iDRY Vacuum Kilns

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12 X 8 X 8 KILN CHAMBER

Started by KDEC19, March 19, 2004, 05:08:49 PM

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KDEC19

WAS WONDERING IF USING A AREA OF OUR BUILDING INSULATED ALREADY AND 12' X 8' X 8' CEILING HEIGHT.  IS THIS WORTH CONVERTING INTO A KILN UNIT. IF SO WHAT SHOULD BE ADDED FOR HEAT VENTILATION ECT.  WOULD LIKE TO CONSTRUCT A SMALL UNIT THAT IS A LITTLE FASTER THAN A SOLAR KILN.  THANKS MUCH
gonna do it again......

woodhaven

That would be PERFECT. Read through some of the recent post.
Richard

Den Socling

KDEC,

The answer lies in your goals. Do you want to kiln dry air-dried or kiln dry from green. When you are kiln drying air-dried lumber, you don't need to worry about kiln degrade (cracks and warp). With predried, the weight is much lower. With predried, air flow, temperature control and venting are all less important.

A space that would work for predried might not be a good spot to try green lumber.

Den

KDEC19

I was hoping to use it for green fresh oak.  Some white pine and some cedar.  Was looking for sugestions on how to equip such a space.  heat vent ect.
gonna do it again......

Den Socling

Freshly cut Oak makes things a little more difficult. It's pretty easy to crack so you have to dry slowly. If you're drying slowly and you don't have enough air, you'll grow mold.

I would look at the area you want to use. It should be sealed and not just insulated. Imagine how you might load it, properly stickered. Then imagine a way to baffle the load to force air to blow evenly through the stack.

If the loading and air flow problems are licked, then consider the kiln design. If it's not a commercial endeavor, building a DH design will work.

ElectricAl

KDEC19,

Something to think about, if you are driyng from green and plan to "vent" into the room the kiln is in your going to have rust problems.

Potentially lots of rust :o

The moisture vented from drying green Oak contains acids that will attack all bare metal surfaces.
Linda and I custom saw NHLA Grade Lumber, do retail sales, and provide Kiln Services full time.

Norm


woodhaven

My first comment was short and sweet when I said PERFECT. I was only refering to the size you said. Everything these guys are saying is very true. You might be suprised at how much water is in fresh cut wood. It is like putting a pile of wet rags in a confined space. For that first few days it is going to be super humid.
Richard

KDEC19

This room has double doors that open the eight foot side.  Then the area is twelve feet deep.  Also have one anderson window in the room.  I figured the room is already insulated and not to difficult to load the wood.  Maybe we could vent through the window.  My sawmill is in the same building.  Wanted to use this chamber for my private stock!!  We are thinking of a solar kiln right outside this building.  Wanted a way to decrease the drying time for all those projects the beautiful wife wants done.  Need to dry white and red oak for these.  Thanks for keeping the thread alive.  Please help in any way. :D
gonna do it again......

woodhaven

If you put fresh sawen wood in there the first thing that might happen is a rotten window caseing. If you can wait long enough to air dry down to around 20% then stack it in there you should be ok.
Richard

ElectricAl

KDEC19,

Add a 4" PVC pipe to the overheat vent. Run it out the side wall with a little slope down so the condensation will drain.
If you go up and out you'll need a 1" drain line from the lowest point in the 4"pvc. Let the condensation drip in a bucket. Don't drain or dump into your suptic system.


Sorry Norm, I was not thinking ???
Linda and I custom saw NHLA Grade Lumber, do retail sales, and provide Kiln Services full time.

jimF

White pine has lots of water, over 100% usually.  It produces blue stain if it is not dried very quickly.  That is alot of water to remove.  It is difficult for commercial driers to do it.  And if you dump that in a building, what will happen?  Solar dirers are not designed to dry white pine, if you were considering that type of kiln.  Just things to think of when designing the capacity of a kiln.  It is not impossible just thing sto consider.

KDEC19

Maybe I should go about this a different way.  What is the suggested best way for a beginner to dry wood.  i have some money in the budget but want to make sure we get the correct drying system to start with.  From what I have read it is either solar kiln or a nyle system.  I just am actually getting more confused as the answers to my question are responded to!!  Again what are recommended starter sytems to look into.  Thanks :P
gonna do it again......

ElectricAl

KDEC19,

Just some quick question ::)

How much wood do you really need to dry in a year?

If you are only going to have time to use us 500 board feet per year because your so busy sawing. You might be money ahead having someone else dry for you.

Linda and I custom saw NHLA Grade Lumber, do retail sales, and provide Kiln Services full time.

Den Socling

e-Al

What fun would that be?  :D

Den

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