conversion of sawdust to charcoal

[Brain]

Anyone with an idea of using sawdust for charcoal

[Zumber]

why do you really want to convert sawdust into charcoal?

If Its easy to make it with wood.

[Brain]

Because I have so many sawdust around me which they do burn away and I really want to utilize the raw materials, have read some blogs about this but what I want to know is how to burn it to charcoal not ashes and how it will roll on a can

[CrossOut]

i assume you have a excess of sawdust sitting around. you can turn sawdust into charcoal via the same methods used in turning wood into charcoal using a retort. Take note what wood you are using for the charcoal as wood does make a huge difference in the charcoal's performance. Plywood does NOT make good charcoal for BP. You will want to try to use willow, balsa, paulownia, poplar, or plum. If you are making charcoal for use in glitter compositions then it really doesn't matter. Edited March 16, 2013 by CrossOut

[Brain]

What I need to know right now is "how to produce" because am suggesting may be it will involve some chemical that will solidify the sawdust before proceeding to a kiln... Just gimme an enlighten on this.

[schroedinger]

Look up youtube. There is a simple tutorial on the NightHawkinLight channel

[Arthur]

The wood that you use is critical. Do NOT make charcoal with just any or mixed wood, or the sawdust from it.

 

Sawdust from Willow or a few other woods will make charcoal but it needs to be shaken in the tin or the outside sawdust insulates the inside sawdust and conversion is uneven.

[flying fish]

You don't need to add any chemicals, you cook the charcoal in one of two ways - retort or top lit up draft. There are tons of youtube videos on each. If your area doesn't allow burning (bonfires/burning barrels, etc) you might be able to get away with the second method. Use common sense, of course!

 

Personally I think if you're going to go through the trouble of making charcoal, while it isn't that difficult, you might as well go through a slight bit more trouble to forage for some decent wood.

[Brain]

Here I have the sawdust, it can't be specify because they always saw the wood together.. And it can't be separate from one another, just advice me

[Mumbles]

There are no chemicals involved. There is some published experience from cooking sawdust. Balsa sawdust is a common by-product that is sold by some companies that people use as an inexpensive balsa source.

 

People here have already mentioned some of the issues, namely that the sawdust can cook on the outside and insulate the interior. This can be counteracted in a few ways. The sawdust is often compressed into the cooking container to remove trapped air. This is not applicable for all sawdust of course. If it is compressed, afterwards several channels are usually formed into the mass to facilitate heat transfer.

 

Often times the sawdust will need to be stirred part way through the cooking cycle. This can be accomplished via a few different methods. One is to shake the container if things are not entirely compressed. Other people make special cooking apparatuses. These will have a rod bent into an "L" inside of them. Part way through cooking, while wearing a welding glove of some sort, the rod is used to fluff and stir the cooking material.

 

Even if you successfully cook the sawdust, there is not guarantee that it will work well for pyro. Also, you need to be 100% sure that there is no treated wood or plywood in the feed stock for the sawdust. Treated wood will make poisonous smoke, as may plywood. If you're not positive there is none in there, it's not worth the risk no matter how desperate you think you are. I agree with most others that you might be better served finding a quality wood source, but that isn't something you seem willing to spend any time or effort on.

[Algenco]

Here I have the sawdust, it can't be specify because they always saw the wood together.. And it can't be separate from one another, just advice me

 

sure it's all sawed together, but every Mill specializes, it's either hardwoods or Pine, rarely both