SamT Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 Took a deheaded barrel and built a good hot fire with pine limbs this morning, then dumped a few logs on top. Let it burn down a bit then capped it with the bottom of another barrel that I hammered the sides in on. Hammered this lid down tight, still some small gaps though where the steel folded in. Hope this works! If not then I'll try a flat plate next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evfreek Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 Sometimes it helps to have a few holes in the bottom to allow some air to convect in while burning. I tried this simple direct burn method. It is fast, but it generates too much smoke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
781 Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 I agree when you first light the barrel for 10 min or so it creates a lot of smoke but I dont have neighboors to offend. I have 4 holes in the sides of the barrel near the bottom that I plug before putting on the lid If your batch doesnt want to stop burning splash water on the top and sides to cool the coals inside. This helps to put out the fire. I have used home made charcoal out of wast construction board for a couple of years I use a large magnet to remove the nails after it is converted to charcoal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamT Posted July 3, 2011 Author Share Posted July 3, 2011 Thought about holes, but read somewhere about someone not using them. I believe it was a member here. If I dont get much char then its a simple remedy, punch some holes and light it again. Not worried about smoke, I live in Carroll County MS, neighbors are few and far between. I'll wait till tomorrow sometime to open it up and see my results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamT Posted July 4, 2011 Author Share Posted July 4, 2011 Got about a 5 gallon bucket of charcoal. Logs werent completely charred, so I knocked some holes in the bottom of the barrel, lit it up again and tossed the logs back in. Burned MUCH hotter this time, once everything was burning and sounding like a blast furnace I tossed dirt over holes and hammered the lid down. We'll see what it does if its cooled off this evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Got about a 5 gallon bucket of charcoal. Logs werent completely charred, so I knocked some holes in the bottom of the barrel, lit it up again and tossed the logs back in. Burned MUCH hotter this time, once everything was burning and sounding like a blast furnace I tossed dirt over holes and hammered the lid down. We'll see what it does if its cooled off this evening. Trial and error is the best teacher,except when throwing hand grenades. Let us know how it turns out. Pictures??? Mark <>< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamT Posted July 4, 2011 Author Share Posted July 4, 2011 Pretty much what I'm doing here, once I get a process down I should be able to produce enough charcoal for my forging needs. Of course I'm not sure what my needs are since my forge isnt done... nor the shop for that matter. I have a short attention span so I keep enough different projects going so I always feel like working on something. I'll try and remember to take the camera with me when i break open the drum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
781 Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 You get a much better yield if the material is all the same size It can be a 2 X 4 and 2 X 12 and still be considered the same size but dont but in 4 X 4 and 1/2" The small stuff will be burned away before the heavy stuff is ready. If you get some pieces not quite done put them on top of the next batch part way through the burn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamT Posted July 4, 2011 Author Share Posted July 4, 2011 All my logs are roughly the same size, still building the fire with smaller stuff first. I watched some more videos and I think I'm capping my drum too quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pault17 Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I put a drum, with a bunch of 1/2 inch holes all around the bottom, on top of several cinder blocks and surrounded with dirt to make it air tite, leaving a block opening at one side (of a circle??) I was lucky and got one that had a removeable lid with a big bung-hole. I build a small fire in teh bottom and put in cut-offs from local construction sites and cut up pallets that can be had for free just about anywhere. The cutoffs are pine and the pallets range from poplar to oak, so my charcoal is sporadic. anyhoo, I get a big fire going and keep piling wood in until the wood is sticking up above the top of the drum. once the wood has burned below the top of the drum, I put the lid on it and put a few bricks on to make sure it doesn't blow off. I then block up and cover with dirt the opening at the bottom. This makes a solid stream of smoke come out the bung hole. This smoke is almost thick enough to cut. Well, the trick I read about was to light this smoke on fire - it will burn like a blow torch for a few minutes. once this fire goes out. I cap the bung hole and leave it for a day/24 hours. over the course of a week, I generated about 75 gallons (volume) of charcoal. I went through 7 pallets and who knows how many 2x4 blocks. very little ash and only one mistake drum. I will tell you to make completely sure that there are no live coals or the whole drum will go to ash in very short order. Now all I have to do is build a forge that will burn it so's I can try it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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