Solar Kiln Construction

JoeyLowe · June 16, 2002, 11:40:34 AM

;D I will have to post this under a couple of different posts due to the amount of pics that I have, so please bear with me. ;)

My solar kiln is based on the design by Dr. Gene Wengert. I built it to measure 16' long by 8' wide. The angle of the roof matches our latitude of 32 degrees north and the roof faces south. My backyard is blessed by numerous old pecan trees so I had to locate an area that was guaranteed a lot of sunlight throughout most of the day. I tracked the sun's movement across the backyard for the better part of a year before deciding on this location. Towards late afternoon, (after 4:00 p. m.) the kiln does pick up a little shade on one corner. I intend to remedy that this fall when I trim the pecans. Anyway, without further ado, here is the first couple of pics.

The first photo shows the foundation. I chose to use piers in the event I ever decide to move the kiln. The piers are on two foot centers. The joists are all 2" x 6" x 8'. These new pier designs made construction of the foundation almost like assembling a puzzle.

After squaring and nailing the foundation together, (BTW, a lazer level is a wonderful thing. We got to within 1/16th of inch of square, rough.), we layed the first layer of 3/4" CDX plywood. Since the new pier designs make it difficult to sandwich the joists between two plywood skins, we chose to add rigid insulation and 1" x 4" spacers directly on top of the first deck layer.

We then placed the top decking, (also 3/4" CDX plywood) on top of the spacers, but at 90 degrees to the first level of decking. This created a nicely insulated and strong floor.

The next post will show the wall, roof, and door assembly. I will spend a little extra time with the door assembly pics, because that seems to be were most solar kilns fall apart.

RavioliKid · June 16, 2002, 12:05:50 PM

Keep posting, Joey! That looks interesting!

Kevin · June 16, 2002, 12:17:45 PM

Looks good JL.
No lack of support under that !

WoodChucker · June 16, 2002, 02:33:28 PM

JoeyLowe, nice job so far, thinking about doing one myself, but I'm up in northeren Michigan and not sure how well it would work. But anyway, keep up the good work and keep us posted.

R.T.

JoeyLowe · June 16, 2002, 06:19:19 PM

:D Thanks for the kudos. I will wait until tomorrow to post additional photos.

Jeff · June 16, 2002, 06:38:56 PM

He's just afraid Ill lose um while I am upgrading. Aintcha? ;)

L. Wakefield · June 16, 2002, 08:33:32 PM

I could definitely tell something was up. It's been a coon's age since I actually had to log in from home (I check the 'always stay logged in' option and it's been working consistently for months til tonite)- and then there is a new look a lot of places. I shall have to poke around and see what-all you've done.. 8) lw

JoeyLowe · June 16, 2002, 08:37:46 PM

:D Ahhhh, uhhh, errrrrr, well, I dunno. I had to log in a couple of times too. Oh, the inconvenience! What got me was I would check out a page, then surf elsewhere and then come back and the page had changed. All for the better though. I really like the calender and member sections. As far the photos, I left them on the camera and the camera is in S. C. right now. Will be a couple of days. 8)

DanG · June 16, 2002, 08:54:09 PM

Nice job on the deck and the photos, Joey. This looks like Knowledge Base material, to me.

BTW, that's some nice looking lumber in the deck framing. Did ya get that from Home Depot? :D :D

Corley5 · June 16, 2002, 09:23:21 PM

That looks like a pretty neat outfit. My uncle built a SMALL solar kiln. It is probably 4'x6'. He uses it dry small pieces that he uses to make clocks etc. Works good

JoeyLowe · June 21, 2002, 07:57:21 PM

Been told that my camera is on itsway back to me. Will have remaining pics up in a couple more days. 8)

WoodChucker · June 22, 2002, 08:56:02 AM

Looking forward to it!

JoeyLowe · June 22, 2002, 10:08:21 AM

Yup. I hate leaving things undone. (My wife would argue that point though). The past couple of weeks have been terribly busy. Let me dump here for a second and you will understand. ;D

I started this portable sawmilling business to bring my sons and father-in-law together. I have my own company that markets employee leasing services to oil patch companies and I've been pretty successful at that. Anyway, my wife comes to me with a request of how it is very important to her that we get her father off the road soon. (He's an OTR trucker). I told her that I could supplement his wages until the sawmill business took off and maybe one day he could go fulltime with the sawmill. Something got lost in the translation and the next thing I know he had quit his job and was working for me for half-days, two weeks out of the month for $3000.00/month. That was a hit, but I figured the sawmill was making about $2000/month and I could afford to supplement the rest and afterall, it made my wife happy. Nevermind, nothing was going to reimburse the money I spent to start this business.

