An Alternative Charcloth Tutorial
Hi guys, seems that I'm not the owner of my own post anymore so when the pics got detached from my original post I couldn't edit them back. Would one of the mods please bump this new post back to the start of the thread - Thanks, Alick
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The inspiration for this photo tutorial came from a chance conversation at the Jubilante Condate festival in Northwich this past weekend (July 04) celebrating the towns roman heritage.
While swapping tips, a member of the Legia Secundus Augusta living history society (who were demonstrating at the event) mentioned the idea of producing charcloth in small quantities using a tube instead of a tin. The tube is closed at one end except for a small hole and the open end plugged with earth.
The idea of carrying charcloth safely in a small tube, and making it afresh with each new fire sounded interesting, so a couple of days later I grabbed a bit of 15mm copper waterpipe, crimped one end shut, drilled it through (two opposing holes) with a 2mm bit and headed for the garden.
Having never made or used charcloth before, I was amazed at how easy it was to make it this way and how my daughter Lydia was able to use it to catch the tiniest spark off a firesteel. We decided to do it again for the camera.
Notice that the end is just crimped shut, not folded over. I didnt want any chance of the tube blowing up on me. With an earth plug I very much doubt that this could happen.
Here is the tube from the open end.
A piece of black denim about 6 x 10cm fills the tube leaving room for a plug.
Then just push the open end into the ground to plug it with earth.
Since we dont have a fire pit in the garden, we compromised by using a blowtorch ! In practice, I expect dropping the tube in the embers at the edge of a fire will do the trick. Here it's just beginning to smoke.
Warming up a bit.
Now were cooking !
It does stink, and occasionally the gas catches light. It burns like a small candle. Just blow out the flame. When it has stopped smoking, leave to cool (even better if you can plug the small hole while it's cooling), the dry earth and charcloth tap out easily. On my second attempt I didn't plug the hole and tapped out the cloth before it had properly cooled. It caught light of it's own accord once it was able to breath.
It burns long and well.
Now that I know how easily the cloth taps out and that the small hole doesn't tend to block, I'll make another with only a single 2mm hole in the end, that will be enough. Have fun !
PS - Taking up an improvement idea from hoodo after I first posted this, if you crimp the end of the tube shut around a 2-3mm dia nail then pull the nail out, you get an even better version of the tube without any need for a drill !
If you want to make more at a time, try a bit of 22mm pipe, to store the cloth in the tube after it's made, look for a plastic cap that will push over the open end after the soil has been knocked out or use a bit of duck tape.
Cheers,
