TheSidewinder Posted August 21, 2008 Posted August 21, 2008 Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too. Don't let it sit on the ground or it WILL rot and then be worthless. Move it to your property and stack it properly. If you do, it'll last many years without rotting further.
LGM Posted August 21, 2008 Posted August 21, 2008 Yeah, I'll grab the rest. I can probably get a good hundred or two pounds of it. The stalk charcoal is a little slower than the willow when tested side by side, and the stuff really cooks down when you make it into charcoal. But if you are having trouble getting good charcoal and you have access to cornstalks, go for it.
tentacles Posted September 3, 2008 Posted September 3, 2008 (edited) I went to wally world last night after work, thought I might as well pick up some lump charcoal before everywhere stops stocking it for the winter (I guess people think it's too cold to BBQ or something.. crazy people). Found a bag of "all natural" mixed tropical hardwood charcoal (from mexico). No idea what's in the bag, but I'll try a small batch of lift and whatnot from it. Says on the bag they plant "fast growing tropical hardwoods" - could be anything from balsa to teak. edit: I found a site with many reviews of lump charcoals, for some brands it lists what types of woods are potentially in the bag.. The infamous cowboy brand is.. Type of Wood: Oak, hickory and maple. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpdatabase/lumpbag75.htm (I linked to the review of the bag I bought for convenience) Edited September 4, 2008 by tentacles
Swede Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 I bought willow from the customcharcoal.com guy a while back, and was very happy with it. It was $36 for 8lb. The Red Alder is $36 for TWENTY pounds. I've not tried the alder, but at less than 1/2 the cost of the willow, I am very tempted. Can anyone comment on the quality of this guy's red alder? I'm about to pull the trigger on this, but I wanted to hear what you guys thought. I'd rather spend a few more bucks on quality charcoal and have superior BP in the end, but if the alder kicks butt, then I'm game.
Bonny Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 I bought willow from the customcharcoal.com guy a while back, and was very happy with it. It was $36 for 8lb. The Red Alder is $36 for TWENTY pounds. I've not tried the alder, but at less than 1/2 the cost of the willow, I am very tempted. Can anyone comment on the quality of this guy's red alder? I'm about to pull the trigger on this, but I wanted to hear what you guys thought. I'd rather spend a few more bucks on quality charcoal and have superior BP in the end, but if the alder kicks butt, then I'm game. I had some red alder from Tentacles, not sure where he got it from. I made about 1kg of pressed and corned BP for lift. I did not test it seperate (from my willow lift) but rather blended it into a master batch with the willow because it was the only Red Alder I'll likely ever have. I always use willow because it is easy for me to get and cook. The lift performed great, put my shells up just right with the same amounts as always and no noticeable difference from the straight willow lift I usually use. So anyway, f you are buying charcoal, for cost savings I'd go with the alder.
Mumbles Posted September 5, 2008 Author Posted September 5, 2008 I heard the red alder was actually more powerful than the willow. I have the willow too and it works great. If you look on Danny Creagan's page, he has them both tested.
Swede Posted September 7, 2008 Posted September 7, 2008 Red alder it is. 20 pounds of red alder converts to maybe 140 pounds of BP, so I do believe I've got charcoal for a LONG time.
tentacles Posted September 8, 2008 Posted September 8, 2008 The red alder in Danny's second test is from my box purchased from custom charcoal. There are some bark pieces and whatnot in the stuff, but it certainly seems to perform at least as well as willow. FrankRizzo (and I agree) is of the opinion that even though it burns faster than paulownia, it doesn't outgas as much, so the paulownia (and balsa) are still more reactive charcoals. The red alder is just so much cheaper than the willow from custom charcoal. Frank and I were playing with a potential new method of testing charcoals, the results we got were fairly promising. Well, maybe not promising but a lot of fun.
Nitrato Posted September 9, 2008 Posted September 9, 2008 (edited) I think none said this wood before, so Im posting it now to you judge. My friend take some pics of my charcoal (made from black-berry wood ("amoreira-negra" in my country)) and Im sharing now: The charcoal:http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff176/tnitrato/P9060023.jpg The Charcoal and some woods (the top wood is pine and the mid-pic wood is black-berry):http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff176/tnitrato/P9060024.jpg The improvised retorts (a 3,6L paint can and a small tomato can that I use for newspaper charcoal):http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff176/tnitrato/P9060025.jpg I also charred in the same paint can (above) some sort of "yellow plum" wood (my first one ; but no pics =[ ). Unfortunatelly I have no ball mill and Im thinking that anything is wrong with my black-berry wood.. Is veryyyy light , but my tests with mortar and pestle sulfurless BP were disapointing (although still not tried real BP with it).. I dont know what Im doing wrong (some people just dont use ball mill to mill charcoal, just mortar and pestle, and claim to have excellent powders) =[ Edited September 9, 2008 by Nitrato
Miech Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 Sulferless powders (cocoa powder) need to be very fine to perform well. You'll find it almost impossible to make it fine enough with mortar and pestle, so build yourself a ball mill. For the moment, wetting your cocoa powder with 10% water (and letting it dry for a while) would help a lot in increasing speed.
