Charcoal Retort Day 6
The second half of the load construction cut offs donated by Tim and his crew at Bayshore Construction were just enough to fill the retort and fuel a round of charcoal making. Though the lid and support bars were very warped from the last burn, the lid was hammered flat and new bars were cut…
Charcoal Retort Day 5
A standard burn for version 1.0 took an unexpected turn, likely due to the wear of high heat on some of the structural steel. We loaded the retort with some excellent construction cut offs, this time thanks to Tim and his crew at Bayshore Construction Inc., and sealed it up as usual. The one difference…
Charcoal Retort Day 4
The weather was great and today’s burn was like a party with everyone out to help chop wood, fuel the fire, and roast marshmallows. The official version 1.0 of the charcoal retort was based on the 0.9 design but incorporated a better airflow design via a grate and used bricks rather than logs as a…
Charcoal Retort Day 3
Take two on the charcoal retort in an attempt to get the burn temperature higher and complete the process of charcoal formation. The first attempt was promising but seemed to take too long to get to operating temperature and did not stay there long enough. So rather than stand the drum on the ground, I…
Charcoal Retort Day 2
The results of the first attempted burn of the D.I.Y. charcoal retort were not as impressive as expected but seem to be on the right track. Yesterday morning I picked up some nice cut-offs of spruce, cedar, and fir from Chris and his crew who were more than willing to assist with my experiment. I…
Charcoal Retort Day 1
“Charcoal!”, he retorted. This is my first foray into high-tech low-tech clean charcoal production but I am stoked to try it out. For background information on fuel alternatives, see the post entitled: Sustainable ‘Smithing?. For this project, I visited the good folks at Demxx and picked up a steel drum along with a 6″ diameter…
Sustainable ‘Smithing?
One of the draws of this type of craftsmanship is the deeply ingrained appreciation for ‘real’ and natural materials and simple methods. Many of the shop operations depend on human power and handwork. The charcoal fuel for forging is made from reclaimed wood.