Thinking of having a crack at making charcoal.

[Ty Unnos]

Thanks Ty.

 

So I am not imagining things

 

Where is good place to buy some paper bags for selling a bit on?

 

Selway E-commerce website

[Woodworks]

Selway E-commerce website

 

Nice one.

 

Had seen those but nice to have them recommended.

[Ty Unnos]

Yes we buy the plain ones and then print our own logo on them.

 

There may be cheaper suppliers out there....

 

What makes it expensive is the delivery - unless you buy in loads of bags at once.

 

Also you need a decent pliers stapler - and there not cheap!

[Woodworks]

Ah yes.

 

Had not got that far or looked at delivery.

 

As you clearly know your stuff what size sieve would you put your charcoal over? The sieve I have is 25mm x 40mm mesh.

Edited June 10, 2013 by Woodworks

[Ty Unnos]

You mesh sounds fine - I am still only doing small batches myself so have not sorted out a proper sieve / grader.

 

I use something like this to empty my kiln which sieves as I go:

 

Draper 10 Prong Potato Fork with Wood Shaft and MYD Handle GARDEN TOOLS | eBay

 

The only other thing is looking after the charcoal once bagged. If you are rough its all going to turn to powder anyway so treat it with care.

[smiles]

Good effort Woodworks - is the retort insulated under the cladding,if so,is it rockwool or suchlike?

 

Not sure,but I get the feeling that the low pressure yellow flames at the end of the burn is the charcoal itself going up - had lots of these when the barrel deformed on mine and the lid popped off! - lost half a batch on that one,but was too bloody hot to see what was happening inside!

 

Selway bags are good - but as Ty says the delivery kills it for small numbers,thinking of buying a self inking stamp to put my details on the Coppice association bags.

 

Cheers

Steve

[Woodworks]

- is the retort insulated under the cladding,if so,is it rockwool or suchlike?

 

Yes rockwool on top and some congregated sheets inside to help insulate and make the retort last longer.

 

Thanks for the advise

Had wondered about stopping the burn a bit sooner but will experiment with future burns.

[sasha.p]

Have a look on facebook at a group called the gower charcoal makers they have some rather large kilns they use to burn theirs I would love to know where they get them from we get loads of stick that could be used for charcoal making only downside is it looks really messy ,you may be able to pick up some tips off their page or off them direct

[Woodworks]

Just built an upgrade to take two barrels but looks like a bit of angle iron is not up to the temperatures involved.

 

Any thought as to how to build a heat proof frame that I can load fuel in under?

[smiles]

I would have thought that another strut or two horizontally between the barrels and another leg or four should do it for the frame,but then be careful that the barrels don't deform with the heat and the weight of the char wood!