Whisky barrel staves for log burner ?

[robgraham]

These look a good deal - dry, oak, easy to handle, possibly nice smell, a bit cheaper for a bag.

What's the downside ?

Rob

[Martin Bonner]

You'll need to cut them (unless you have a *very* long log burner). They probably won't pack well when you store them (so you'll need more storage space). Other than that, go for it.

[meow2222]

the smell could drive you to drink :)

NT

[damduck-egg]

you can't wring them out.

G.Harman

[newshound]

You get raided because someone reports you for smelling like a still?

[robgraham]

a bit cheaper for a bag.

That introduces an interesting side topic - the local brew shop sells still s and all the botanics for making gin; is it legal then to distil for your own for home consumption ?

Coming back on-topic, I'd phoned an acquaintance this morning and left a me ssage which was responded to latish this evening; his take is that the alco hol in the barrels seeps into the wood and not only becomes the 'Spirit for the Angels', but takes the wood moisture with it so unless stored careless ly, such staves are good burning.

[Martin Brown]

Illegal to do it but not apparently to sell the gear for doing it.

Surprised me a bit. I thought selling working stills was also illegal.

Lab glassware isn't so hot for this duty unless you like the rancid taste of rubber bung and/or silicone grease depending on the fittings...

I'd have thought that was probably right - a bit like kiln dried wood... Nice peaty smell of whisky essence to go with it.

[Huge]

No. Or at least, not without HMRC permission;

I'd be inclined to use them for kindling, then.

[The Natural Philosopher]

in fact the alcohol is long gone from barrels, BUT the staves will contain various organic compounds soaked in from whatever was stored in them that will burn with an interesting and doubtless carcinogenic stench.

[The Other Mike]

While a still could theoretically be located at premises at which someone resided (fire regs might say otherwise) HMRC do not grant permission for home distillation. HMRC will also not grant permission for anything smaller that something like a 1000 litre still, and they also iirc impose minimum production quantities. The record keeping, documentation and paper trail is very extensive.

[Tim Watts]

And yet you can freely buy stills :)

[The Other Mike]

I blame the free market. Not sure about how much goes on in the UK but there is a long history of discreet home distilling in Sweden and Norway not sure if it ever was legal. Seen it in quite recently in Italy too :)

[Tim Watts]

OK - it has a poor review, but making a point. At least they are nice enough to tell you you are sticking it to The Man.

This one is pretty - not sure how well it will work without a fraction column - but I'm not an expert (except I know fractional distillation is more selective from O-Level chemistry).

[robgraham]

bit cheaper for a bag.

Thanks for all the comments - even the self introduced Off Topic ones !

I don't think I'll buy these again. They burn too fast and there is a lot more tar than I expected.

The fast burn is I suspect because there is a far larger burning surface th an a good solid log - (the seller said they'd been stored for a year under cover so dry and no spirit in the wood); the nett result is that the stove will not stay in over night as it does with proper hardwood logs.

The stove has a butterfly valve in the flue and this gummed up totally the first night I banked the stove up with these staves - I had to do a dismant le job to get enough flue open for the fire to light and burn the tar off. Since then the fire has been allowed to die down and the valve left partia lly open at night, for a relight the next morning.

Not recommended. Rob

[news]

Oak barrel staves should not be a problem to burn, I suspect you are not allowing enough air to burn the volatiles out cleanly and they are condensing as soon as they cool.

Even "proper" logs left to smoulder over night will be producing tar and soot, you need a good secondary flame to cleanly burn wood.

This seems to prove my above point. You really need to create a good bed of char before damping down and allow this to burn out over night, even then this tends to mean there is a fair amount of CO in the flue gases. Keeping a fire in overnight was a necessary thing in days of yore, char would be heaped and covered and it is from this the word curfew derives.

I'm burning chestnut pales at present (many rolls removed from temporary fencing on civils' jobs) and they too flare up and are gone quickly.

AJH