How to make charcoal easy and cheap (pic heavy)

[Arth]

Found the site the picture comes from, looks like a lot of hard work. http://www.twinoaksforge.com/BLADSMITHING/MAKING%20CHARCOAL.htm

I do like the idea just wouldn't like something like that in the woods, plus it would be easier to do it the conventional way you can take the drum to the wood.

 

[korvin karbon]

thank you for the guide, guess what i will be doing in this weekend. Hopefully

 

[Arth]

thank you for the guide, guess what i will be doing in this weekend. Hopefully

Great! tell us how you got on?

 

[Eric_Methven]

The easiest way is to take an old oil drum, cut a slot right down it's length, fold the sides of the slot back so there's a six inch wide slot from top to bottom. Lay the drum on it's back with the slot uppermost, fill with wood, set wood on fire and let it burn well, roll drum over so the slit is below and seal round it with damp earth. Allow to get cold then roll over again and empty out the charcoal. The retort is good but it's over engineered unless for professional production, then you'd be better of with a kiln or two IMO.

Eric

 

[AnnieSantiago]

Wow! Great post! Thanks!

 

[Kerne]

Thanks for this - excellent post!

 

[ForgeCorvus]

Dumb question time

Does the wood have to be green(ish)?

I ask as I can get hold of silly quantities of seasoned beech (its the scrap from making furniture frames), they sell it as firewood but I don't want to haul the weight to events if I can burn it into charcoal

 

[Arth]

Dumb question time

Does the wood have to be green(ish)?

I ask as I can get hold of silly quantities of seasoned beech (its the scrap from making furniture frames), they sell it as firewood but I don't want to haul the weight to events if I can burn it into charcoal

Seasoned is better, it will char quicker.

 

[Tengu]

They used to distill wood for various products.

Ill try to find out more

 

[jonnno]

I finally got round to trying this. I was using dead wood (old Xmas tree) however, jets came out of the tin but didn't light so I couldn't tell when I should take the tin off the fire. It seemed like the wood was just starting to burn inside. How long should it take?

Either way I'll be trying to BBQ tonight with the fruits of my labour!

 

[MattF]

Very good post
Thanks very much will have a go in the new year

Matt

 

[treadlightly]

Thanks for the tutorial. I didn't realise it was so quick and easy to do and will be trying my hand at making some.

 

[Oblio13]

Thanks for posting this. I've made char-cloth in much the same way, but it never occurred to me that it would be suitable for charcoal. There's a thrift shop near me that sells large tins for .50 cents, I'll buy a couple and try this on my next winter camp to pass some time.

 

[John Fenna]

I had forgotten about this thread!
I am making charcoal from smallish hedge trimings (about pencil thick) using a choc tin on my livingroom fire. It works brilliantly!

 

[Belargehair]

I've made a few batches of charcoal before for my forge. I use an old cookie (or biscuit) tin. I don't bother to plug any holes after I take it off the heat and it works great. I usually watch the colour of the smoke coming out of the holes to determine when it is complete.
The large oil drum charcoal retort in the picture someone has posted works better when it is housed inside a (temporary) brick enclosure. Once hot, it is fairly efficient as the the gasses that are released from the charring wood continue to fuel the retort. Like picking yourself up with your boot laces!

Check out some blacksmith pages for some really great info on making charcoal, iforgeiron.com is great.

 

[njc110381]

The smoke is white when charring. When it turns blue that means the wood is starting to burn so you need to stop it.

 

[johnnytheboy]

I have a perfect mini oil drum.

Its 60ltrs, it is as thick as a normal oil drum but it has a detachable lid with a normal screw in bung. Just the right size that swmbo will not complain about it lying around the back garden.

I was thinking i should be able to set the fire in the bottom, get the fire going then fill it with wood, put the detachable lid on and leave the bung out until the smoke stops and then screw it in and hope for charcoal!!!!!

 

[bhofmann]

Okay, nom nom, I have a chocolate nom nom nom tin and it's nom nom empty now.

I'm going to try this at the weekend in the snow. I thought I would also mention something I do in summer when BBQing to save charcoal once the meat is cooked. I hose the whole thing down. It's usually dried out by the next weekend and saves the charcoal from burning to ash.

 

[jonnno]

Okay, nom nom, I have a chocolate nom nom nom tin and it's nom nom empty now.

I'm going to try this at the weekend in the snow. I thought I would also mention something I do in summer when BBQing to save charcoal once the meat is cooked. I hose the whole thing down. It's usually dried out by the next weekend and saves the charcoal from burning to ash.

What a strangely good idea.

 

[grendel11]

johnnytheboy, Here's an idea from some old plans for a barrel kiln i have. cut three holes in the base (the non removeable bit !) fill the barrel with wood and set the fire on top. Once this is established place the lid on top and turn over onto three bricks or pipes anything that can be used to make a flue. earth up around the base leaving the flues clear. once the smoke has turned from white to blue block up the flues and the vents and have a cuppa. And something to eat. And a kip . It takes a while to cool down !!! Not sure how effective this will be on your scale only tried it with an old veg oil tin. Seems to work well enough at that scale. Use the charred bits to relit the next burn. Hope this helps you out. I'm sure you can tweak this to suit your set up ! happy burnning !