How To Make a DIY Biochar Grinder [Meet the BAHFEEMARATOR!}

Here's how we made and use an inexpensive biochar crusher/grinder to grind and charge biochar at the same time. Thank you, Herrick Kimball!
Start composting today - get David's free booklet: www.thesurvival...
Herrick Kimball's TH-cam Channel: / farmbeet
The Planet Whizbang Idea Book for Gardeners: amzn.to/3vwVSdC
Compochar Bafeemerator Mk. I Parts List:
Scrap Wood (Prices may vary - we got discard boards from a bin at a hardware store for the supports, and bought warped 2 x 4's at 50% off and cut usable sections from them for the sawhorses.) The two boards supporting the top tray are each 42" long. The legs and top bars of the sawhorses are 36" in height. A 28 - 30" length on the legs is more reasonable, however. This setup is a little tall. We used 37 board feet of pressure treated wood for this project, which cost around $40.
Fulton Sawhorse Brackets (MADE IN THE USA!): amzn.to/2S9nGHt
Waste King Garbage Disposal ($50.80): amzn.to/3zyQoSN
Leviton Single Pole Light Switch: www.acehardwar...
Switch Box: www.acehardwar...
Switch Face Plate: www.acehardwar...
Cutting Board: www.walmart.co...
How To Build the Compochar Bafeemerator Mk. I
Step 1: Sawhorses
First, build your sawhorses using 2 x 4s and the sawhorse brackets listed above. We cut the legs at 36" and cut the bottom angles of the legs to be even with the ground; however, I think cutting them at 28-30" would have been a better idea. Maybe on the Mk. II! The tops of the sawhorses are cut at 3'.
The sawhorse brackets make sawhorse assembly easy. We cut all the board lengths with a miter saw and screwed the horses together.
Step 2: The Work Surface
Measure out two 2 x 4's at 42" of length, then mark and cut 1" deep notches in them to fit the 2 x 4 tops of your sawhorses. When this is finished, put your Walmart cutting board in the middle, pre-drill holes at the corners, then screw it on.
Step 3: Installing the Garbage Disposal
Using a ruler or piece of wood as a straightedge, make an "X" in the middle of your cutting board by measuring from corner to corner. Then unpack your garbage disposal and use the feed pipe as a template to draw a circle right over that X. Drill a hole inside the circle, insert your jigsaw's blade, then cut out the hole with the jigsaw. Once you have your hole, insert the disposal's pipe and flange and screw on the waste disposal as if it were going into your sink. Then attach the "out" pipe at the bottom.
Step 4: Install the Switch
Cut through the power cable of your waste disposal, leaving enough wire to reach the outlet box you're going to screw onto your table-top support. Strip the last half-inch of all the wires. Punch holes in either end of your outlet box, then run your wires in from both sides and wire up the switch. Just reattach one of the live sides of the Waste Disposal wire with a wire cap, then attach the two remaining live wires to the two screws on the sides of the switch, one for each screw, then attach your ground wires to the green "ground" screw on the switch. Screw the outlet box to the side of your table top, and insert the switch into it. You'll have to break off the metal tabs at the ends of the switch to make it fit. Screw it all together, then put on the face plate.
Congratulations, you've now built your own Compochar Bafeemerator Biochar Grinder Mk. I!
Operating the Compochar Bafeemerator Biochar Grinder Mk. I
Make sure to not stick your hands inside the garbage disposal. I mean, seriously. Just don't.
Running this disposal properly requires water. Instead of plain water, I use a nutrient solution made of compost tea, manure tea, diluted urine or Dave's Fetid Swamp Water, charged with an additional shot of DynaGro "Grow" fertilizer and Sea-90 sea salt for extra minerals. This will help charge the char. I shoot to grind about half char and half kitchen scraps for a good balance of organic materials. Stuff in the material you want to grind, then wash it down with your liquid nutrient solution. The resulting black slop can be added to compost piles, left to ferment in buckets or maybe even added to worm bins.
Have fun. Be careful.
David's Gardening Books: amzn.to/2pVbyro
Compost Your Enemies t-shirts: www.aardvarkte...
David's gardening blog: www.thesurvival...