Dripping Lye From Wood Ash

I have a soapmaking book published in the early '90s (written by a chemistry professor) and the first book of the FoxFire book/magazine series (http://www.foxfire.org/) that both describe the process of making your own lye water. Lye or sodium hydroxide (NAOH) is the base that oil &/or fat is added to in order to make soap. In both books referenced above, there are no recipes, directions or ratios listed to make a successful batch of soap. Ever since I found out that I could essentially make my own lye, I've been intrigued. The only problem: its a hard task to do alone. That problem has been solved recently. I have two trusty sidekicks/assistants/apprentices (that I will refer to as C and R) that are horribly curious about the entire soapmaking process. That being said, we are starting our lye dripping experiment tomorrow. I have 5 gallon buckets and lots of wood ash from all the fires we lit to heat our house over the winter and oh-so-wet spring we had this year. The FoxFire book suggests using hardwood ash, which is what we have (we burn hard alder & birch and soft doug fir & cedar), so let's get to dripping. The other obstacle: how much oil should I use once we know our lye is useable? That question will have to be answered after the drip happens. The way we will go about answering this? I have a recipe for a 2 1/2 pound batch of soap (using coconut, palm & olive oils); I will make this batch as usual, but before I add the lye to the melted oils, I will measure its gravity using a hydrometer & also test the pH level using pH strips. These two measurements will help me to determine the correct gravity of the dripped lye (from ash) so we can, after the gravity is correct, make a batch via the traditional, colonial, true DIY method of making soap. If the gravity is off after 48 hours of wood ash marinating with rainwater, we'll have to start the dripping process all over again. I love experiments!