Making charcoal questions.

[demographic]

For a start off I'll admit that I'm just above idiot on the knowledge scale about this subject but...

My mates parents wood has an area where the power lines go over, consequently Norweb (or whatever they are called now) have cut all the trees below those lines down (fair enough as it would cause problems at some point) and they are just laying about doing nowt useful.
There's some of this wood that's big enough to be worth using as logs on the fire but some is in the way and a bit small to carry back to the house and bother stacking and blah blah blah.
There's Birch (I wonder about making pitch from the bark?) Beech and Cherry wood there.

Anyway, obviously none of this can be rocket science as its been done for thousands of years...But, I haven't been doing it for thousands of years so..

Any chance that some of you lot have some pointers? Not after doing massive batches here mebbe a 45 gallon drum size.
I tried Search but it currently seems to be broken.
Thanks in advance, Scott.

 

[QDanT]

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/search.php?searchid=1572805
cheers Danny

 

[demographic]

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/search.php?searchid=1572805
cheers Danny

Ta muchly, looks like Search is working now.

Some good info in amongst that, Cheers.

 

[Rumcajs]

Watch this video

 

[demographic]

Watch this video

I'm thinking of slightly bigger scale that that, as I seem to have the Cumbria gas cylinder mountain in my back yard there's one big cylinder I could use, also there's a 45 gallon drum (that's 55 gallons to the Merkins with their little tichy gallons) that's a possibility maybe as well, depends.

Anyway its not on full blown charcoal burner scale but bigger than biscuit tin as well.

Realistically there's enough to do a few 45 gallon drum batches and as some of its Cherry wood there's also a faint possibility of making a smoker but I'd rather walk before trying to leg it.

I do prefer the ides of the gas cylinder though cos I reckon I could make it controllable without arseing about with covering the holes up with sand, just making adjustable vents instead.

Hmmm.

 

[Rumcajs]

Video was just to give you know-how.
I know that you get a lot of tar in the process. Keep it; you never know when you might use it.

 

[demographic]

Keep it; you never know when you might use it.

Hell yes

 

[Rumcajs]

By the way, I wouldn't waste Cherry wood on charcoal.
Mmmmm, smoked sausages, or better still, some nice piece of sirloin stake.

 

[demographic]

By the way, I wouldn't waste Cherry wood on charcoal.
Mmmmm, smoked sausages, or better still, some nice piece of sirloin steak.

I've been hitting the net looking for info on smokers as well

Just figured that I didn't want the thread to cover so much ground as to make it too much if you get my drift.

 

[TeeGeeBee]

...and as some of its Cherry wood...

Cumbria you say. Any good straight bits about 65" long and 6-7" wide? Might be a market for canoe paddle makers. Paddling with cherry is just such a lovely way to travel.

TGB

 

[Rumcajs]

I've been hitting the net looking for info on smokers as well

Are you looking for something like this?

 

[Stanleythecat]

Raymond Tabor explains how to use a 45 gallon drum in his book, traditional woodland crafts. We use a full size ring kiln now but all the principles are the same. For a drum keep things a consistant size, around 1 1/2 to 2 inches max.

Our method for the drum was to pack the kiln upside down (holes (chimneys!) at bottom), light the fire and let it burn for a bit, then pull the lid back down and secure with a dent, then roll the whole thing over so the fire is now at the bottom. We added a few extra vents at the base with a pick axe and raised it on some wooden blocks so that it would draw better. When the white steam abates and the whispy blue smoke arrives its time to shut it down. Block up all of the holes (we used turf) and leave it alone for 12 hours. When you open it up you should be left with about a third of a barrel full of charcoal. Simples!

 

[Dave Budd]

there are lots of ways of making charcoal using an oil drum, some more effective than others. They all rely on you being able to control the air flow through the bin as the wood chars. The best way to learn is to find somebody near you that makes their own already and get them to show you. ANOB, national trust, wildlife parks etc often make their owna nd run short courses.

If it's any help I have a chap come and run charcoal making courses for me in Devon. he does a full sized kiln and an oil drum burn with the group and makes sure that there is at least one BBQ for food he does like his BBQs and smokers, etc

 

[Whittler Kev]

For a start off I'll admit that I'm just above idiot on the knowledge scale about this subject but...

