JHCC Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 On 8/24/2018 at 3:58 PM, SLAG said: Why not vent the gas to the plenum where the fuel is burning. That gas is volatile and highly flammable. That’s the whole point of the Hookway design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 Mr. Grammar Hammer. Where do I find a HOOKWAY, ( preferably close to St. Louis Missouri, my domicile)? SLAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted August 26, 2018 Share Posted August 26, 2018 I believe the Hookway is in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohio Posted August 26, 2018 Author Share Posted August 26, 2018 James Hookway sells the plans to his retort design, but it's not a difficult to figure out how it all works. I bought the plans because I based my design pretty much on his as shown in the photos on his website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexDude Posted September 27, 2022 Share Posted September 27, 2022 Howdy! Sorry for bringing an old thread back to life, but I'm new to this, ran across this thread and am wanting to build something like this retort. How long would you keep the fire going or how do you know you have "cooked" your charcoal enough? Thanks for any help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 27, 2022 Share Posted September 27, 2022 (edited) Generally when the smoke clears of flames stop coming out the vent you shut down the air and let the charcoal cool. As to fuel, generally about 1/2 as much as The wood your converting with other styles, it mite be less with the rocket stove. Edited September 27, 2022 by Mod34 Removed duplicate text Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohio Posted September 28, 2022 Author Share Posted September 28, 2022 For this design, assume it will take a minimum of 3 hours once the pyrolization starts. I will go to 4 hours after pyrolization just to be sure, but usually, I have to feed fuel to the rocket stove for the last 45 minutes or so. Then I close up the lower opening with mineral wool and let it sit overnight before opening the barrel. The material is often a mix of hard and softwood, and usually dry. Assume wet (fresh) wood, like tree limbs, etc., will take longer for the moisture to cook off. I haven't done that, so I don't know how long that would take to complete the process. I think you'll have to try different times for different materials to get what you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 28, 2022 Share Posted September 28, 2022 Thanks for reviving the thread; I'd forgotten what an amusing and informative read the OP was. I'm still thinking about making something like this, especially since I picked up a whole lot of kaowool from the industrial surplus place. Thanks as well for the reminder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexDude Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 Thank y'all for the great input! Will be building one soon and we'll see how it goes. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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