Failing to make Charcoal

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Failing to make Charcoal
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judyofthewoods

Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 5:51 pm Post subject:

dougal wrote:

And I'm a bit concerned about Judy's (indoor) experiments, because one of the gasses produced when burning with a restricted air supply is bound to be the deadly poisonous Carbon Monoxide...

Not to worry, dougal, I shut down the air intake, not the flue, in effect closing down the fire to nearly, but not quite 100%, preventing burning, but allowing the smoldering, and the hot gases still rise up the chimney.

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 7:03 pm Post subject:
I did wonder about the restocking of timber bit myself actually but was too shy to ask (after all he is called "Madman") Maybe J of the Woods should be renaimed mad woman!

judyofthewoods

Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 7:54 pm Post subject:

simon wrote:

Maybe J of the Woods should be renaimed mad woman!

Dash, I thought I could keep my real name a secret

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 8:53 pm Post subject:

judyofthewoods wrote:

Dash, I thought I could keep my real name a secret

Well... IIRC "Probably known as the madwomaninthewelliesintheskip", although I haven't seen *that* picture, yet...

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 8:58 pm Post subject:
SSShhhhhh!!! I won't say another word

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 10:15 pm Post subject:

[quote="dougal"]The part of Madman's experiment that puzzles me (as being utterly contrary to anything I'd heard of), is the sentance

Quote:

The fire continued for two days, with regular restocking of timber.

Restocking?

I thought the idea was to *keep* it sealed, and NOT add anything... quote]

As we couldn't get sufficiently high temperatures, on a couple of occasions the lid was removed and more fuel of better quality added, and then the lid resealed.

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 10:26 pm Post subject:

Madman wrote:

The fire continued for two days, with regular restocking of timber.

dougal wrote:

Restocking?

I thought the idea was to *keep* it sealed, and NOT add anything...

Madman wrote:

As we couldn't get sufficiently high temperatures, on a couple of occasions the lid was removed and more fuel of better quality added, and then the lid resealed.

And I think that may be the reason that the fire burned down to ash rather than charcoal. It really is supposed to be about choking the fire... (writes the former scientist who'd quite like a gas barbie, but knows he shouldn't...)

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 10:36 pm Post subject:
Interesting. As this was the first attempt, we lacked the confidence to leave it sealed, thinking that it would just die out. As Jema said, one can learn a lot from failure.

Guest

Posted: Wed May 11, 05 11:04 pm Post subject:
This website has a good article on making charcoal. https://www.clt.astate.edu/elind/charcoalvalentine.htm I have used a similar method to do the same, and it only takes 3-4 hours for a finished product. Good luck with your attempt.

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Wed May 11, 05 11:25 pm Post subject:
Excellent link!..Thanks, Guest. I shall use this info in making the definitive kiln!...Check back here in a few weeks for the article on it!

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