A charcoal making question

[Black Maple Forge]

Hello! I usually use charcoal that I make in an oil drum, but it doesn't have a lid. I put sheet steel over it and seal it with clay, but I was wondering, would a sheet of tin would work instead? It would be much more convenient...

[Frosty]

So long as it's reasonably air tight it'll work fine.

Frosty

[781]

One of my barrels doesnt have a lid so I put a sheet of tin and a few rocks on it to keep it tight. I also cool the sides of the barrel with water to help put out the fire. Once it is almost out but a few smoldering embers I transfer to a barrel that has no holes and a tight fitting removeable lid. I have to use a screw driver to pry up the lid to let in air once it is cold. One time I was piling wood on the pick up endgate next to this cold barrel the day after the last firing and I heard some metal creaking. This went on for some time when I looked at the barrel it was trying to collaps the sides frm the vacum in the barrel.
Roger in Minnesota

[Black Maple Forge]

Thanks! I was just concerned with the tin and it's melting point, but if other people have done it, I can!

[Frosty]

I guess I should've asked rather than assume.

Are you talking about the metal Tin or the generic term used for thin sheet steel? As in "tin roof", nobody (in this country anyway) has used the metal Tin in that way in a long time.

What exactly do you mean by tin? Specifically, what kind of metal is it?

If you have a sheet of real honest to goodness Tin large enough to cover a 55gl drum laying around you should sell it and buy several drums with snap ring lids or something else you need.

Frosty

[Farmer Phil]

I also wondered what you meant by tin. Most of the time when I hear a person refer to tin sheet metal they are talking about corrugated roofing metal. And, as often as not, they're talking about galvanized (zinc plated) roofing. If you are, by chance, referring to galvanized metal, which, indeed, does look tin-like, I would not use it for for your purpose where heat is involved. Zinc oxide fumes are toxic and can be deadly.

[Black Maple Forge]

I think it is actually thin steel, but I'm not sure. It came off of an old screen door(), and just seemed like "tin" to me.

[ironrosefarms]

Screen doors are not a reliable source of anything??? Depending on how old it is, it could be aluminum, tin, sheet steel, galvanized steel, or nearly anything in between.

I would almost bet the heat would destroy what ever the material is if it is as thin as most screen door panels, in short order, regardless of the material it is made of.

[Frosty]

If it was made since WWII it's almost undoubtedly aluminum and won't do at all.

Stick with the sheet steel.

Frosty

[Black Maple Forge]

Thanks for the insight!
Another question: Is there an easier way to seal an oil drum than with clay (and a sheet of steel)?