This is a listing of the various charcoal making testing and methods I have used to date.
This was a series of small scale tests to get some idea of the effects of time and temperature. They were very informative. All future builds where based off information obtained form these tests as well as from a wealth of literature available on charcoal making.
31 Photos
This is my original charcoal making setup. It works great if you are making biochar, but not so good for bladesmithing and smelting. I have moved to other methods but there is room for improvement here. Let me know if you modify it to get better quantity charcoal.
16 Photos
This is direct burn in a 55 gallon drum. Remember in a direct burn part of the product is burned for fuel. This is a modification of Lee Sauder's method at http://iron.wlu.edu/reports/CharcoalBarrel.htm.
11 Photos
This is a 4' diameter steel kiln patterned after Japanese charcoal kilns. It utilizes the hot flue gases from an external fire to char the wood. It can be built from commonly available materials.
18 Photos
Take a look on Youtube for a video by Amy Smith of MIT about making charcoal briquets using a method she brought back from Haiti. It involves an upright 55 gallon drum with holes IN THE BOTTOM and a loading hole in the top with a metal plate to seal this top hole. I have tried this several times and it takes 1 hour, so far, to produce charcoal from pine branches. 1/2 hour to load the barrel and 1/2 hour to process the pine into charcoal. I then crushed it a bit and put into my compost pile for use this spring as biochar. Incredibly easy and somehow enabling.
Thom,
Great video. It is pretty cool how the process can be controlled well enough to produce the properties you need .For me this charcoal would be too soft and crumbly to use making blades. And vice versa my more solid charcoal would be almost useless in making preformed briquettes.
Thanks
how long did it take to make charcoal in the paint can ?
Fredrick,
It took about 45 minutes.
Is that shorter or longer than the other methods?
how did the Japanese kiln do i am interested in process a similar size (1 or 2 of these) as i would prefer to make larger quantities as to cut out multipe smaller i have a plentiful source of Pine, How much charcoal would this create at a time?
space isnt a real issue for me so any suggestions would be great.
Thank you
i am going to start charcoal charcoal business i needed some idea please can you mail me some making methods?
THANKS ALOT FOR I N F
This is a fantastic have always wondered how charcoal was made very comprehensive and some great photos……..thanks heaps
Cool photos. I've never seen charcoal making in person but these photos make me feel like I've experienced it first hand.
Rick danbury ct im going to give it a try but with a 275 oil tank will repost out come if i dont burn half of town in process
Rick,
Good luck. Letus know how it turns out.