Buying a Nyle, chamber questions

[brdmkr]

We (wife and myself) have decided to move forward with the purchase of a DH kiln.   I have access to an 18 foot insulated truck body for not too much money, BUT it is in pretty bad shape (would need alot of door work to seal up properly, and sheet metal would need to be replaced on the ceiling) and the insulation is only a couple of inches thick.  Maybe I would be better off to keep looking for an insulated body, but they seem to be fairly rare around here.

I am also considering buying a shipping container, building a shed around it, and insulating the shed.  Basically, I would be wripping the container with insulation and then building a shed over it.  My thinking is that the shipping container would be tighter and I could insulate it more thoroughly than the insulated body.

Finally, I could just build a chamber.  However, with this route, I'd be concerned that I could not get things to seal up properly and I could see this being the most costly route.   

For those of you who are running Nyles what would you recommend?  I will be buying the L200 (at least I think that is what Bailey's sells.  Is that correct?). 

[Brad_S.]

If you build it to the specs Nyle sends you, IMO, building is the only way to go. I've always wondered how a container/reefer, with the small amount of insulation in the walls, could be anywhere near as tight as a built one. By the time you buy a container, modify it, mount the unit and build a cart, you could have built a tight chamber.
Just my 2¢.

[scsmith42]

Ditto Brad's advice - I've got a shipping container kiln.  If I had it to do over again, I'd go with a stick built setup per Nyle's plans.

Scott

[brdmkr]

I just ordered a set of plans.  Most of the time, I try to get by as cheaply as possible.  That philosophy has worked for me a number of times, but I have begun to notice that it only works out OK when I have done all of my homework.  It sounds like a stick built chamber may be the best route to take.  Thanks for the advice.

[OneWithWood]

I found it was not too hard to make a very tight chamber using the Nyle plans.  I did modify my chamber to load from both ends but other than that it is by the book Nyle.

check out page seven of this thread for the entire build

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,1400.120.html

[brdmkr]

Thanks OWW.  I would be very happy if I could duplicate that.  What are the dimensions? 

[DR Buck]

Brdmkr,

I went the truck body route.  I have about $1200 in it total, excluding the Nyle DH unit. Most of the cost was the insulation panels.   Here is the link to my kiln.   https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,17322.0.html


I also recently purchased an aluminum insulated container to store my dry lumber in.  It was a refridgerated box in it's prior life.  Here is the linkto the unit I bought. https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,31436.msg453962.html#msg453962   It's been painted and is now full of lumber.  I'll get updted photos next week.  Cost delivered was $2875.   If I had to do it again, I'd buy a 40' sea container like my 20 footer.

[Danny Dimm]

I built a stick building. It works ok. If I did it again though I may go with sip's. I would also have the door on the long side so I could load it with my skidsteer. No need for carts then.

[OneWithWood]

Interior dimensions are 13'x21' or thereabouts.  8' ceiling.

[David Freed]

My kiln is stick built. I went against conventional design and used 2x8 walls with 2 layers of 3 1/2" faced fiberglass insulation, with metal for the outside. In the winter there is frost on the metal with the kiln at full temp, so it can work if you seal it good.

[Don_Lewis]

It isn't a good idea to use a standard container at all. If you use a container, buy a reeefer. A little more expensive to buy but a lot less than trying to insulated a standard unit