Well, my sons have disappeared for the summer and Pop isn't able to work in the heat and I'm having to spend a lot of time finding renewal markets for my other business, since Enron/911/Stock Market have all taken a toll on the economy and renewals are either too expensive or non-existant. (BTW, yall do know that we are headed full steam into a depression unlike any ever experienced before?)

On top of all this, the sawmill business is busy and people are calling every day. I've got a backload of about three weeks work. So what do I do? I hire another worker to help us out and I schedule my jobs to account for this extra hand and guess what? He showed up about every third day. So now I'm another week behind.

Pop shows up last weekend, just in time for me to say bye to the wife for 4 weeks while she heads to SC to help pack my mom who is coming to live with us indefinitely. I give him the schedule and let him know that I hired two additional experienced helpers to offload and I would catch up with him on Tuesday. I go to the job site on Tuesday to find that only 4 of 350 logs had been sawn. Pop was too busy visiting with the new help and "time got away from him". >:(

I know, too much rambling! Point is that it is very difficult to run one business much less two, especially if you can't delegate or work with reliable people. My intent is to make this sawmill business work, since it is what I have always wanted to do.

There, I feel much better now. Family meeting is in order! Kiln pics will be posted as soon as I can. ;D

WoodChucker · June 22, 2002, 11:18:38 AM

Yep, in-laws- can't live with um, can't..................enough said!

R.T.

Eggsander · June 24, 2002, 09:30:05 AM

I feel for ya Joey. My "real" job is in the construction business and know all to well the perils of poor help.
Makes me feel a little bit better about sawing by myself. At least this way I know what I haven't gotten done, and I can't quit because I yelled at me too much.

Bibbyman · June 24, 2002, 10:57:23 AM

I hear what you're saying. Don't even think about going into the sawmill business and depend on anyone to help you.

My oldest son (32) says he's coming out Saturday to help us get caught up with some orders. Our helping him the past month has put us way behind. Well, he never showed.

Other son (30) shows up right in time to have lunch. Mary asked him to go out and help me saw while she went to get some groceries. We went out and sawed out about 300 BF and stopped to deal with a customer. When we got done with him, I made the mistake of asking my son if he could hang in there for 3-4 more logs. "Well, I'd kind of like to get out of this heat." Was the reply. It was 92 with 60% humidity and no breeze but we were under a roof and had fans. Besides, he is a Marine (I've been informed that once a Marine, always a Marine.) trained in San Diego, veteran of Desert Storm, and Somalia, and a couple of tours in Saudi Arabia and the Philippines. Plus, he was a policeman in Tucson, AZ for three years. So we go to the house where he plops down to watch a flick on the satellite and drink a cold drink. I set for a while then go back out to work by myself. >:(

Sunday, the older son shows up about 11:00. He had helped a friend set up a display booth at biker convention on Friday night. It was mid-day Saturday before they could take it down. He couldn't stay long as he had to get back to town to get caught up on sleep. ???

WoodChucker · August 25, 2002, 03:17:59 AM

Hey JoeyLowe, how ya doin on that Solar Kiln?

R.T.

woodman · August 25, 2002, 08:09:44 PM

He should at least have one side up by now

Frank_Pender · August 25, 2002, 11:18:58 PM

Hey, Jeff, perhaps we need a site to just dump, "stuff": in-laws, family, friends, customers, workload, outlaws, etc.. :

??? Now for me, my "stuff" would be way to many ground squirrels building homes in the log decks and causeing me to have to listen to their chattering at me for disturbing their house building. About that time I get a bit "peaveyed" and go after my 1934 Model 64 loaded with hollow points and come back to set in an easy chair waiting for the little "buggers" to re-appear to sun themselves on MY log decks, of which they have made a home. >:( then I realize I have spent a good two hours or so to rid the deck yard of this little rodent and not sawed a single log. I was lucky today; 3 for 3. Only took an hour of waiting. ;D

Bro. Noble · August 26, 2002, 01:09:39 AM

Frank,

How would you like to go to the milkbarn before daylight and find it full of coons.

