Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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Color pine cones -- copper sulphate?

I live on Cape Cod and have an abundance of pine cones and I want to make color cones for the fireplace. I know the ones you buy say contain copper sulphate [on eBay or Amazon]. Do you know how to make them. Do you soak them in a solution or what? My grand kids enjoy them when they are burning and they are so expensive to buy. Thank you for any help you can give me.

Sheila Rooney
homeowner, hobbyist - North Eastham, Massachusetts
2005

I assume that they burn green and blue (sulfur burns green, copper should turn a nice blue) so I would guess yes, but be very careful when handling the actual chemicals and make sure that you don't inhale the fumes from the burning pine cones, can't be good for your lungs.

Marc Banks
- Elizabeth City, North Carolina
2005

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If, as suggested above, you burn them to give different coloured flames, then you need to soak them in a solution of salts of different metals. For instance, potassium salts give a lilac flame, calcium salts give red, as does lithium and strontium, barium gives green, copper gives blue-green and zinc gives white-green. However, many of the salts of these metals can be harmful to people and animals, so unless you know what you are doing and have a safe way of keeping and disposing of them, don't even consider using them.

Trevor Crichton
R&D practical scientist
Chesham, Bucks, UK
2005

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They can be easily made by dipping or rolling them in a shallow pan that has about 1/2" of melted paraffin wax in it, and then immediately rolling them in a bed of the copper sulphate crystals.

You should be able to get the copper sulphate at most hardware stores - its sold as an algaecide under different trade names - just make sure its actually copper sulphate and nothing else!

No need to soak them in anything - but do follow good principles of safety - wear gloves, and do it in a well ventilated room.

Tom Baker
wastewater treatment specialist - Warminster, Pennsylvania
2005

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My wife buys these from time to time. They are decorative when burned because they cause colorful flames. But some are decorative before burning because they have a hint of that familiar blue-green patina, and may also be sprayed with glitter or other colors.

Yes, it's important not to breathe the fumes, and to use care in handling, but I think we in the finishing industry are so shell shocked by over regulation that we sometimes worry too much :-)

While the regulators say that there is no such thing as 'de minimus', there is! And putting a few treated pine cones in the fireplace the few times in a lifetime that the grand kids visit is, in my opinion, a good example :-)

But if you're talking about making them yourself because they've grown to such a significant expense, maybe you're not in the de minimus range :-)

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2005

hmmm back in yankee land where I grew up we collected them and my dad put them in a 5 gal bucket then mixed copper sulphate and water and filled the bucket. after a few weeks he took them out and dried them and used them to start fires and for color. BUT the real reason for using them is the copper sulphate keeps the chimney clear. keeps creosote from building up. we used to add them to a hot fire - I use them 2 times a week and burn mostly pine daily and have very little build up at the end of the season.

tony ray
- Nebo, North Carolina
February 24, 2009

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2005
February 27, 2009

I've been burning wood all winter in a wood boiler. By this time of year the boiler tubes are heavily crusted with creosote. I'm sure that this insulates the tubes from the heat of the fire thus making the combustion fan run longer than necessary. I have been exploring various remedies for this and one hint I picked up mentioned copper sulphate as a "cure". Does anyone know if this is so? Would it be corrosive to the steel?
Thanks for any input.

Arthur Chamberlin
Tech Ed Teacher - Dixfield, Maine

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Hi, Arthur. Creosote-clearing chemicals are commercially available, and are non-corrosive to the steel. But I don't know whether the commercial materials are copper sulphate as Tony from Nebo describes. You could probably get an MSDS to find out what is in them. Good luck!

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
April 3, 2009