Mumbles Posted September 10, 2008 Author Posted September 10, 2008 Sulfurless and cocoa powders are different, unless there is some error in translation. Sulfurless is as the name describes, lacking sulfur. Cocoa powder is made with a semi-combusted carbonaceous fuel, often times straw. Cocoa powder, from what I remember reading is quite unpredictable, and brown in color.
mormanman Posted September 12, 2008 Posted September 12, 2008 Has anyone ever tried Purple Heart? I want to try but at the same time I don't. LINK The Purple is the wood. It is naturally that color. I'm just saying if you don't know what it is. It is a lovely wood and its uber expensive. Six bucks a board foot and Southern Ash (the stuff I use for charcoal) is like 2 or 3 depending on where you get it.
TheSidewinder Posted September 13, 2008 Posted September 13, 2008 I wouldn't waste your money on pricey woods to make charcoal, there are a LOT of inexpensive woods that give a broad range of performance. Why reinvent the wheel, and expensively at that?
mormanman Posted September 14, 2008 Posted September 14, 2008 I wouldn't waste your money on pricey woods to make charcoal, there are a LOT of inexpensive woods that give a broad range of performance. Why reinvent the wheel, and expensively at that? I know it would be expensive but like I'm going to buy some to make something and then use the scraps to make the charcoal and see if its worth it.
tentacles Posted September 14, 2008 Posted September 14, 2008 Seems to me there's an ethical side, as well - it's just inappropriate to use exotic tropical hardwoods to make BP - even if it does turn out to be the bear's turds, do you really want to popularize the carbonizing and burning of it? Just stick with what you can harvest down the street, don't go giving anyone else another reason to hate our hobby.
BPinthemorning Posted September 15, 2008 Posted September 15, 2008 Duh, mormanman! Wtf were you thinking??? Your so dumb!!! Lol just playing... So red alder seems to burn just as fast as even balsa, but doesn't produce as much gass making it less powerful? Is this correct?
mormanman Posted September 15, 2008 Posted September 15, 2008 Duh, mormanman! Wtf were you thinking??? Your so dumb!!! Lol just playing... So red alder seems to burn just as fast as even balsa, but doesn't produce as much gass making it less powerful? Is this correct?In the middle of reading the first part I was like, "What the balls? I'm getting a little PISSED THE F&^K OFF!!!" Then saw LOL just playing. LOL.
oskarchem Posted September 15, 2008 Posted September 15, 2008 Duh, mormanman! Wtf were you thinking??? Your so dumb!!! Lol just playing... So red alder seems to burn just as fast as even balsa, but doesn't produce as much gass making it less powerful? Is this correct? Well I would say that it's less powerful, because if for example lifting a shell the more gasses, the higher it goes.
tentacles Posted September 15, 2008 Posted September 15, 2008 Red alder gassing less than balsa is anecdotal at best without some serious testing - which I honestly haven't seen. Don't get me wrong, I do think it gasses less, but it's pure speculation without doing a few side by side tests. Balsa is pretty excessive stuff for BP.
DIYMark Posted September 18, 2008 Posted September 18, 2008 Here's Red Alder (Buckthorn) for you... HERE Not bad BP in that video. From experimenting Ive got pretty close (if not the same) results using my charcoal (Made a fire with gum tree wood, let the wood turn to charcoal then hose it out lol).
Pretty green flame Posted September 18, 2008 Posted September 18, 2008 Here's Red Alder (Buckthorn) for you... HERE Wait wait, Red alder is not Buckthorn. Red alder = Alnus rubraBuckthorn = Rhamnus frangula
qwezxc12 Posted September 18, 2008 Posted September 18, 2008 (edited) Red alder gassing less than balsa is anecdotal at best without some serious testing - which I honestly haven't seen. Don't get me wrong, I do think it gasses less, but it's pure speculation without doing a few side by side tests. Balsa is pretty excessive stuff for BP. I'm a fan of Red Alder...Burn test in a 3' trough, 2.5' of BP (30g), as outlined on Danny Cregan's Charcoal Test page...Burn time was .467 sec. And it's only $1.85/lb shipped from Custom Charcoal...Willow is $4.50/lb shipped. Lifts 6in shells great using 1/16 the shell's weight. Red Alder in Black Powder Thread #1 Edited September 18, 2008 by qwezxc12
nickle Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 (edited) In another thread I was having trouble with my rockets being earth bound and it was suggested that my charcoal needed to be changed. So I went out and got some samples of Maple, Alder and Birch (not yet tried). The question I guess is why does everyone seem to like the Alder coal? I made a 3 sample batchs using Maple,Alder,and over the counter Cowboy Brand charcoal (which I had). I used the same chem's and ratio in all three. The Maple by far the best of the three just the hint of a spark and "POOF" with a noise similar to a small bit of flash. The Cowboy Brand came in secord with a very quick burn and with very little flame and almost instantatious combustion. The Alder came in third with nothing more then a flame and a lot of smoke. So why is Alder recomended so highly? Just basing the choice on the tests that I have made using the three above charcoals Maple would seem to be the best and Alder which gets such high marks bringing up the rear. What am I missing here? Edited October 13, 2008 by nickle
ExplosiveCoek Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Plum (Prunus domestica): This actually topped the list of one of the tests. It has a very low ash content. These shouldn't be too tough to spot out because they usually have plums on them : .http://www.arbolesornamentales.com/Prunus%20domestica.jpg (first post) Anyone who tried making BP with Plum charcoal so far? If not, I'm maybe going to test it.. According to the quote above it should be one of the best charcoal you could get for BP. ATM I'm just using BBQ charcoal which gives quite nice meal/pulverone --> meal movie
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