Charcloth Question

L

lumpymike1

Joined
Sep 3, 2004
Messages
476
Hey All,

I tried making Charcloth this weekend and am unsure of the results so am seeking advice. I stuffed a old t-shirt in a metal tin, there was no extra airspace inside. Punched a hole in the top and put it on top of the burner on my BBQ. Let it sit for about 60 min, turned off the heat and covered the hole as I had read. When I checked later the top part of the cloth was only a bit browned, and the cloth was very wet. It had been a dry day and the tin and shirt were dry when I put them in. Any one know why? Also when I opened the lid there were some really bad fumes that made my eyes water right away.
Then on the use of charcloth. After it cooled I dug down into it and found some nice black chared matteriel. I struck a spark into it when it glowed for a bit and only caught flame when I blew on it. The it went out until I blew in it again. Is this normal or do I need to go back to the drawing board.

Thanks

Michael
 
Mike, There shouldn't be any bad fumes from an ALL cotton shirt. There is probably some polyester blended in. Sounds like you did alright in your methodand it will only glow when you hit it with sparks. The missing part is tinder. Put the burning char in tinder and blow til it flames up. Hold the tinder bundle up, this keeps the smoke out of your eyes and when it flares up you will still have eyebrows.:D My suggestion is to char a smaller amount til you get the hang of it(rocket science it aint) The stuff I like to use is cotton lamp wick; the kind used in oil lamps. It's thicker and makes for real nice char. I also cook mine on a one burner stove, the camp kind and when the smoke gets clear I take it off.

Do not open the can til it is cool!! I've burned up whole batches from being impatient:thumbdn: and I did'nt even know it was on fire til it was too late.
 
Thanks for the advice, I might try another batch this weekend. Saw a neat article on BushcraftUK(?) on how to make it in smaller batches then my old cookie tin. Hmm altods tin perhaps?

Mike
 
There have been threads at BushcraftUK.com that go into great detail on the mechanics of different retorts used to create charcoal from cotton. In any case, it's a place anyone with interest in woodscraft should visit.
 
If its a clean can and an all cotton cloth then you can do it on the stove at home when the missus is gone, just put the extractor on full :)

for about half a T-shirt cut into 2x2 inch 'rounds' it took me about 20 mins IIRC.
 
I use a tobacco tin the same size as Altoids-works great. Try to talk your old lady out of some real linen. Not only does it work best but it is 'period' for reenactments. The denim is a good substitute even though it is cotton. Just put it on the side of your barbe or hit it lightly with a propane torch till it stops blowing smoke out the hole.
 
The best way to make charcloth is to cut the material into squares about 2x2 inches or so. I use old, all-cotton t-shirts and makew it in old pellet tins. The tins I use have a screw down lid, which allows me to really pack the cloth in. It's better to have to really work to get the lid on than to have the material loose. If the material isn't carrmed in there's a good chance it will burn (from too much open space in the can) rather than char.

I use my SAK awl to poke a hole in the lid, before filling, and when it's crammed full i put the tin in my woodstove, among the coals. Burn time is something of a guesstimate, depending on the fire's temp. You can always put the can back in if the cloth isn't charred properly.

As to use, char cloth is meant to catch a spark from your flint and steel or ferro rod. Once I have a good spark (or 3) I transfer the charcloth to a tinder bundle made of shredded Juniper bark. For those in Nrthern climes I've heard that Birch bark works really well; you'll need to experiment with local tinders to see which works best for you. As noted above, once the charcloth is in the tinder bundle you use gentle breaths to coax it into flame, then transfer the flaming tinder into your pre-set firelay.
 
Making charcloth is covered very well in Ron Hood's Woodsmaster vol17 video. Joe Bigley shows how to make it out of cotton mophead material. He put in a tin as you did and laid it in hot coals from a campfire. The same could be done using barbeque charcoal.
Scott
 
I was just thinking that the cloth might have been cotton and the thread polyester ? It sounds like you are on your way .
 
I made my first char cloth today. I used all cotton gun patches put in an Altoid tin with a small hole punched in the top. I put the tin in a small patch of coals in the wood stove. About 2 minutes later a little fire came out of the hole and I took it out and let cool for 5 minutes. All are nicely black and they catch a spark and take a nice glow when blown on.

May have got lucky as it turned out very nice and easy.
 
The buckskinner's method is essentially the same as what Ive been using for years. An altoids tin works great, and is just loose enough that you don't need to poke a hole in the lid. Plus it's a good size to also hold a steel and a few flints (don't put those in the fire!).

I use old denim from worn out jeans (100% cotton), roll up a strip, put it in the altoids tin, toss it in a fire and leave it until it stops smoking. Drag it out, let it cool, and you're all set. :thumbup:

Cheers!
Steve
 
Thanks for all the tips, think I'll try the jeans in an altoids tin this weekend. Over the weekend Dude from hoodswoods recommended that I try some punk wood as well. Saw him when I was taking a class up in LA.

Mike
 
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