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Burning old mahogany window frames?

PaulaJ

By PaulaJ
in Living Afloat

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PaulaJ Explorer

PaulaJ

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I had my multifuel Stovax Stockton 3 stove fitted in November and after plenty of practice am getting the hang of it now. Have just been offered some old mahogany window frames which being a hard wood I assume they should burn well. Only problem is they'll have been varnished over the years so how safe are they to actually burn?

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pophops Proficient

pophops

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I had my multifuel Stovax Stockton 3 stove fitted in November and after plenty of practice am getting the hang of it now. Have just been offered some old mahogany window frames which being a hard wood I assume they should burn well. Only problem is they'll have been varnished over the years so how safe are they to actually burn?

Seems a pity to be burning mahogany. Could any of it be salvagable? It's an expensive timber these days.

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PaulaJ Explorer

PaulaJ

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Got to be honest I've not looked at it yet - a friend of my Dad's is having double glazing fitted so the frames are being ripped out. I'm not sure whether the kind of size that the pieces are likely to be would be that useful to make something else with? But I'm no joiner!

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Chris Pink Veteran II

Chris Pink

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Got to be honest I've not looked at it yet - a friend of my Dad's is having double glazing fitted so the frames are being ripped out. I'm not sure whether the kind of size that the pieces are likely to be would be that useful to make something else with? But I'm no joiner!

 

'ripping out' mahogany frames is a crime that i thought no longer went on, naif that i am.

 

Don't burn them. T

 

here will be plenty of useable wood in them. If you are tempted to burn them go and look at the price of buying even small pieces. THen, when you do put them on the fire you can say to yourself "ooh, I'm burning £15 worth of timber there" (and it won't be a big piece)

 

Where are you? Can I have them? I'll give you some nice ash instead that will burn much better.

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onionbargee Influencer

onionbargee

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from experience that window frame timber has big old 4" screw holes all over it just where you don't want them, and nails a plenty, it's quite hard to get a usefull length of timber from it. The sills are your best bet, if you have got the machines to saw and plane it.

 

I made a pair of n.b back doors from and old mahogany front door, that worked out ok.

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Mike Jordan Community Regular

Mike Jordan

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The mahogany used as surrounds for alloy frames was usually of minimal quality and unlikely to be of value when it's been ripped out.It should be obvious on sight what to do with it!The varnish may cause a small amount of pollution during the initial burning. The green principles are fine but not many competent woodworkers are prepared to risk their machinery making anything from scrap timber, just one nail or screw can cost a new set of cutters.

At the bottom line, using wood for heating is also recycling it!

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Skye Community Regular

Skye

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Indeed they would sir.Cut them into usable pieces and keep them.

 

What be SAFE to burn! which going back to the OP this was the question.

 

 

Not disrespecting all previous posts, which I agree with. - Don't burn mahogany.

 

But for the sake of the question, pretend its a piece of old Christmas tree trunk covered in varnish, now would it be safe to burn on his appliance?

 

I believe they are wanting to know what they can and cannot burn on it, so I'm sure your collective opinions on this would be beneficial to him.

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Grace and Favour Veteran II

Grace and Favour

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What be SAFE to burn! which going back to the OP this was the question.

 

 

Not disrespecting all previous posts, which I agree with. - Don't burn mahogany.

 

But for the sake of the question, pretend its a piece of old Christmas tree trunk covered in varnish, now would it be safe to burn on his appliance?

 

I believe they are wanting to know what they can and cannot burn on it, so I'm sure your collective opinions on this would be beneficial to him.

 

OK - - a pedants response to your quite specific question . .

 

One can burn the timber - but not the varnish

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Skye Community Regular

Skye

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OK - - a pedants response to your quite specific question . .

 

One can burn the timber - but not the varnish

 

Well thank you G&F for your response, I just had visions of the OP trying to burn anything and we would be reading of him as just another statistic.

 

I'm sorry that sometimes I do get a little hung up on safety but I would rather pull conversations back towards the definitive answer that you have supplied than let it drift off before the OP has their answer.

 

Thank you G&F

 

Edited to add - PaulaJ IT ISN'T

Edited by Skye
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Dovetail Community Regular

Dovetail

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The name Mahogany covers many timbers from the greatest timbers ever down to a few reasonably brown course grain timbers that are only that and although attractive in their own right far from a quality Mahogany.

 

At a guess the frames are likely to be Meranti, Luan and Sapele all decent timbers with large grades in quality and durability.

 

If you have a project for any timber after you have gone to the trouble to re-cut and salvage then that will be great but otherwise go with burning them as to me this will be better than going into a hole in the ground.

 

When burning them I would make sure that my stove was hot and burning well so as to burn off the varnish fast and when I would want to slow the fire down and have it ticking over I will then burn other timber without varnish.

Edited by Dovetail
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onionbargee Influencer

onionbargee

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the fume from a properly sealed stove should not be inside the boat

 

Is polyurethane varnish toxic when burnt ?

 

Would you still find lead based paint on old frames ?

 

timber does not go to landfill, it's sorted out of the waste, probably gets burnt for power generation.

 

If i had hardwood frames, i would burn them like a shot, can't be much worse than manufactured coal.

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Dovetail Community Regular

Dovetail

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the fume from a properly sealed stove should not be inside the boat

 

Is polyurethane varnish toxic when burnt ?

 

Would you still find lead based paint on old frames ?

 

timber does not go to landfill, it's sorted out of the waste, probably gets burnt for power generation.

 

If i had hardwood frames, i would burn them like a shot, can't be much worse than manufactured coal.

 

Plenty does (that is landfill) its all depends on how it goes through the system.

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tillergirl Experienced

tillergirl

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This is probably going to upset a few who have posted on this topic. We have been given a couple of bags of cut up mahogany frames by a neighbour at our winter mooring before we left for keeping an eye on his boat (he'd had a few problems nothing to do with the place not being secure). He's a window fitter and he and his lads take all the wooden window frames they remove, cut them up and use them for fuel if they have the right stove at home. We've not had any problem with fumes from the varnish. the only we noticed was that the wood burnt longer and hotter than any other we've used. Still got a bag on the deck to get us through the -6 forecast for next week!

 

Edited to add: Ours is a Stovax Stove too.

Edited by tillergirl
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Skye Community Regular

Skye

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the fume from a properly sealed stove should not be inside the boat

 

Is polyurethane varnish toxic when burnt ?

 

Would you still find lead based paint on old frames ?

 

timber does not go to landfill, it's sorted out of the waste, probably gets burnt for power generation.

 

If i had hardwood frames, i would burn them like a shot, can't be much worse than manufactured coal.

 

Oh My God did I waste half my life digging it up when man can make it? :huh:

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