# Nails in wood - safe to burn?



## jtcedinburgh (Oct 4, 2006)

Hi folks.

My father in law does a fair bit of woodwork (mainly boat-building) and he is keeping off-cuts of various woods for me.  Some of these are ideal for the stove, but contain screws/nails.

I'm wondering - if I didn't remove these, would they be okay to leave in the wood, or would they melt and cause problems?

Obviously, being lazy, I'd prefer to not have to extract each nail before burning, but am prepared to do so if you reckon it'd cause problems.

Ta,

John


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## Roospike (Oct 4, 2006)

The nails and screws shouldn't hurt your wood stove BUT burning lumber style wood can and will over fire your wood stove and will damage it. Nothing wrong with a few very small kindling scraps just to get the wood logs going an a new restart but i would not recommend just burning mill ends and lumber in your stove.


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## ourhouse (Oct 4, 2006)

I have burned wood with nails,bolts, and screw eyes it before. As Roospike said be carefull about the amount of lumber scraps you burn.


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## EatenByLimestone (Oct 4, 2006)

Put them in as carefully as you would in a camp fire...  they still have a point that can tear up your hand if you aren't careful.


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## Corey (Oct 4, 2006)

If nails and screws were harmful in any way, I would certainly know by now...sometimes I think I should be taking the ashes to the scrap metal dealer instead of the trash can.  

The warnings listed above all apply.  Also, if you are dumping ashes in the garden or yard, you will probably want to avoid that when you burn the nails.

Corey


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## babalu87 (Oct 4, 2006)

I just ordered a high strength magnet from McMaster Carr for the purpose of removing nails from the ashes
We compost them and I dont need no stinkin nails friggin up my rototiller


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## begreen (Oct 4, 2006)

I have boxes of construction scraps, cabinetry scraps, boat building scraps and now oak flooring scraps. There have been occassional nails etc. in them and have never been an issue. babalu's idea is a good one if you want to recycle the ashes without the additional iron. I have to agree with Dylan that the overfiring worries are a bit exagerated. But if you tried burning a full load of cedar from the shipyard, you might have to keep a very close eye on the damper and temps. 

Do be sure you are not burning treated lumber, but boatyards can be a great source of wood scraps. I have some pretty exotic firewood from one of them - padauk. I even feel a momentary twinge of guilt when burning it, the wood is so beautiful.


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## hstraf (Oct 7, 2006)

How about burning wood from pallettes?  Is that ok?  Where I live, there is a local business who gets hundreds of pallettes a week and he's offered them to me very cheap if I want them.  (He knows I burn wood, etc.)  Previously, he just burned them once every few weeks in a giant bonfire in the compound area.  Crazy.

Will burning this wood hurt a stove or insert?


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