Charcoal making

[woodbodger]

Has any body out there any experience of making charcoal on a small but economical scale?

[greyman]

Hello Woodbodger,

how do you mean 'small but economical'? I have two kilns - a small one roughly the size of a 205 Ltr drum but not quit so high - we can run that as per a normal ring kiln and on a good burn we have had about 12Kg out of it. The other kiln is still on the 'small' side at only 5' dia but it is 4' high. We have only fired it twice so far but got 48 & 40, 3 kg bags respectively ( the second due to poor weather conditions and maybe packing the kiln too tight).

What are you looking for - making it just for you and your family/friends or just small scale production to a local outlet?

You can see the small, small kiln of ours in a previous article: http://www.swog.org.uk/2008/11/

Greyman

[woodbodger]

Thanks I have just read your article, very useful,as for size: I think like in hitchhikers guide to the galaxy I first need to understand what the question is?

[Kentish Man]

http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/section/3768 is also worth reading if you are serious about your endeavour!

[carlight]

Hi , i may be wrong , but it seems to me that size and economy /efficiency are closely related - the bigger the kiln , the more efficient/economical . Insulation (cover the lid with 4 inches of soil, build soil up around the sides )is also a factor .

However , i am biased as i run a large kiln ( 8ft by 6ft ).

good luck .

[woodbodger]

Yes I am thinking that making charcoal has got to be one of those jobs that I do when everything else is done as it is going to require a serious input of labour, what is your kiln made of, I was wondering if you could use an old oil tank or similar working on the principle like you that big is more cost efficient (beautiful).

[Darren]

The thing is with ring kilns is it takes a lot of work before you see a return on your money, as with a oil drum you see a return on your money after the first burn.

[The Barrowers]

We just use a 50 gallon drum ( from the scrap yard with a circle cut at one end to load) with scrag end bits, at least makes brown ends and some charcoal. It's good for lighting fires and the charcoal is a bonus. No money outlay, some returns. Not more than 20% charcoal as we don't know what we are doing.

[Darren]

Barrows, Wrap the drum in loft insulation and hold it on with wire it makes it 20% more efficient.

Set the drum on 4 bricks and sand underneath

I half fill the drum with logs then the other half with newspaper and kindling. Get a raging fire going then throw the other half of the logs in. Put the lid on and leave a gap for the smoke to come out. When it turns blue take the bricks out and the sand should seal the bottom. Close lid and wait to cool over night. The lid seals itself with tar.

I really should do courses in oil drum char-coaling.

[greyman]

Not sure why everone does all this putting it on bricks,taking things off etc etc. If you go to the bother of knocking holes in the drum why not actually make it into a normal ring kiln by getting some channel and 2" ali ariel tubing and setting it up so you can run through a whole cycle without having all the other work. Still - each to thier own.

Greyman