has anyone tried to make their own lump charcoal.......
http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/faq2/18.html
Yeah, in years past but not in that quantity to be sure, many folks in the pyrotechnical hobby have experimented with using different kinds of wood to make charcoal for firework effects.
The standard small scale production method is to use one of those big metal tins that those Danish Christmas cookies come in. You know the big blue ones filled with dry crumbly crappy shortbread cookies that end up in everyones office during the holidays?
Basically you just fill it with the wood you want, poke a 3/8 hole in the lid for the gas to escape and set it in a campfire. Some folks put it in a washtub filled with Kingsford too, but that seems sort of counterproductive for BBQ.
Amazingly the different types of charcoal create some very different effects in fireworks.