256 replies to this topic

[DrDerekDoctors]

DrDerekDoctors: when you said you left it abit late, I dont think you have because its now spring so the leaves will be comminf out and willow is a hell of alot easier to distinguish from the leaves!

My neighbour said most of them would have been pollarded by now. I've no idea what that means but it sounded like a bad thing. :/

[Flashy]

My neighbour said most of them would have been pollarded by now. I've no idea what that means but it sounded like a bad thing. :/

pollard
noun

1. A tree whose branches have been cut back, in order to produce a crown of shoots at the top of the trunk, so as to be out of reach of grazing animals, or for periodic harvesting for firewood or fencing, etc.

[DrDerekDoctors]

pollard
noun

1. A tree whose branches have been cut back, in order to produce a crown of shoots at the top of the trunk, so as to be out of reach of grazing animals, or for periodic harvesting for firewood or fencing, etc.

Ah, now I thought it'd either be something like that or involve them being attacked by popular actress, Sue Pollard.

Edited by DrDerekDoctors, 19 March 2005 - 09:15 PM.

[Flashy]

Ah, now I thought it'd either be something like that or involve them being attacked by popular actress, Sue Pollard.

Well your definition of popular actress is different from mine, i would have gone with eric pollard of Emerdale chopping down the trees to sell in some kind of crazy scheme. If of course i didn't know the real meaning

[broadsword]

LoL trees being cut back! I dont have that problem, if i want alot we would just cut down one of the hundreads of trees!

[DrDerekDoctors]

It would probibly not affect the charcoal quality much but I prefer the non weeping type, purely because it is so much easier to debark. Just slit short lengths of the branch lengthwise and peel it off as aposed to time consuming scraping. This only works with branches with green bark though.

Um, how important is it to remove the bark then? Will it really damage the quality of the Charcoal if it isn't removed? Only I suspect that peeling this buddleia will be tricky as it has a very thin bark and it's pretty dry.

[Pretty green flames]

what's the point of peeling it, it'll be turned into charcoal anyway

[seymour]

Um, how important is it to remove the bark then? Will it really damage the quality of the Charcoal if it isn't removed? Only I suspect that peeling this buddleia will be tricky as it has a very thin bark and it's pretty dry.

Dry wood may be hard to debark. I usualy debark a few hours after the wood is cut.

what's the point of peeling it, it'll be turned into charcoal anyway

the fast burning woods like willow are so good partly because their charcoal produces little ash. Their bark does not have this quality though. It will not make too much diference to your bp wether you debark or not but I like to do it anyway. realy it is just a matter of choice.

[DrDerekDoctors]

Ah, I figured there had to be a reason. Seeing as I'll probably spanner up every other aspect of my initial black powder construction I may as well make a start by getting leaving the bark on the buddleia.

Things would be a lot easier if mother nature had elected to grow a pre-denuded willow in my back garden... And then helpfully shredded and baked it.

[broadsword]

Easy to debark! I dont think so!
Once the wood is dry it takes some time to debark it! really you want to get down to the white wood not the browny sort of colour that it the reminence of the bark.

[SwissTony]

One of these days i will get round to making my own BP.
In a previous reply, i said, my dad works at a cricket bat factory and can get shed loads of off cuts.
Would wax be a problem???
The ends of the clefts are dipped in wax to prevent moisture getting in. Would this be a problem??? i guess the wax would just melt of.
IF its not a problem, i could double, if not triple the amount of willow i have access to.
All the wood is dried for weeks so i guess it would burn pretty quick.

[Yugen-biki]

I don't see why it should be a problem.
The volotile (carbohydrates and) faty esters (spelling?) like wax evaporites easy when heated and burn or up in the retort. Just like the wax/parafine in a candle.

[Andrew]

At the end of the day, it's all down to quality, or the effort you are prepaired to put in. If you want he best, you'll remove the bark, you will not use rotted wood, etc, hell you'll even soak the wood in alcohol to remove stuff, if you were on a quest for the fastest BP. I don't know the amount of difference bark makes, I do know that it is different though. In terms of percentages, the bark on willow can make upto around 10%, depending on the thickness of the sample. Would you use potassium nitrate or sulphur that was only 90% pure? If the bark produces more ash than the wood, as I think it does, you have reduced the advantage that willow gives. The bark can only produce inferior charcoal. If it produced better quality charcoal, there would be no bark left on willow trees, people would use the bark instead.

[skipjack]

somewhere on the net i read that hazel is a good alternative to willow, when making charcoal for BP.

can anyone confirm / disprove it?
thanks!

[Yugen-biki]

Hazel have been used in the BP industrie in the UK.