Primitive Technology
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Brick and charcoal production
🕑 Added 2023-10-05 21:00:51 +0000 UTCIn this video I test the 3m x 3 m thatched huts ability to make and fire bricks for the first time. Also, I built a charcoal kiln in the same hut to produce charcoal as a fuel for iron smelting. Until the thatched hut was built, these activities were all done outside in the weather, where the bricks would dissolve in the rain and the fire wood would get wet. The video gives some an idea of the monthly cycle of chores needed to meet quotas of iron smelts and brick making. Much appreciated.
Comments
Primitive Technology
No it isn't, I don't have a TikTok account. Thanks for asking.
C.O.T.F.M
There is a tictok channel using primitive technology videos. Is that an official channel Mr Plant?
Primitive Technology
When you next try the pit method maybe build the pile on top of the pit in a log cabin style and light the wood from the top of the pile. This way the fire can burn back down the heap against the draft so that the rising gases prevent oxygen burning the carbonized wood above. It also makes less smoke too. Easy to make but also useable charcoal, I've done some of my best iron smelts using charcoal from this method. https://youtu.be/JsObuHO1tMA?t=139 .Thanks.
Hizuna
Cool. I will try your charcoal production method myself when I've time. It seems quite efficient. So far I only use the "pit method" (https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cwf8Oh_KyA4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) which is also nice because it can be stopped almost anytime.
Primitive Technology
Thanks Amy, I'll keep them coming.
Amy Tobol
You did, and it was lovely. Thanks for it all, you are amazing! I wish I could better express how much good your videos do for us.
Primitive Technology
Yes, I did have a slow one at the start though. Good to show the whole process. Much appreciated.
Primitive Technology
An occupational hazard in a primitive technology video. Thanks.
Amy Tobol
*narrows eyes disapprovingly at sped-up firemaking* It's the most magical of all the talents you show. Breathing life into the lifeless! Don't cheapen the experience just because algorithms say so!
Amy Tobol
"Clay is put onto the floor to make bricks" *camera gets a faceful of clay*
Primitive Technology
Yes, I've actually lit one up before and it burns, well, like a candle. The Polynesians used to thread them on a skewer and light them at the top. Each one would burn for half an hour before lighting the next. One thing with candle nuts though, is that you have to get them as soon as they fall of the tree as the white tail rats get eat them. They can be eaten but are emetic if not cooked. I also use the old rotted leaves as the tinder of making fire. Useful plant.
Kenneth Crips
Yes, it would. As for the candle nut oil you could easily make one of the ancient oil lamp designs used in ancient Sumaria.
Primitive Technology
Yes, exactly. It's thought that NaOH may activate Si and Al oxides to produce geopolymers. So it's probably good practice to leave it in the mix.
Kenneth Crips
https://www.scirp.org/pdf/MSA_2017070415363694.pdf
Primitive Technology
It kills termites on contact but then the others go around it according to what I read. I tried using lye water from the kiln and it works a bit but they're persistent. Thanks.
Faralis
If I remember correctly, the best against termites and woodworms was to paint the wood with gasoline. But I can't remember the frequency you needed to protect it well enough.
Primitive Technology
Though there are timber houses that are hundreds of years old, few of them are in the tropics where termites and microbes are more active. I've investigated the possibility of charring wood but apparently this does not deter termites as they will go around the charred parts and eat the non-burnt parts. There are some resistant timbers but not all species will keep them out. What can work is heating the timber with regular fires below as termites can only eat wood when moisture is present. Thanks.
L3P3
Arent there any tricks to make wood more preservable? I mean, where I live I see houses built out of wood that are centuries old. Maybe that would be a neat experiment... Maybe use heat to dry wood and then use oil or something to make it stay longer?
Primitive Technology
I'll try to make a hut entirely from bricks so that there are no wooden elements that would eventually rot with time. But there are unknown variables such as how water might seep through the bricks in the wet season possibly causing mold growth. The only way to find out for sure is to test it. I haven't settled on a design yet but it will likely be a small dome or vault. Thanks.
Mario Stoilov
With all of this talk about bricks and cement, what kind of construction do you have in mind? A bigger hut (with maybe rooms) or some sort of firing pit for the iron?
Primitive Technology
I think 2000 calories a day is standard for most workers. I don't think it would be impossible for one person to obtain this food by them selves. I once calculated that a 10 x 10m plot of cassava would give this energy in the tropics or something close to this number. The aborigines here in Australia were able to collect enough food for their clans in 3 to 4 hours of hunting and gathering per day. Thanks.
John Dalton
I just asked this on Youtube but perhaps I should have asked it here instead: Fantastic work as always. I know you've previously done work on farming, foraging, and producing spears, bows, etc; I'm interested to know whether you've ever measured how much food/energy you're expending on days of work like these spent making bricks and charcoal, and whether it would be possible for you to feed yourself at the same time or if this really would take a village to sustain?
Primitive Technology
I'll estimate it at 2 acres. The wood is collected from the ground so no cutting of green wood is done, the point being that wood is consumed at exactly the rate the trees produce it at. The key to efficiently collecting wood is to collect it as soon as possible after falling or collecting the standing dead wood and storing it undercover to dry or keep dry. If left in the open it rots or gets eaten by termites/fungi. Thanks
Gordon Tetlow
How many acres of forest does it take to be able to support the amount of wood you are harvesting?
Primitive Technology
Much appreciated. I will get around to testing the ideas you suggest and post them if successful. The piston bellows we discussed last time is on the list but is behind some other projects.
Primitive Technology
I have collected lye water before but haven't used it for anything yet. I initially discarded the lye from the ash when making ash cement but I read that sodium hydroxide may help cement to set or increase it's strength ( I can't remember the study). There are some candle nuts here that I may be able to use for oil but I haven't made sap yet. Thanks.
Primitive Technology
Yes they get cracks and if the kiln is taken apart and reassembled the broken ones are discarded. But if you leave it intact it will do many firings, I haven't had one collapse yet. The kiln I did for the tiled roof hut video, a piled mud kiln, went through about 30 firings and I only demolished it to make a bigger kiln. Thanks.
Primitive Technology
A permanent structure without wood so that it will never rot. But I'm undecided on the details of the structure yet. Thanks.
Primitive Technology
Glad to help, hope tomorrows is better, much appreciated.
Kenneth Crips
To think Primitive Technology was the very first Patreon I sponsored
Kenneth Crips
You have your charcoal production nailed. Have you tried to extract sodium Hydroxide from your wood ashes. Not all wood ash is suitable but it is worth a try. with it and some sort of oil you can make soap.
EJL
Do the bricks used for the kiln itself sustain much damage over time? Does high heat for so long so many times cause any issues? I've seen you build so many kilns by now, I was wondering if the old bricks have any longevity issues.
Faralis
Got any project in mind for those new bricks?
Lyssa Leigh
Oh thanks goodness, exactly what I needed. Today's been rough
