Burning Anchorseal

[Dave Bunge]

Does anyone have experience burning wood coated with Anchorseal in an indoor fireplace?

I'm getting rid of some of my older turning stock. The end grain is coated with Anchorseal. My neighbor is interested in burning it. I wonder if there are any risks, such as flare ups or wax dripping/pooling on the hearth.

Appreciate any insights people may have.

Dave

[Tom Wilson66]

I don't know if there is a problem with burning the anchorseal, but you could just cut off the ends of the wood and not have to worry about it.

[Brice Rogers]

I think that anchorseal is just a wax emulsion. So, it should improve the burn and is unlikely to to be much of an issue. Probably not much different than tossing a couple of candles into a fire. The amount of wax is low and it is distributed over the surface of the wood. Easy-peazy.

[Bob Bouis]

I don't burn it because (IIRC) it smells funny when it burns. At least that's my recollection.

[John K Jordan]

Does anyone have experience burning wood coated with Anchorseal in an indoor fireplace?...I wonder if there are any risks, such as flare ups or wax dripping/pooling on the hearth.

Most of the anchorseal coats on my blanks are pretty thin unless I apply multiple coats so I suspect it won't be like if burning chunks of paraffin. It should be easy to test first for dripping and flareups outdoors. Excess wax does scrape off easily if the surface is fairly smooth.

Perhaps contact UC Coatings and ask. As for possible bio hazards, from their safety doc: "Not a hazardous waste. Where recovery and reuse is not possible, dry water out of product and dispose of as an wax industrial waste or by incineration where permitted under local, regional, or federal regulations."

The MSDS says it contains:
Petroleum Wax 45 - 50%
Propylene Glycol 5%

and

"Hazardous Decomposition: Burning may produce carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide." Just like burning many other things.

JKJ

[Dave Bunge]

Thanks everyone for the input. I'll have my neighbor try burning a small piece before moving the whole stack to his house. I have other friends with outdoor wood burners who will take the wood if my neighbor sees any issues.

Once again I've been reminded how much easier it is to say "no" or "just a couple of chunks" when someone offers free wood, than it is to cut it seal it, store it, walk around it, scrape the ice off of my car because there is no room to park in my garage, then finally haul the wood out for someone else to use as firewood.

Dave

[John K Jordan]

Once again I've been reminded how much easier it is to say "no" or "just a couple of chunks" when someone offers free wood, than it is to cut it seal it, store it, walk around it, scrape the ice off of my car because there is no room to park in my garage, then finally haul the wood out for someone else to use as firewood.

That's priceless!

The best advice I've heard is to never take more green wood than you can turn or at least rough turn in a couple of weeks. The other John Jordan (the famous one) says he prefers to get a log instead of chunks, keeps them out of the sun and off the ground, and never seals the end. When he is ready to turn something he whacks about 6" off the end and throws it away then cuts off a blank to turn.

I mostly turn dry wood so unless it's in the dead of winter I always cut up green wood within a few days. I make turning blanks for spindles, boxes, and small bowls and such, seal them as needed, and stack them on racks to dry. Much of the wood I'm using now has been drying for 10 years or more. If I have too much I never seem to have trouble finding woodturners willing to take some.

drying_IMG_5757.jpg

I write the species and the date on each piece. Before use I trim at least the ends on the bandsaw and check for cracks and checks.

JKJ

[Roger Newby]

The Anchorseal probably causes cancer in California..................but EVERYTHING causes cancer in California!!

[JohnC Lucas]

The sticks I use to start my fires probably have more wax than the end cut off a log sealed with anchorseal. Remember anchorseal is wax and water mixed.