How Not To Coal-Burn a Container--Part 1 &2

[storm]

How Not to Coal-Burn a Wooden Container
by storm

Usually I tend to charge ahead with projects, abandoning fore-thought, not really planning the route by which I will reach the finished tool, artwork, or even written article. Although I always learn something, sometimes I really end up with nothing useable. Take coal-burning, for example. In my haste to play with fire, I neglected to thoroughly research the subject. So I hope you learn from my mistakes. I hope I have learned from my mistakes...



Ah, fire...a good place to begin. One of mankind’s oldest and most versatile tools. In order to coal-burn yourself a container, you need coals. What better place to build coals than right where you need them. Make sure you start out with a dry block of wood. Wet or unseasoned wooden blanks will shrink and crack more.

I didn’t do it! Since I’m using Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar to stoke the fire (softwoods), a lot of wood is needed to get those coals formed...

Now that the fire’s died down, you can see the bowl taking shape. But wait...the fire burned awfully close to the edge. Gotta take care of that.

Putting some wet sand on the surfaces where you don’t want the fire to burn will prevent accidental removal of wood.

After the fire is pushed aside, you can now use an edged or pointed implement to chisel out the charred wood.

So far this container can hold three quarts of water. Looking good! (except for that hunk of wood on the right-hand edge that my hatchet knocked off...)

Well, I made a pretty nice depression in this chunk of Western Red Cedar! Apparently, the higher heat and speedier drying caused by a larger-than-necessary fire created this crack. But at least it holds a liter of water (in the bottle)! [It wasn’t a total loss, though. I used the fire to reduce and shape a stone-blade knife handle.]

Oh, baby! That Grand Canyon of a crack would let Niagra Falls through if I tried to boil anything in this waste-of-effort!

Apparently it takes more than once to learn the lesson today.

on to Part 2...

 

[storm]

That’s better. Three time’s the charm! I’m using a small bed of quartz crystals to scrape the char off the bowl so that I can monitor the fire’s progress. After this scraping is finished, I’ll put more coals in the depression.

A close-up view of the quartz scraper.

A hollow stick (such as a large grass stem--Rivercane, Bamboo—or Elderberry stem) can provide you with more control over the direction and speed which the fire burns.

Applying water to control the burn...

A slower, more controlled burn will result in a useful product.

A beautiful finished product—it holds a gallon. I used horsetail (Equisetum hyemale) and then a coating of olive oil in the final polish.

A good day’s work.

Now to stone-boil some Red Alder seedlings for supper!

But wait! Some rocks crack under such rapid cooling. Which rocks perform better and which should I avoid? Luckily, my next article explores this very topic...

 

[Lithril]

Excellant article there Storm, cheers for that.

 

[OldJimbo]

Great work!

 

[jdlenton]

Nice work storm I've always wanted to try this method. I've seen archaeological evidence of bowls made like this but out of burls/burs but as you've shown a log/block works too.

thank you for your time and effort great tutorials storm

cheers J*

 

[moduser]

Superb article Storm. Look forward to the follow up on hot rock boiling.

Moduser

 

[MartiniDave]

WOW! That looks fantastic! Something else to have a go at now.

Dave

 

[Moonraker]

Very nice article and well illustrated

I assume you use the Horsetail for it's high silica content which provides the polishing properties? The stems can be used for polishing metal and as a fine sandpaper too. They are first bleached by repeated wetting and drying in the sun.

 

[match]

Something I've always wanted to try but have never got round to is doing this with a presoaked burr. I imagine if you were using a burr you could float/suspend the whole burr in some water, leaving the top surface dry for a few hours/days until the water had soaked an inch or so into the burr walls. Then lighting a fire anywhere on top and letting it burn down carefully would result in it burning out all the dry wood, but should slow/stop burning when it reached the wet wall. Don't know how successful this would be though, or how long you'd need to soak it for etc. If anyone's got some spare burrs and would like to try it out, I'd be very interested to hear the results!

 

[storm]

They are first bleached by repeated wetting and drying in the sun.

do you know why the bleaching was done? does it result in a finer grit?

 

[leon-1]

Yet another very good article storm

 

[JFW]

You could always use bowl 2 as a filter paper holder for that freshly brewed coffee. So not a total failure.

Cheers

JFW

 

[JFW]

Storm,

you might like to search google for hot stone boiling articles. On a visit to Orkney I went to a neolithic homestead which had been partially excavated. There was a large mound full of broken stones and pebbles which had been used in stone built casks to boil the water. Obviously our ancestors had the same problem, but apparently never overcame it.

Cheers

JFW

 

[dtalbot]

B***er
Somthing else added to my 'must try that' list!

 

[Cyclingrelf]

I finally did it! Had a go at burning a bowl, inspired by this tutorial. I was surprised at how easy it was to get the charcoal out and end up with fairly smooth wood. Thanks for the inspiration, Storm!

Bowl full of water

 

[george]

Alternatively you could use the "very large propane torch, power drill and wire brush method"

It works just a little bit faster

george

 

[Stuart]

Alternatively you could use the "very large propane torch, power drill and wire brush method"

it wouldnt quite be as satisfiying then though would it? the point of bushcraft being not to require a very large propane torch, power drill and wire brush

 

[george]

it wouldnt quite be as satisfiying then though would it? the point of bushcraft being not to require a very large propane torch, power drill and wire brush

Possibly not as satisfying - but it keeps me busy

george

 

[demographic]

Alternatively you could use the "very large propane torch, power drill and wire brush method"

It works just a little bit faster

george

I like your style

 

[gaz_miggy]

nice job i like what i see so much uvinspiered me to have a go
:You_Rock_