry about it because most likely your fire will be burning ontop of ashes anyway so it's not touching any soapstone.

i say burn it have a beer and don't worry. (that my opinion)

 

[BrotherBart]

When you look at the context in which Hearthstone says don't burn nails, they ain't really talking about the nails:

"Never burn driftwood, painted wood, wood with nails in it or pressed particleboard. These woods contain chemicals that can damage your stove, as well as harm the environment. "

They appear to be more concerned with the kinds of woods that normally have nails in them. ie. pressure treated, stained, varnished etc.

 

[Rhone]

I think in reference to Hearthstone and soapstone, my guess is they're more concerned you'll crack the soapstone when loading the unit. My Hearthstone manual goes as far as telling me not to throw wood into my unit because I can fracture/crack the soapstone. Soapstone can get hairline fractures with normal use, they're probably concerned a nail may find it's way into one and work like a wedge and split the stone if more wood is added to it, or the piece is forced in when the nail finds one of those cracks.

 

[Rick]

I got some wood from someone who was clearing an old fence line. There was enough barbed wire and nails in this wood to practically bring to the scrap yard. I don't have a soap stone stove so I can't comment on that. My old stove had a cat in it and the manual warned against burning galvanized nails because they could damage it. I don't know how or why.

Rick

 

[BrotherBart]

One of the wizards will be along soon to explain the violent exothermic reaction created when you burn zinc (the stuff they galvanize things with). The gases from it are probably not the cat's best friend. And if it does not set off until the gases get to the cat, Varooomm.

 

[fbelec]

not to get of subject but a friend of mine was setting up a stove in his basement workshop and was going to use galv smoke pipe. i stopped him and said you can't use that stuff it gives off gases that are not healthy. when he asked me to clarify i didn't know. can someone go into a little detail as to why he couldn't use galv pipe. i don't like telling someone not to do and can't explain myself.

 

[Willhound]

I've heard the same thing. I forget the name of the gas that is released, but it is definately not healthy. When searching the net, I cam across this story:

(broken link removed to http://www.motherearthnews.com/menarch/archive/issues/049/049-070-01.htm)

that actually RECCOMENDS "galvanized" pipe for wood burning, BUT, in carefully reading the story, I think the author has mixed up galvanized with stainless steel, or nickel coated pipes.

Nothing against Mother Earth News, but I think they better check out this story some more before calling it "the best source of wood burning info anywhere".

Willhound

 

[Willhound]

Zinc oxide. Makes sense. Try this link:

http://www.intox.org/databank/documents/chemical/zincsalt/ukpid89.htm


Willhound

 

[fbelec]

hi will

read both. or what i could make of the long research paper.
i'm not sure that some of the things that mother earth mag can be used (heat retriever for the smoke pipe). i'am a simple person. i could not make heads or tails of that research paper. i didn't see anything about heating galvy pipe. galvy welding, but that is alot hotter than a stove pipe will ever be. maybe i missed it.

 

[elkimmeg]

Instead of research paper reading keep it simple. Most Galv vent pipe is 26 gage too light a gage required for wood srtoves
Sood stove requires 24 gage but 22 gage welded seams is far superior in durability. Talk to any welder about working with Galv (zink oxide)

 

[Roospike]

Talk to any welder about working with Galv (zink oxide)

I;m a shop owner , welding - fabrications . Welding this stuff and /or over heating this stuff will kill you ! There was one guy that was a blacksmith and put a galv bar in a melt oven to soften it .........dead the next day .

 

[fbelec]

guage and death. good enough.

thanks guys