Dang it all, Aluminum Will Burn...

[Wood Doctor]

... and disappear completely if your wood fire is hot enough. I was wrong two years ago when I said Aluminum's melting point is too high for wood to burn. My error.

An aluminum can will disappear completely at the base of a wood fire in the hot coals. Just takes a little while and Poof! it's gone. Fun to watch.

But remember, they keep telling us that wood doesn't burn very hot. Heheheheheh.

 

[John R]

Wood fires burn damn hot!
We used to melt beer bottles in the campfire while out camping, of course that was back when we didn't have a deposit on them.

 

[gink595]

I think melting point of alum. is 1200*.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I think melting point of alum. is 1200*.

Close enough. Aluminum melts at 1220 F. Wood fires will melt several other metals as well. Surprisingly, wood flames ignite at only about 460 F. But, I've been told that the center of the fire can easily reach 1700 F under the right conditions.

The natural gas blue flame burner tip is about 2500 F, so when it comes to heat, wood fires ain't that shabby, are they?

 

[gink595]

Close enough. Aluminum melts at 1220 F.

Well to be spot on it is 1220.666 F

 

[DSS]

I think melting point of alum. is 1200*.

Close enough. Aluminum melts at 1220 F. Wood fires will melt several other metals as well. Surprisingly, wood flames ignite at only about 460 F. But, I've been told that the center of the fire can easily reach 1700 F under the right conditions.

The natural gas blue flame burner tip is about 2500 F, so when it comes to heat, wood fires ain't that shabby, are they?

Well to be spot on it is 1220.666 F

Try and get along you two.

 

[mga]

i'm waiting for some one to throw magnesium in their fire next.

report back and let us know how fast the house burnt down.

but, i've done the aluminum thing...they do end up being little grey ashes.

 

[Wood Doctor]

A repeating decimal for a melting point? How on earth did we ever get to the moon back in 1969?

Heheheheheheh.

Say, if it melts but does not vaporize, does it really burn? Methinks the ash swallows it up. Regardless, it's fun to watch the Al cans disappear like magic.

 

[mga]

Well to be spot on it is 1220.666 F

wouldn't a thinner piece, such as a can, have a lower melting point?

 

[Wood Doctor]

wouldn't a thinner piece, such as a can, have a lower melting point?

I believe the answer is No. It just gets there faster--kind of like a large pot of soup takes longer to boil than a small pot.

 

[mga]

I believe the answer is No. It just gets there faster--kind of like a large pot of soup takes longer to boil than a small pot.

ok...that makes sense.

 

[o8f150]

Well to be spot on it is 1220.666 F

lets just get technical

 

[Metals406]

I got my fire so hot one year (with Black Cottonwood no less), that it melted/sagged the thick cast grate. I should take pictures of it and post it up, it blew me away when I saw it.

That meant the fire seat had to be close to 2,000° F. Granted, at the time, it was well below zero outside, and I had that baby cranked up!

 

[wdchuck]

Beer bottles on the end of a metal rod can become interesting sculptures in the fireplace. They can disappear in the right wood/air combinations.

 

[mga]

would a melted aluminum can still be worth .05?

 

[coog]

I was told by a fireman that throwing a can in the fire weekly would solve creosote build up problems. I don't have that problem, so I can't comment.

 

[CTYank]

Lots of iron ore has been smelted with charcoal as reducing agent.

For a known fact in Salisbury and Roxbury CT, and reportedly on a large scale in Sweden. Surgical tools, ball-bearings, etc.

So, stuff like Al is trivial.

 

[dingeryote]

LOL!!!

I remember that thread. I tossed a can or two in the fire just to make sure myself, then got nervous thinking maybe it melted and went between the firebricks, and possibly messed things up getting to the fan hatch.

Nope. Gone. Just like with the firepit.

Glad ya went and tried it for yourself, so you know we ain't crazy, or pulling your leg....well...this time.:hmm3grin2orange:

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[sloth9669]

would a melted aluminum can still be worth .05?

Nope average can 30-35 cans per pound. 1 pound spot price is $1.05 vs 1.50ish for returns

 

[Junkrunner]

I was told by a fireman that throwing a can in the fire weekly would solve creosote build up problems. I don't have that problem, so I can't comment.

I've bin doin the empty can or two for along time. It does seem to help.

I've checked my clean-out, then added the cans to a HOT fire. Checked the clean-out a day later and usually find some creosote that has flaked -off.


I make aluminium casting from aluminium that i melt down in an old cast dutch oven, put in my stove. Woods plenty hot enough. In the summer I do it outside.

Aluminium cans don't make good casting, do to the poorer quility of the aluminium. I use old aluminium cast lawn mower engines or automotive waterpumps, or the like.