Table saws - advice, please?

[John Laird]

Que ? I thought it was the glue that buggered up saws.

[Fr Jack]

It burns really well in my stove.

Takes a whilt to catch, then a good flame, followed by an eternity of glowing. The heat it kicks out is huge, compared to other wood.

I'm not using logs, I get plenty scrap wood from house renovators and the like.

[stuart noble]

Formaldehyde?

[Steve Firth]

Umm no, it's full of the stuff, broken bits of cutter and the like.

[Steve Firth]

stuart noble

[Paul Mc Cann]

Not !

[Paul Mc Cann]

We have a lot of chipboard off-cuts from the manufacture of office furniture.

A local traveller (Substitute your own euphemism) collects a load of it regularly during the cold months and reckons there is nothing to beat it when burnt in an enclosed stove.

Having burnt it in a bonfire I can attest to the heat given off but have never observed poisonous smoke or even offensive smoke. Its only wood and glue for heavens sake.

Same traveller breaks up the larger pieces by throwing them violently to the ground. Very effective it is too, though none of the off-cuts would be very wide

[Andy Dingley]

So it's "safe" because some random crusty hasn't yet managed to kill himself with it ? 8-)

I've burned tons of this stuff (yes, literally tons - industrial offcuts going into workshop space heat). It's denser than typical timber, so stick-for-stick it is quite a good fuel. It can burn hot too, hot enough to burn the sides out of an iron stove if you overdo it. I would happily burn it on a well-installed stove with a good flue, but certainly not on an open fire or even a small outdoor gasbottle stove with a short flue.

[Paul Mc Cann]

IMHO its safe because (a) I've observed it burning on an open bonfire and found nothing deleterious in it and (b) I assume no-one who is compus mentus is going to stand over a hot fire inhaling the fumes.

Burning it on a bonfire one is going to have to be upwind to suffer and what twit is going to stand in the smoke from a bonfire. (Candidates for the Darwin award please queue on the left)

Burning it in an open fire, because of the intense heat, 99% of the fumes will go up the chimney.

Any way what noxious fumes are we talking about ? Can someone authoritative supply an analysis.

Coke was a popular fuel years back when every town had its gas works and it was really noxious. Didn't stop people burning it

Next thing someones going to start wittering on about the dangers of mdf in the home

Spare me.