Wood pellets

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11-24-2021, 02:07 PM
reddhawkk

Wood pellets

I somehow ended up with a bag of wood pellets, no I don't have a pellet stove, and was curious if anyone has ever used them for fluxing and if so, how well did they work?
11-24-2021, 02:16 PM
imashooter2

I would think they are too dense and would take a long time to burn off.
11-24-2021, 02:17 PM
fredj338

I imagine they would be fine for smelting alloy but maybe its time to buy a smoker?
11-24-2021, 02:47 PM
ryanmattes

Quote:

Originally Posted by imashooter2

I would think they are too dense and would take a long time to burn off.

This. If they're smoker pellets they're designed to burn slowly, which means you could spend a long time waiting for them to burn to carbon. Also more difficult to mix through so the lead comes into contact with it. Sawdust just seems more effective.

I actually don't have a pellet smoker, but I use them for beekeeping, in my hive smoker. When I need it to stay lit and smoking for a couple hours while I work on multiple hives I'll use the pellets, because they'll burn for over an hour.

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11-24-2021, 04:18 PM
Winger Ed.

They might do OK if you smash 'em with a hammer to breaker them up.
11-24-2021, 04:44 PM
Minerat

Get them a little wet they will swell and when dry will crumble and they should do fine. I have them all under my grill in that condition where they get past the bucket when changing flavors.
11-24-2021, 11:32 PM
jimlj

I tried pellets once. Never again. The only good thing was they smelled good for about 30 minutes while they smoldered.
11-25-2021, 04:34 AM
Valley-Shooter

I use hardwood pellets when I am out of saw dust.
They work better if you crumble them up a bit.
I've only used them for processing recovered range lead that is really dirty. A large amount, about 40 pounds of lead at a time. It did a good job cleaning up the lead.

I have about 40 pounds of hardwood pellets that I haven't used for barbecuing.

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11-25-2021, 05:35 AM
dverna

A wet one pushed under the melt might be exciting.
11-25-2021, 10:30 AM
reddhawkk

Thanks all. Great info, kind of what I suspected.
11-26-2021, 10:02 AM
charlie b

Quote:

Originally Posted by dverna

A wet one pushed under the melt might be exciting.

I was using some wood shavings one day. Hand planes make nice thin pieces. I guess the 'kiln dried' wood wasn't quite dry! When I mixed it into the pot I got a bit of popping! Good thing was the thin shavings probably couldn't hold that much moisture so no sparkles.