Making Charcoal

[Archer 756]

Looking for info on making charcoal , best wood and method of making

 

[andy52]

How much and for what purpose? If for a brazier for cooking any hardwood would do and a large metal container with a lid with holes placed on a fire. If for granulating I've heard willow works best.

 

[Zapadach]

I have made good quality charcoal using cage filler that you buy at a pet store for hamsters. Next time I will go down to the creek bottom and pick up some dead desert willow that grows along the banks.

 

[Brokennock]

Looking for info on making charcoal , best wood and method of making

Just recently,
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/making-willow-charcoal.135721/
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/making-charcoal.45886/
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/another-charcoal-question.137788/
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/charcoal.136241/

 

[ohio ramrod]

I use mostly oak and apple for making charcoal for my brazer. For making charcoal to be ground fine I use "swamp willow" from dead trees.

 

[Sidney Smith]

I'm sure the person asking is considering making his own black powder. Just buy lump charcoal for grilling. It's already made.

 

[deerstalkert]

I'm sure the person asking is considering making his own black powder. Just buy lump charcoal for grilling. It's already made.

willow works best for me and has for 60 years.
get a clean paint can, cut your wood to fit in the said can.
poke a hole in the bottom of the can to release the gases.
seal the can
apply heat. when the wood is charing it will shoot a flame out the vent hole.
when the vent stops playing saturn five, the wood is now char. don't open until it cools off, the wood/char can ignite. burnt wood is not your friend.

 

[mmb617]

I'm sure the person asking is considering making his own black powder. Just buy lump charcoal for grilling. It's already made.

Although I never tried it myself everybody I've talked to says charcoal briquettes won't work for making powder.

What I use and therefore know it works is cedar fence pickets from Home Depot. Cooked as described above except I have my hole in the lid of the paint can and plug the hole after the flame goes out and the smoke diminishes.

 

[Jake2454]

i have heard eastern cedar and silver maple make good charcol

 

[JCKelly]

When du Pont made powder along the river in Delaware their buildings were very strong on thee sides, whilst the fourth side, facing the river, was quite weak. Once in a while, despite their experience and care, someone "Went across the river".

You might want to think of this when designing your own set-up. Only assuming, of course, that your home-made charcoal is meant to burn very, very quickly. Where is your own "across the river" designed to be?

 

[Jake2454]

When du Pont made powder along the river in Delaware their buildings were very strong on thee sides, whilst the fourth side, facing the river, was quite weak. Once in a while, despite their experience and care, someone "Went across the river".

You might want to think of this when designing your own set-up. Only assuming, of course, that your home-made charcoal is meant to burn very, very quickly. Where is your own "across the river" designed to be?

make small batches ...it helps to reduce severity in the event of a mishap

 

[deerstalkert]

When du Pont made powder along the river in Delaware their buildings were very strong on thee sides, whilst the fourth side, facing the river, was quite weak. Once in a while, despite their experience and care, someone "Went across the river".

You might want to think of this when designing your own set-up. Only assuming, of course, that your home-made charcoal is meant to burn very, very quickly. Where is your own "across the river" designed to be?

60 years of paying attention and still on my side of the river. 1 pound or less to insure i stay that way.

 

[J. Paul]

Looking for info on making charcoal , best wood and method of making

Depending upon desired use, historical use would have been what was locally available, ie grape, plum, willow, pine etc

 

[Wolfmanjack]

The recommendation for willow charcoal would be the new growth up to about 3” in diameter. Black willow is apparently the desired species of willow. It can be cooked green or dried. Remove the bark before cooking.

 

[Rob M.]

Looking for info on making charcoal , best wood and method of making

Willow or grapevine .....

 

[Brokennock]

I think @Rob M. is bored. This is the 3rd topic I've opened because it had new activity, to find it is from 2021,

 

[Col. Batguano]

I think @Rob M. is bored. This is the 3rd topic I've opened because it had new activity, to find it is from 2021,

That's old, but some of them, like; "What Muzzleloading stuff did you do today?" were started right after Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. General Mills was still Private Mills back then.

 

[azmntman]

Well I had no interest in it in 2021 but now am glad o see it. Thanks for reviving this one!

 

[IanH]

Well I had no interest in it in 2021 but now am glad o see it. Thanks for reviving this one!

I posted some info in the other one that might interest you. Lots more if you want to PM, but I put the gist (jist?) of it in that post earlier today. I hear there isn't much good wood in your particular desert. There's a popular 'toober who goes by the name similar to a "crippled castor dealer company" what lives in the high desert of NM and uses the bushy cedars there to good effect.

Grapevine can be ashy and dirty as frig, fast though and great for aerial entertainment devices.

 

[Rob M.]

willow works best for me and has for 60 years.
get a clean paint can, cut your wood to fit in the said can.
poke a hole in the bottom of the can to release the gases.
seal the can
apply heat. when the wood is charing it will shoot a flame out the vent hole.
when the vent stops playing saturn five, the wood is now char. don't open until it cools off, the wood/char can ignite. burnt wood is not your friend.

Same way I do. The paint can is good for making one pound for me ....