Guest Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 I don't mean add flux to the charcoal or retort, or even use flux at all! I was meaning whether a little charcoal added in from the start would help prevent scaling and even reduce some of the ash content? I'm going to give it a try very soon, and will report back. The cast iron sounds great, but I need to make a lot fast, so I can move onto other things, and I don't have a crane to handle one the size I need. I want one huge batch that I can homogenize for consistency, as well as efficiency. Cost is a factor, and if I can get the same results as stainless for the price of some free charcoal and cheap steel, that's awhat I'm agonna do. Thanks for your reply Uarbor, I've read a lot of your posts and they have helped a lot. I'm going to try to give back some. (still got my eye out for free/cheap stainless, though...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uarbor Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 (edited) I don't mean add flux to the charcoal or retort, or even use flux at all! I was meaning whether a little charcoal added in from the start would help prevent scaling and even reduce some of the ash content? I'm going to give it a try very soon, and will report back. The cast iron sounds great, but I need to make a lot fast, so I can move onto other things, and I don't have a crane to handle one the size I need. I want one huge batch that I can homogenize for consistency, as well as efficiency. Cost is a factor, and if I can get the same results as stainless for the price of some free charcoal and cheap steel, that's awhat I'm agonna do. Thanks for your reply Uarbor, I've read a lot of your posts and they have helped a lot. I'm going to try to give back some. (still got my eye out for free/cheap stainless, though...) I see what your real question is now. You want to get the oxygen out of the can. And it sounds like you are using a barrel? Have you seen the science magic trick where someone Heats a barrel with a half cup of water in the bottom puts on the lid and the can is crushed by atmospheric pressure because the steam pushed all the air out of the can? Check it out maybe a little bit of water could be your solution. Edited September 23, 2021 by Uarbor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 I'm not on the barrel scale yet, but getting there fast! No pun intended... I finally burned out my paint cans today though, so while on the hunt for anything stainless that could be used in a fire I came across a used stainless steel double sink for dirt cheap. Trouble is, it would fit exactly in the spot for our current sink! We've been wanting a new kitchen sink for awhile as the one we currently have is enameled cast iron by Kohler, but has seen better days. Maybe the boss will want an upgrade. So, it's either going to be a stainless steel retort or cast iron. IDK. My plan is to cut the sink in half, drill some holes for bolts and bolt the two halves together. Load er up like a giant square stainless steel mortar shell. Might need to use some fiberglass or ceramic rope to fill in any gaps that warpage will cause. I like the square design, because it will fit well in my square rocket-style stove so I can conserve fuel. Plus it has drain holes for all kinds of cool woodgas experiments. I'd love to have a cast iron suitcase retort! Or, maybe I could leave it whole, use a heavy plate steel lid and build a huge fire all around and on top. But, I imagine it won't be very fuel efficient that way. Speaking of water...I was initially turned off by the cast iron designs because of the long run-up and cool-down times, and couldn't see a way to get a large amount done quick this way.(...plus the additional fuel expenditure.) Do you have any experience with water-quenching your charcoal so it can be removed from the dutch oven sooner, and re-loaded hot? I'm always having to oven-dry my charcoal before I use it anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 (edited) Does this picture post full-size? I'm having trouble uploading images. Sorry if the photo is massive. Edited November 13, 2021 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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