We broke several of them from breaking in a couple of years ago. Dad and I went down in the middle of the night . He had a "coon stand" out behind the barn. I literally flushed them out one at a time with the water hose. Dad shot 12 times and got 11 of the rascles.

They have been coming back lately (not the same ones) and leaving a mess. I've got one each of the last two mornings. Loaded a 22 revolver with shorts. I have to get right up point blank so that i get them right in the coon. The bullet stays in them instead of flying all round the barn causing a bunch of damage. Has worked so far. I got treed yesterday though, the injured bandit started running around the barn, headed right at me, I climbed a gate and let him have a couple more samples of lead.

Frank,
You have a model 64 what? I've got a model 64 Winchester which is just a fancy 94, A 30-30 would be kinda much for chipmunks. We used to have one play around the slab pile. Had a screech owl lived in the attic of a nearby building and would come out and watch him. I got a kick out of both of them----you could about read what was on their minds.

Noble

JoeyLowe · August 26, 2002, 12:28:07 PM

Oh It's finished cepting the doors. I will post pics tonight. Been real busy with family issues. Couple of weeks ago we found out that we were pregnant. Great news for us.

Couple of days later, my wife starts cramping and bleeding so off to the hospital we go. (I was two hours away in the deep piney woods and met her there.) Doctor says that it appeared to be a threatened miscarriage and suggested we followup with our OBY the following workday.

Last Monday we go to see him and he says that everything is fine and not to worry, then he calls us at home the following day to tell us that her pap smear came back positive for cancer and for us to meet him at his office first thing in the morning. The next morning, he feels us in on the gamut of everything from a exagerated pap to a possible early termination and hysterectomy. Needless to say we have had a lot of stress going on here.

The doctor does a biopsy and the wait begins. That was on last Thursday. Of course family and friends were called and they were a big help. This morning the doctor calls to let us know that the pap was false and not to worry. Everything is fine and on schedule. My wife started crying and I even joined in a little. Needless to say the power of pray played a big role here.

Now my focus can shift back to the solar kiln. What a great project. Came out just like I anticipated and as soon as the doors are in place, I'll start drying wood.

Tom · August 26, 2002, 12:44:03 PM

Joey,
That's a hair raising story. It's bad enough to be threatened with a miscarriage, but to be threatened with cancer at the same time is almost more than a person should be able to take. Your wife has my admiration for withstanding news like that and not totally going bonkers. You must have been stressed to the Nth as well. Its great that it all worked out so well. I would have cried too.

Well, a kiln almost built, a new mill and a baby coming. Not much else a fellow could ask for less it be the Executor of a rich Uncle's estate finding you and wanting to know what to do with the 10 million dollars he brought in his pocket. :D

DanG · August 26, 2002, 04:06:04 PM

Whillikers, Joey!!

You must feel like the lucky duck in a shooting gallery!

Glad it turned out OK. Congrats on the impending kid. 8) 8)

Corley5 · August 26, 2002, 08:13:02 PM

*DanG that's scary. Scary enough just finding out the old lady's pregant ;D. Sounds like everything is on track now. Congratulations 8) 8) When's the due date?

whitepe · August 26, 2002, 08:54:30 PM

Joey,
Congrats on the new family member on the way.
Nice Solar kiln too!

Noble,

When you come to Pekin around Thanksgiving
any assistance in ridding my place of those
darned masked varmints would be greatly appreciated.
My wife won't let me shoot them cause she thinks they
are cute. So I have to resort to HAV-A-HART trapping
them to keep on her good side. Problem is, I can only get one a night. They can't resist jelly on whole wheat.
I had to do a field modification to the trap though
cause the little bandits would just reach in the side and
get the food.

If I don't get my diazinon down soon enough each
year I get those white grubs in my yard and the coons think
that's like a potluck supper at church. When they
are finished it looks like a D8 ran amuck in my yard.

Anyway, here's the plan. You bring along what
ever varmint weapon you like. I'll take my wife shopping
(that's usually good for 3 or 4 hours) and you come out
to my place and have fun while we are gone.
She'll never know the difference.
What do you think?

Whitepe