Bowling Pins

[Glitch]

Hey Guys,
With the onset of cooler weather, I began to think of how in the good old days I would burn plastic coated pins in the fireplace. Then the Surlyn and nylon pins came out, and we could no longer do that because the burning coating would emit nerve gas??? Well, now I have a wood burning stove with a sealed combustion chamber and I'm thinking maybe I can light up a few pins in there. Does anyone have any comments or suggestions before I do something maybe I shouldn't? Thanks in advance, Glitch

[Guest]

Re: Bowling Pins

I just rip the plastic coating off the pins. Still good ol' pine under the plastic, burns long and bright. Usually 3 or 4 pins do it for me...

deadwood

[Steve Stafford (JBEES)]

Re: Bowling Pins

Glitch...doesn't you sealed combustion chamber still give off fumes to the atmosphere? I wouldn't want to be the cause of my neighbor dying...but if I could strip the outer coating off, that would make the point mute. DW...what do you use to strip them down?

Steve

[8270king]

Re: Bowling Pins

Deadwood,

Last time I took the plastic off a bowling pin guess what was inside ???

MAPLE

Gotcha,
King

[Pins In Da Bucket]

Re: Bowling Pins

When I was younger, the tech at the bowling center I frequent the most gave me some pins to burn for my trip I was taking up north. They were Brunswick Flyers, so I questioned what would happen if you threw a plastic coated pin in a fire. He recommended using a wood lathe to get the coating off. I didn't have a wood lathe at my disposal, so the Flyers I got from him are sitting on my desk in my pin collection.

Just an idea.

[Steve Stafford (JBEES)]

Re: Bowling Pins

King,
That's California pine DW was referring to...real hard stuff. LOL

[Roscoe]

Re: Bowling Pins

JBEES:
They dont score very well either.
Roscoe.

[8270_mech]

Re: Bowling Pins

I know a fair amount about chemistry and fire science. I play a head mechanic at work. Maybe I could even get a job as one on TV someday.

Surlyn is a coating that has been used on golf balls, bowling pins and has several other uses.
<a href="http://www.dupont.com/industrial-polymers/surlyn/" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.dupont.com/industrial-polymers/surlyn/" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.dupont.com/industrial-polymers/surlyn/" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.dupont.com/industrial-polymers/surlyn/" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.dupont.com/industrial-polymers/surlyn/" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.dupont.com/industrial-polymers/surlyn/" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.dupont.com/industrial-polymers/surlyn/" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.dupont.com/industrial-polymers/surlyn/" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.dupont.com/industrial-polymers/surlyn/" target="_blank">http://www.dupont.com/industrial-polymers/surlyn/</a></a></a></a></a></a></a></a></a>

My fireplace (normal indoor external draft, glass front etc) has hosted more than 50 cases of AMFlites over the last few years. I've tried the Brunswick pins but they hate to light up.

The dead, cracked and warped pins from the local center even warmed more than a score of houses during a week long power outage during last christmas holiday.

No one that I know of has ever gone through the halfhour effort to remove the coating (more than once anyway).

Light up and toast a few for me.

[GPS]

Re: Bowling Pins

I have burned probably150 to 200 sets of pins in my fireplace at home. If your flue is drafting correctly you will smell nothing. Less creosote than regular wood. As for the enviroment I'm sure it is a heck of a lot less than the steel mills and car company factories in my area.

[Steve Stafford (JBEES)]

Re: Bowling Pins

FWIW...I followed the above link from 82-70_mech and received this back...

"Dear Steve,

Concerning your inquiry about burning Surlyn@ coated bowling pins.
After consulting with our Regulatory Affairs Dept., they stated, "This is
probably
not a good idea because of the possibility of dripping and spattering of
the
molten Surlyn@ before it actually burns. The products of combustion should
be no problem--much like those of firewood. Suggest they dispose of these
pins in the trash." Hope this answers your question.

Thanks again,

E. Roger Richmond

Technical Representative

DuPont Company"

So...I would assume it is OK to burn pins in the fireplace...just watch out for the spatters. A good screen in front of the fireplace should be enough I would think.

Just my two cents worth...

Steve

[This message has been edited by JBEES (edited 11-13-2000).]

[Dutch]

Re: Bowling Pins

I don’t remove the surlyn, it takes way too long. I’ve been burning pins in my sealed wood stove for over 10 years. The hot fire you get from the surlyn keeps the stovepipe clear of creosote &amp; the laminated maple burns a good, long time. It does smell a little funny outside if the wind isn’t blowing.
One word of caution, don’t put too many in at once. I made that mistake the 1st season I burned them. I put 8 pins in at once. (The max that would fit) Before the surlyn burnt off &amp; cooled down, (No amount of shutting down the airflow will stop surlyn once it gets going) it had turned the top of the stove &amp; the triple walled pipe a very pretty shade of red. It got so hot that it melted the 3/16” baffles. My family &amp; I just stood outside in the snow, watching the flames shooting out of the stovepipe, wondering if the house was going to survive &amp; looking something like this... It’s not something I’d like to go thru again. Now I put in 4, let the surlyn burn off, then put in another 4.
Dutch

[This message has been edited by dutch (edited 11-13-2000).]

[Guest]

Re: Bowling Pins

hey they do make good targets at the gun range
as for burning them remember think safety first Bowling mechanics are a dying breed
and there are not many of us left..!

Tim

[Dutch]

Re: Bowling Pins

Hang one from a tree branch &amp; use a .22 caliber semi-automatic. See how many different directions you can get it to swing. They will absorb a lot of bullets. I have one that weighs about 5 lbs.
Dutch

[Glitch]

Re: Bowling Pins

Thanks for all the replies to my pin question. I lit a couple off the other night with no problem, didn't even see any of the spattering of the nylon. Thank goodness I didn't load that stove up though, thanks Dutch, for your safety tip! Hats off to Bowltech for supplying more great info we probably couln't get anywhere else. Glitch