256 replies to this topic

[adamw]

I think using something such as a camping stove is very inefficient and costly. It is mostly made in amatuer manufacture by using burning wood / coals as the heat source.

[s2525]

Is alder wood any good for making charcoal?

[paul]

Yepp! It?s good stuff for making charcoal as is poplar, willow etc.

[SwissTony]

I have access to tons of willow.
Its from a cricket bat making company and is dried for ages before they get it.
Every day they chuck out lumps of willow about 6"x6"x4" or there abouts (inches is " right??) which i have access to and they also have a big CNC machine which produces bags and bags of shavings.
As far as i know it is un-treated.
Would this make good charcoal???

[paul]

What a question......




OF COURSE it would be great

[Yugen-biki]

I was quite hapy with my homemade coal and the quality of the BP it produced. I'm still happy with my BP but I decided to buy "Black Powder Manufacturing, Testing & Optimizing" By Ian von Maltitz.
Why?
I thought it wolud be nice to own a book like this. And I had allready placed an order from Skylighter, so why not when the shipping is allready payed for.

More info about the book: http://www.fireworks...powdernewbk.htm

After reading it I did not regret my self. It was a good book with a lot of interesting reading. I can recommend tis book for people who whants to improve their BP burn rate. There is a lot of interesting reading about differens kinds of wood and ways o turn it into coal. And a lot about the process of makeing the powder it self.

I found some interesting text about retorts. After reading it I came to the fact that my home made coal is not the best as possible. I have used alder for a long time but the technique I used was not very good. I will not say everything I have improved, because then Ian von Maltitz would not sell his books.

But here are some things I have done:


This is a picture of the retort when i built it. It's an old water tank. (72kB)


The second picture is the retort in action. I use wood as fuel to keep it simpel and cheep. The problem is that you might get in to problems when trying to contol the temperature. But i managed quite well by controlling the air supply. I managed to reduce to ammount of rire wood drasicly useing this retort, compared to make coal in the BBQ. I made about 4Kg coal with a cubic meter of chopped fire wood. (96kB)


This is some debarced alder and how I put it into the jars. And some finished coal. (202kB)


The thermometer is not the best one according to Ian von Maltitz, but I had no problems with it.

How does my new BP performe, you might ask. The thing is that I have not had time to make new BP, and probably not in the near future.
If I remember I will post my "review" of the new retort made coal.

Questions?

Edited by Yugen-biki, 09 January 2005 - 01:18 PM.

[adamw]

Very nice device! All shiny and red too!!

[evilgecko]

I can never be bovered stripping all the bark of my Williow, and I've noticed no change in performance from debarked stuff.

[broadsword]

I have had a few problems finding a willow tree near me! And yes i have beeen al the way down the river! We drove along beside it!
But if hardwoods are the best thenwould birch be OK for BP as it is a hardwood (I think?)

[Pretty green flames]

You are looking for soft woods if you intend to make BP out of them.
Try to Find trees as Alder, Pine or Poplar if you can't find willow.

I can tell you that hardwoods suck for BP, but they are great for effects.

[broadsword]

I thought pine was rubbish for use in BP, jus good in TT stars?
Hmmm anyone have a list of common softwoods, i tried gogle to no avail

[s2525]

it would be handy if someone wrote some info on wich woods to use and where to get the charcoal with pics and all it will be something ill try to do in summer when im not so busy

[PyroKid]

You are looking for soft woods if you intend to make BP out of them.
Try to Find trees as Alder, Pine or Poplar if you can't find willow.

I can tell you that hardwoods suck for BP, but they are great for effects.

Alder and Poplar are in fact HardWoods

For a list of hard / soft woods, point your browser at the following URL:

http://en.wikipedia....i/List_of_woods

Edited by PyroKid, 05 February 2005 - 03:38 PM.

[Pretty green flames]

Yes, they may be listed as hardowoods but are actually "soft" as soft woods and so, great for BP manufactue.

This is an explanation from my Dad who works on the Slovene Forestry Institue

[Richard H]

An interesting dissertation on hard versus soft woods is referenced below:

http://www.alumni.ca...b0/biology.html