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Thread: Wood pellets

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    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?

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I would think they are too dense and would take a long time to burn off.
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  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master fredj338's Avatar
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    I imagine they would be fine for smelting alloy but maybe its time to buy a smoker?
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  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by imashooter2 View Post
    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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  5. #5
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    They might do OK if you smash 'em with a hammer to breaker them up.
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  6. #6
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    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.
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  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    I tried pellets once. Never again. The only good thing was they smelled good for about 30 minutes while they smoldered.

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy

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    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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  9. #9
    Boolit Grand Master
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    A wet one pushed under the melt might be exciting.
    Don Verna


  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy
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    Thanks all. Great info, kind of what I suspected.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by dverna View Post
    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.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check