title says it all! anyone know the simplist way to make char cloth? im thinking: get an old cotton tshirt, cut it into squares, put a match to a square and stamp it out when it goes totally black? anyone got any other ideas?
easiest way to make char cloth?
- Thread starter barbourdurham
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baccy tin packed not too tightly with rectangles cut from old jeans and stick it in the ashes of your fire and cover in ashes, after about 15 minutes remove tin and allow to cool, once cool open and it should all be prefect char cloth, if you packed it too tightly some of the pieces in the centre may not be fully charred, leave em in tin and put back in the ashes, as long as you don't open the tin until cooled you're okay, you can do it on a much larger scale with a bigger tin like a coffee can
I use a 'baccy' tin on the fire as well here's some photo's from my Blog :- http://teddytourteas.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/char-cloth-production.html
cutting towel into rough one inch strips
place in the tin, here a one ounce tobacco tin with a nail hole about the size of a match in the lid, the one in the photo’s only to illustrate this
then in my case onto the fire though a B-B-Q or camp fire or even a blowlamp will do for as long as the smoke from the hole burns
at first there might be too much pressure but it will catch and burn with a roar then begin to die down
wait until it’s about candle flame size and remove from the fire and cover the hole up,
I find a coin works well, to stop any oxygen then it doesn’t smoulder away
when cool off with the lid and “Jobs a Gudun”
if it’s not black but still brown it needs to go back on to the fire, but you soon get the hang of it
and even chared the towel keeps it's small loops which are idel for catching a spark
cutting towel into rough one inch strips
place in the tin, here a one ounce tobacco tin with a nail hole about the size of a match in the lid, the one in the photo’s only to illustrate this
then in my case onto the fire though a B-B-Q or camp fire or even a blowlamp will do for as long as the smoke from the hole burns
at first there might be too much pressure but it will catch and burn with a roar then begin to die down
wait until it’s about candle flame size and remove from the fire and cover the hole up,
I find a coin works well, to stop any oxygen then it doesn’t smoulder away
when cool off with the lid and “Jobs a Gudun”
if it’s not black but still brown it needs to go back on to the fire, but you soon get the hang of it
and even chared the towel keeps it's small loops which are idel for catching a spark
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I use a 'baccy' tin on the fire as well here's some photo's from my Blog :- http://teddytourteas.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/char-cloth-production.html
cutting towel into rough one inch strips
place in the tin, here a one ounce tobacco tin with a nail hole about the size of a match in the lid, the one in the photos only to illustrate this
then in my case onto the fire though a B-B-Q or camp fire or even a blowlamp will do for as long as the smoke from the hole burns
at first there might be too much pressure but it will catch and burn with a roar then begin to die down
wait until its about candle flame size and remove from the fire and cover the hole up,
I find a coin works well, to stop any oxygen then it doesnt smoulder away
when cool off with the lid and Jobs a Gudun
if its not black but still brown it needs to go back on to the fire, but you soon get the hang of it
and even chared the towel keeps it's small loops which are idel for catching a spark
I use the same method but using a syrup tin and an uncut Tesco tea towel (I would burn everything with Tesco on the label I I could) and keep the towels rolled up as char until I need them (one standard tea towel fits nicely into one large syrup tin). I use more syrup than I do baccy these days....
I use a round tin (air gun pellets if I remember correctly.....)for making charcloth: I punched the hole into the side, not ​the top--- line up holes for making charcloth, twist for storing it dry...
That will work but instead of stamping on it you can try this method that I saw Mors Kohanski demonstrate.
You get an old hardback open it up then drop the lit cloth into it the open book then shut it and leave for a little while.
The paper may get singed but won't actually burn and the cloth won't be damaged like it could be if you stamp on it.
It make for a great open light charcloth which catches sparks very readily.
rancid badger
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I make mine in a syrup tin too. You need to be sure that your cloth is pure cotton not poly cotton or other such material. Cook till the smoke/flame stops coming out of the hole then plug the hole and remove from the heat.
[video=youtube;mJ43Th05HAQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ43Th05HAQ[/video]
If you watch the hole, you'll see tar or oil forming around it with the occasional spit. This is why you need to try to use clean material, rather than heavily soiled cloth. If you don't avoid the tar formation, you potentially get this:
[video=youtube;vBGKw8JQLMQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBGKw8JQLMQ[/video]
I generally leave it for an hour or so, then empty it out. I've found that you need to experiment with the amount of cloth and the packing as well, too tight and it doesn't cook properly, too loose and it burns.
Have fun regardless!
Steve
[video=youtube;mJ43Th05HAQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ43Th05HAQ[/video]
If you watch the hole, you'll see tar or oil forming around it with the occasional spit. This is why you need to try to use clean material, rather than heavily soiled cloth. If you don't avoid the tar formation, you potentially get this:
[video=youtube;vBGKw8JQLMQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBGKw8JQLMQ[/video]
I generally leave it for an hour or so, then empty it out. I've found that you need to experiment with the amount of cloth and the packing as well, too tight and it doesn't cook properly, too loose and it burns.
Have fun regardless!
Steve
After running out of char cloth on a trip once I had to make a quick batch before my fire went out, so I used a bit of tinfoil, "the windbreak from my trangia " and the cotton lining from my pocket, wrap up the cloth in the tinfoil chuck it on the fire , it very quickly puffs up and starts to smoke, as soon as the smoke stops flick it out the fire and step on it, easy "I very rarely use a tin now".
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seems that most folks cut their fabric for making charcloth?! I prefer to rip mine into strips and then cut them into smaller pieces--this leaves fibres sticking out on two sides, which makes it easier for a spark to catch(= I place mine on top of the flint/quartz ).....
rancid badger
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I always just tear it into strips then either stuff it into the tin any old how or else roll it up first. The fibrous edges tend to be irrelevant with my "product" as I usually just rip off a chunk and set to
I use a tin like the one boiled sweets come in, round, about 4" in diameter. It has a hole in the top. Same as most of the suggestions above. Where my method differs is in the choice of cloth. I use Linen rather than cotton. This is for 2 reasons. 1) I have a lot of linen off cuts from sewing projects, 2) I started making this for use in a reenactment context in a pre cotton age...
I find it works very well. When I tried with a flint and steel at the weekend it caught a spark on the second strike. Which surprised me.
J
I find it works very well. When I tried with a flint and steel at the weekend it caught a spark on the second strike. Which surprised me.
J
the hardest part of charcloth making is allways to find the tin, so a paint can is cool, and if you don't have, to tins(same size) are a good option one to store the cloth and the other one a hole in the bottom is used as a lid... both must be piled just like in the super market heat seals them and you can get them out off the fire, just lifting the top one.
burned an entire jeans with this method....
make the stick longer though
burned an entire jeans with this method....
make the stick longer though
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