Hi, I’ve been asked to make a couple of handles for the door of a woodstove that have been burned in use from the heat of the stove. They appear to be birch or maple. My question is, does anyone have any experience with any wood that may hold up better under the high-heat conditions that the stove generates? Thanks in advance, Dave Lyon.
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Replies
Elm might work.
Jack
There are some chemical treatments to make woods non-combustible, although I am not sure that would keep them from scorching and charing.
Some things to think about. If the wood is getting burned from the fasteners, use stainless or some other poor conductors. If it is from radiant heat from the stove, maybe paint the side toward the stove white, to reflect the heat. even better would be to give it a mirror coat.
IPE is a high temp wood, although I would think that wood handles on a stove are a bad idea from jump street. I would use stone or ceramic myself.
Best,
John
Interesting idea. How about solid surface material? It can be shaped and worked with most woodworking tools.Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral. Frank Lloyd Wright
Hey Rennie!
I don't know what the melt point is on solid surface is, but my gut says that a "plastic" is bad news on a wood stove. I use a wood stove to heat my shop and it gets plenty hot (surface temps in the 500- 650 F). If the solid surface can take 800 F, it may be OK.Best,John
Ditto plastic being a bad idea. Recently bought a new "improved" Weber charcoal chimney. It has a heat guard, a metal bail handle and a plastic handle. The old chimneys I've used had no heat shield, no bail, just the wood handle. The wood handle remained cool enough to use. Ther improved model takes two hands with hot pads to dump.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
The more things change ...
We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.
Petronious Arbiter, 210 BC
Nice of them to "improve" it!Best,John
How about something like corian?1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go 4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
Dupont says don't even put a hot pot on it, 212F is its limit.
Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves. ~Italian Proverb
Dear Rick,
Corian is "solid surface" just like Kleenex is "facial tissue" (or whatever). As Dgreen pointed out, it is not suitable for a high temp environment.Best,John
Is there some way to work a few holes into the design of the handle? The ventilation would reduce the heat build-up in the wood. Or you could turn them into spirals (sorta kidding here).
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
<<any wood that may hold up better under the high-heat conditions that the stove generates?>>
Petrified Wood. ;-) Takes a Volcano!
Thanks to all for your input, I appreciate it. Based on your responses I am leaning towards talking him out of the wood handles and going with something else, such as phenolic or possibly alabaster. Thanks again, Dave Lyon.
wood,
I remember seeing an ad for a wood stove made completely out of white oak. Said it was guaranteed to burn all night without the need to add more fuel.
Ray
Ceramic is a much better material for stove handles than wood. That's why many stoves have ceramic handles. Do a google with "wood stove parts", and you'll find suppliers selling parts for stoves. Perhaps you can find one which you can adapt to your stove.
Ipe has a very high fire retardant level. Soapstone can be worked with ordinary tools.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Soapstone! That's a great idea.
Another stone which can be worked with woodworking technology is alabaster. I don't know where one can buy small chunks of soapstone, but I know alabaster is sold to turners.
Make it out of any wood he cares for. So what if it doesn't last a lifetime? Make him happy, he wants wood. Make several extras. How hard could that be?
It sounds to me like you're inferring that I am leaning away from wood for these because of the difficulty. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is that he asked me to make handles, not neccesarily wooden handles, despite what may be read into my second post. If I charge him to make wooden ones that burn up by the end of the first winter, I don't see how he is going to be happy. I'd rather not make him anything than have that end. Thanks to all who have posted positive suggestions on my question, I appreciate the input, and will let you know how it "turns" out. Thanks, Dave Lyon.
Marble and granite can be worked with carbide tools if you are careful and slow and take very shallow cuts at a time
There was a discussion here, maybe a year ago about using a router to create a decorative ogee on the edge of small table top made of marble. - try a search for marble and/or granite.
1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go 4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
Edited 8/25/2006 10:50 am ET by Ricks503
Edited 8/25/2006 10:52 am ET by Ricks503
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