Now this I would like to know a little more about.
David
Making charcoal might be one of the easiest DIY projects ever.
You have to live somewhere where outdoor burning or open-fire cooking is allowed. I imagine you could probably do it with an electric smoker, too, but I've haven't tried that, and the cost of the electricity might be more than the cost of lump coal at the store.
I use a 6 gallon galvanized pail with a good fitting lid (Behrens brand from Home Depot). You could even use a burn barrel or garbage can, but it has to have a secure lid, and the larger the vessel, the larger the fire you'll need. Ideally, the lid has some sort of mechanism to keep it in place. On the Behrens pail, the handle also serves as a lid lock. Drill a 1/3"to 1/2" hole in the lid, for venting. Doesn't matter where the hole is.
Fill the pail up with splits and chunks of whatever hard wood you want to make the charcoal out of. Only requirement is that the lid has to close. I keep the pail handy when running the wood splitter, and fill with odd chunks and short splits.
Stick the pail directly in a burn pile, fire pit, or any other intense heat source. Get that fire hot, and keep it going for five or six hours. The hole in the lid serves as a vent, and there should be a steady stream of steam and smoke from it. When it stops, assuming the fire is still hot, the process is done
Let the pail cool for a couple of hours. Take off the lid...lump charcoal inside. I've also found, if you have pieces that are a little under-done (still not entirely coal black), you can put the pail back in a fire again to finish it. Or use as is. Still works just like charcoal.