What is Char Cloth (Primarily use with flint and steel)
"Char cloth (also called charpaper)
is a swatch of fabric made from vegetable fiber (such as linen, cotton or jute) that has been converted via pyrolysis into a slow-burning fuel of very low ignition temperature"
Making Char isn't difficult but some attention is needed when making, storing and using char.
You are going to need 100% cotton, such as a t-shirt, socks, underwear or cotton balls, a tin can preferably with a lid that has a hole in the middle (needs a tight lid), a nail or coin and a fire (kitchen stove works good)
1) Take one cotton ball and pull it apart as illustrated and place it as flat at possible to the bottom of the tin can.
2) Now, place the lid on the can and place on a small fire (make sure the fire doesn't rise above the can) or place the tin can on an electric burner, you will shortly start to see smoke come out of the hole on the lid, once the smoke stops coming from the hole put a nail in the hole or a coin over the hole, remove can from heat source and let cool (do I really need to tell you the can is hot?), if you don't plug the hole the char will turn to ash or if you plug the hole too soon the cotton will not have had enough time to turn to char, the timing is from the smoke not a clock.
3) Once the can is at ambient temperature open the lid, the char should look like this all black and not ash, now place the char in a special holder similar to the picture below.
Char making is complete. Keep char dry!
"Char cloth (also called charpaper)
is a swatch of fabric made from vegetable fiber (such as linen, cotton or jute) that has been converted via pyrolysis into a slow-burning fuel of very low ignition temperature"
Making Char isn't difficult but some attention is needed when making, storing and using char.
You are going to need 100% cotton, such as a t-shirt, socks, underwear or cotton balls, a tin can preferably with a lid that has a hole in the middle (needs a tight lid), a nail or coin and a fire (kitchen stove works good)
1) Take one cotton ball and pull it apart as illustrated and place it as flat at possible to the bottom of the tin can.
2) Now, place the lid on the can and place on a small fire (make sure the fire doesn't rise above the can) or place the tin can on an electric burner, you will shortly start to see smoke come out of the hole on the lid, once the smoke stops coming from the hole put a nail in the hole or a coin over the hole, remove can from heat source and let cool (do I really need to tell you the can is hot?), if you don't plug the hole the char will turn to ash or if you plug the hole too soon the cotton will not have had enough time to turn to char, the timing is from the smoke not a clock.
3) Once the can is at ambient temperature open the lid, the char should look like this all black and not ash, now place the char in a special holder similar to the picture below.
Char making is complete. Keep char dry!
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