My mates parents wood has an area where the power lines go over, consequently Norweb (or whatever they are called now) have cut all the trees below those lines down (fair enough as it would cause problems at some point) and they are just laying about doing nowt useful.
There's some of this wood that's big enough to be worth using as logs on the fire but some is in the way and a bit small to carry back to the house and bother stacking and blah blah blah.
There's Birch (I wonder about making pitch from the bark?) Beech and Cherry wood there.

Anyway, obviously none of this can be rocket science as its been done for thousands of years...But, I haven't been doing it for thousands of years so..

Any chance that some of you lot have some pointers? Not after doing massive batches here mebbe a 45 gallon drum size.
I tried Search but it currently seems to be broken.
Thanks in advance, Scott.

Try here or download a pdf here, here or watch here
Should keep you going for a while (just searched on google)

 

[rancid badger]

We've a bit of charcoal making experience up here at Chopwell Woodland Park

We bought a 7ft ring kiln, about 6 years ago iirc. We've made quite a bit of very high quality charcoal, from (mostly) Sycamore, taken from various areas around the wood, mostly roadsides.

This is the kiln just after lighting:

There is a definite art and skill involved in filling it correctly, though with a little practice it soon becomes second nature.
This was a very mixed burn, with sycamore, beech, oak, alder, a bit of birch and some cardboard

Once lit, you continue to fill it, forming a low dome, then pop the 'Coolie hat' lid on.

It's a bit of a chore to be honest, as this thing takes 1.5 tons or about a chord of wood every burn.
It burns for about 12 hours, requiring frequent monitoring and rotation of the ports and chimneys to assure an even burn.

once the smoke has thinned to light blue, you block the ports and one by one, remove the chimneys, blocking the ports they were on as you go.

you leave it for another 12 hours or so, making sure it is cooling down and then, once your happy its cool enough, you lift the lid and see what you have.

With hindsight, I should have bought a much smaller kiln, as it takes a full weekend to load, burn, damp,unload and bag the charcoal. Not to mention the effort required to gather the wood to be converted.

The fund raising potential of one of these things is pretty good if you have the wood to convert and the time to commit.

We haven't used it this season at all and the last burn, which yielded one and half dump bags, of good charcoal, was wasted when it was left outside in the rain, for weeks, due to lack of available labour

Given the current poor state of active membership of the group, we simply can't get enough people to commit a full weekend to sitting next to a charcoal kiln, in all weathers:umbrella: And the mess involved, in bagging it up, is also a bit of a pita.

anyway; just thought I'd add a bit to the thread

atb

R.B.

 

[demographic]

Great info, thanks everyone.

Just wanting to do it on a small scale compared to proper charcoal burners, looking in my back yard I do seem to have a spare 47 kilo (damaged so can't be used for gas) propane cylinder kicking about with not much to do.

I might try it out with that first, if it doesn't work too well then there's only an hour or so work in it and I can use it for stove steel instead.

 

[Dave Budd]

We've a bit of charcoal making experience up here at Chopwell Woodland Park


We haven't used it this season at all and the last burn, which yielded one and half dump bags, of good charcoal, was wasted when it was left outside in the rain, for weeks, due to lack of available labour

Given the current poor state of active membership of the group, we simply can't get enough people to commit a full weekend to sitting next to a charcoal kiln, in all weathers:umbrella: And the mess involved, in bagging it up, is also a bit of a pita.

anyway; just thought I'd add a bit to the thread

atb

R.B.

Not so, charcoal is not wasted if left out in the rain. If it were I would have wasted hundreds of pounds (cash spent on buying) on charcoal already! just let it dry out and it's good to go again In fact for some things the wash-through can be helpful as it cuts out some dust If it is too small for your purpose, then find another use for it, if it is wet then let it dry, if it isn't properly converted (brown ends) then either add to next burn or use as low-smoke-easy-light firewood.

As for the lack of enthusiasm in the group, well just run it as a course and charge people to come. I'm sure tehre are lots of folk around there who would like to learn how, especially if you also show how to do it on a domestic scale as well. That's what we do; the big kiln is stacked and set alight, then the oil drum is filld and set alight. The drum is burnt in a couple of hours and is cool in a couple more, so as people will still be up late you already have something for your late evening BBQ. We got about 12-15kg from the oil drum, which is more than enough to bbq a few burgers on