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Hardwood Ash from a Clean Fire Lit by Bow Drill
Wood ash is what is left when wood burns: mostly calcium carbonate, with some potash and carbon. Burn clean hardwood right down in a stone-ringed pit, lit from a bow-drill ember, and sieve the cold ash. It is the start of lye, soap, potash and ash glazes; wood gives about 6 to 10 % of its weight as ash.
The picture: white wood ash in a stone fire ring.
Beginner
Two days
Instructions
1
1
Lay the fire
Lay the fire
Sweep the fire pit clean of old ash and rubbish. Lay tinder, then kindling, then split hardwood. Burn only clean wood, never painted or treated (ours).
Materials for this step:
Hardwood Logs (Oak, Maple, Beech)50 kg
Tinder Bundle1 piece
Dry Leaves & Kindling1 pieceTools needed:
Fire Pit
Balance Scale2
2
Light it
Light it
Make an ember with the bow drill, blow it to flame in the tinder bundle and push it under the kindling.
Tools needed:
Bow Drill3
3
Burn it down
Burn it down
Keep feeding the wood until it is all burned, then let the fire die right down to white ash.
Tools needed:
Fire Pit
Leather Work Gloves4
4
Collect and sieve
Collect and sieve
Leave it a full day to go cold (ours). Shovel the ash out, sieve out the charcoal bits, weigh it and keep it dry in a lidded metal bucket.
Tools needed:
Shovel
Fine Mesh SieveBalance Scale
Metal Bucket with LidLeather Work Gloves
Dust Mask5
5
Ash from your wood
Ash from your wood
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Materials
3- Placeholder
- 1 piecePlaceholder
- 1 piecePlaceholder
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