DonCopal Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 And what about balsa charcoal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrB Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 And what about balsa charcoal?Not practical for economical reasons, but if you can get your hands on it it's a fast charcoal.B! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonCopal Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 (edited) So, what is the fastest: Paulownia, balsa, alder or willow? Edited January 12, 2015 by DonCopal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrB Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Which ever grows in your back yard.B! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonCopal Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 (edited) I can get every wood I want as I know someone who works for a wood concern. So, what's the fastest or are they all the same? EDIT: I uploaded a test of my vineyard BP here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDneh3KPr7g Do you think it's fast enough for nozzleless? Edited January 12, 2015 by DonCopal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 I can get every wood I want as I know someone who works for a wood concern. So, what's the fastest or are they all the same? EDIT: I uploaded a test of my vineyard BP here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDneh3KPr7g Do you think it's fast enough for nozzleless?Just my 2 cents... it might be more practical, cheaper and faster to go to your local woods, and cut some yourself... you don't need to cut down a whole tree. I planted some willow trees in my own backyard two years go, so i can use them in the near future. They grow so fast, you can get new branches every 2 years! Before that i went to the woods nearby and cut some branches of the willows growing near the river. Debark, let dry, and cook coal! Gives me perfect lift in just 3 to 5 hrs milling. 1 kg at a time. Oh, the BP you showed in the video... that's it! Perfect. I'm however surprised you got this speed with vineyard, i tried vineyard from Malta, but with little success. Even though i have the same mill and procedures for years...? Maybe they sold me beech or oak coal, i don't know why it didn't work. It just didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 The exact fastest will depends on the variety of each that you have access to. They should all preform extremely well. If I were going for absolute best, I'd go with Paulownia personally. Willow and alder both vary variety to variety between very good and great. Black Willow, Red stem alder, and alder buckthorn are generally the hottest of the tested and documented varieties. Balsa also is very hot, but tends to be a lot fluffier and bulkier, which I don't prefer. Again, this is all personal opinion. Also, I'm speaking from personal experience and general knowledge. The varieties available in the EU may be different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 That's right Mumbles, there are numerous varieties of (for example) Willow. Test and try seems to be the only way. Making good charcoal is like making wine! The properties differ from region to region, even on local conditions so it seems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titanium Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 I already have tested Willow, Pine and Vineyard Charcoal(Standard 75:15:10).Vineyard was faster than Pine, but Willow was definitely the fastest, but for Stars I just use Pine, because of the pretty Sparks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaMtnBkr Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Why do you need the absolute fastest BP? If you want or need something higher performance go to whistle, IBP or another fuel. For most things the hottest BP isn't needed and something slower may actually be preferred. It can be fun seeing how hot you can make your BP, but you have to be able to test it and the testing is half the fun. Why not just pick something and start testing? You have many suggestions for good wood if you don't want to test. Pick one and make some rockets. Also, rockets made with super hot BP don't have much of a tail. Great BP firework rockets usually have a long lasting visible tail as pyro is mainly about visual effects. Just a thought but I don't know what you are trying to accomplish. I would just start making rockets, lots of rockets, and video tape them so you can compare all the different woods you have access to that you will end up trying in the future. Making and lighting them is a lot more fun than talking about them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonCopal Posted January 13, 2015 Author Share Posted January 13, 2015 Ok. So, I searched a bit and found out that black willow and red alder don't grow where I live, but alder buckthorn does. So, I think I'll go and search such a tree and make some BP with it.And, someone said I had to dry the wood before making the coal, but why? I thought all the water would boil off during the heating process? And another thing: Do you suggest me to use ceramic or hardened lead media? And how much of it? I have a 2L mill barrel and make 100g at once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobosan Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 (edited) If using solid sticks of wood with a traditional retort cooker, yes, the water will be driven out as steam. If using shavings, they can be laid in the sun to dry before using a TLUD cooker. TLUD doesn't work well with damp shavings. Below is a pic of the water being driven off as steam during a traditional retort cook. You could try both media types. Lead media is heavier than ceramic and will mill quicker. Ceramic may lengthen your mill run time. Lead is preferred. Edited January 13, 2015 by Bobosan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 If using solid sticks of wood with a traditional retort cooker, yes, the water will be driven out as steam. If using shavings, they can be laid in the sun to dry before using a TLUD cooker. TLUD doesn't work well with damp shavings. You could try both media types. Lead media is heavier than ceramic and will mill quicker. Ceramic may lengthen your mill run time. Lead is preferred. Gosh! Ain't that the truth! The bale of ERC I got last looked dry, felt dry but the fire went out time after time and smoked like crazy! Leaving it in the sun all day with a nice breeze and it lit easily and burnt down in minutes to coal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 And, someone said I had to dry the wood before making the coal, but why? I thought all the water would boil off during the heating process? Yeah, i said that. It's for practical and safety purposes. First practical: dry wood will turn into charcoal MUCH faster on a good hot fire (20 - 30 mins?) when wet, you need to burn a fire for almost an hour to get all the water out. Then it needs even more hot fire to turn it into charcoal. You can save a lot of wood for the fire when you dry first. Second safety: If you use a closed steel barrel with a few holes in it to make charcoal.... like me.. all the water vapor developing on a hot fire increases pressure in the barrel to such great lenghts it might even burst. It happened to me once. Since then i dry the wood for about a year in my garden shed. Waaaay much faster, just a relative small fire is needed for a short amount of time. I know you guys are gonna post a reply that tells me: your holes in the barrel where too small! No they are not, i was suprised to find out how much pressure builds up in a short amount of time when the barrel full of wet willow is thrown on a hot fire. And again, i save a lot of wood and time this ''dry'' way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Cooking under pressure has been show to dramatically increase the charcoal yield. See some of Oldguy's posts for details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Cooking under pressure has been show to dramatically increase the charcoal yield. See some of Oldguy's posts for details.That might be true, but i ain't gonna do it.... I have great quality charcoal for my needs, even need to slow down my BP for a lot of purposes. My lift powder is perfect, and i have an unlimited source of free Willow. No need for me to get more work and risk over something simple. This hobby takes enough time on other matter. On other words, i'm fond of keeping things simple but effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j3cub Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I have found that in the Central Valley of CA Cottonwood trees are abundant and makes fast BP. 5.5 to 5.8 second flight times using a 270g PVC shuttle tester vs. 4.2 seconds using Goex FFg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaMtnBkr Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 How many grams of BP? 4 g? How are you making your BP? I don't want to brag, actually I do, but I've got a charcoal that makes 9 sec BP. I wish more people would make the tester and report times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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