Thank you for that @spaceman. Very useful info. It’s going right into oleskool’s Big Red Book of Aquired Knowledge.
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VWMoon,
No. I’m too cheap to use gas that way although it probably would work.
I pop the flour canister into my wood stove and it actually adds a bit of heat to my home.
An outdoor fire pit would work pretty well especially if you covered the retort with hot coals or build the fire on top of it, the coals will ignite the gas and reduce the smoke.
Dollar stores are great for sieves, funnels, turkey basters, all the stuff other stores rip you on.
One store near me sells these neat light bulb adapters that let me use screw in led bulbs in an array.
I mount these in aluminum cupcake tins and solder these together in parallel and voila! LED Ghetto panel!
Here’s one on ebay, the dollar store variety has two per pkg for a buck so don’t pay ebay prices!
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Don’t want to seem like I’m hijacking the thread but heres a way I do it using a silvefire rocket stove I run it with a few handfuls of sticks and a # 10 can with 6-8 holes punched in the bottom and heavy foil doubled up to seal the can well I run it for about and hour and probably get 90% + converted haven’t tried it with rice hulls but love the idea
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oleskool830,
You’re very welcome, hope it helps as it should. I’d start slowly with just a few pots if growing indoors.
A scientist at Cornell wrote that biochar examined under an electron microscope reveals tremendous porosity in its structure, a gram can contain many square feet of surface area. He likened it to a “reef” that was populated by beneficial microbes during the composting process.
Once it’s in the soil, it can last thousands of years due to its inertness.
Since I recycle my indoor soil I only add it once to the initial batch.
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Not by any means buddy. I’m glad to see more people interested in making biochar beside us two crazies lol
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I’v recently read as an optional way to charge the char is to use human urine at a ratio of 2 parts urine to 1 part char soaked for a week or two!
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I read that paper. If I remember right it was some crazy number like 500+ square foot per gram. One gram of char is like the size of a pencil eraser.
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I heard about that too. Easiest way is to pee on the pile once a day (preferrably in the morning) until it stops smelling like char.
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I’v heard some crazy shit that it’s hard to believe that like a chunk like 1x1 inch piece has about square foot area of a football field , I’v put some dust under a microscope once and there’s a shit ton of holes in it that’s for sure!
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Need to read that link above in post one thanks for sharing @DavesNotHere sound as if it might be quite interesting!
Yep each particulate is like a microscopic honey comb just waiting for microbes to come make a home.
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Maybe I’ll reactivate my microscope thread and place some biochar pics in this thread also .
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Tinytuttle,
Nice setup! You can make char any time of year.
I confess I have not found a good way to crush the char.
For the garden I made a ball mill out of a cement mixer and tumble it for hours using round rocks as balls.
But it’s noisy as hell and messy since I use rainwater to keep down the dust.
The small amount I use indoors isn’t a problem, pliers in a plastic bag works well.
Any ideas?
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One of the newer things I’ve been reading is marine biochar using things like algae and seaweed as the media that’s charred. From what I was reading it leaves the trace minerals and non-volatils in place for plants and microbes. It got me thinking about what other things you could char to add different elements.
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I powderize mine using a dollar store(there it is again lol) blender and flour sifter to separate larger chunks that need a second go in the blender.
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I also use the blender and sifter for mixing/blending my amendment mixes and to powderize the crushed oyster shells I get for cents on the lbs from the farm and home store.
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My wife had a fit when I tried her blender, lol.
Powdered charcoal can be sprinkled on top of your soil indoors to keep down the green algae that I always get on my seedlings. Works great.
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I’v just recently made char but haven’t crushed it yet I’d say soak overnight and crunch with a mill I had an old corona grain mill at one time that might work also have a manual grain mill for brewing but not sure if I’d like to send it through that! Rolling pin with a cloth bag maybe?
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For the amount you have there I’d soak it for sure then mash it on a flat rock inside a bucket with a sledge hammer. Use it like a tamper.
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Oh the crazy wheels are turning now! How about field corn , oatmeal, wheat bran, sunflower seeds?
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