Nyle L200M Kiln Build

[whittle1]

There has been numerous posts of Kiln builds here and I learned a little from each one. I will post

 

 a few pictures of mine here and others in my gallery. 

[WDH]

That is awesome.

[lumberjack1986]

Nice looking kiln!

I'm thinking a kiln is in my near future, trying to learn as much as practical.  Why'd you pick a conventional foundation over a slab?  Any details on the door construction and sealing?

[rusticretreater]

Nice build, quite good.

Slabs are not usually used in kilns as they are heat sinks.  You will notice in heated buildings that concrete surfaces still feel cool to the touch.  You would need to build an insulation layer on top of it. Depending on how much weight/wood you plan on putting in it, you would probably need some rebar in it as well.

Your local authorities might require more extensive construction if the building exceeds a certain size.  Once that happens, you are dealing with footers below the frost line and building permits and stuff like that. Your sourcing of materials and who does the work is also a big factor.  Concrete slabs go $6-$12 sq ft, depending on your needs.

Using a conventional foundation allows you to add insulation under the floor easily.

[whittle1]

Hey Lumberjack1986, thanks for the compliment. My reason for building the way I did was I thought I may want to move to a different spot on my property with easier access to power. As it turned out instead of running temporary power from the shop I ran a new 250 amp service for future upgrades. If I had known that from the beginning I would have built on a slab with insulation boards between the slab and ground. This is detailed on Nyle's kiln build sheet. I would highly recommend you go by there build as close as possible the only thing I did different was I used EPS insulation instead of there recommendation. It is a little lower in R-value and about 1/2 the price so I did 5 inches instead of 4. So far working great it was in the mid 60's and the kiln got to 120 fairly quickly, I have records but not here with me at the time. Same thing with the sterilization cycle had no problem getting to 160 and holding it with heater cycling on and off.  Cost is not the only consideration on Insulation as electric cost will quickly eat up any savings and it is a long term cost. I'm sure a lot of people will disagree but EPS has some advantages over polyiso and the pink or blue board I think is XPS. The EPS on the research I did was the only one rated for ground contact under a slab. I posted the link I used for my research in an earlier post but don't remember it now. I like being able to load the Kiln from the side with a tractor or forklift but if doing it again would have to strongly consider a refer container. I guess only time will tell if I made good decision. Good luck with your Kiln build. 

[scsmith42]

That's a great looking kiln!  Well done Sir!

[Walnut Beast]

Nice 👍. What is the dimensions of the kiln ? What did you use for the floor joists , what way did you run them and what was the spacing ?

[trimguy]

That's a great looking kiln !

[lumberjack1986]

Going the insulated container route is something I've heard before with people that have side loaders... what's your reasoning? (Seeing if it matches theirs).


I've looked for a high cube insulated container, haven't found a supplier yet; but I'm not opposed to building in a container.

[Walnut Beast]

I looked at them but the R value isn't very high 

[whittle1]

Walnut Beast floor joists are 2x8's. The header is not as drawn, it is 2x4 truss design with 5/8" plywood glued and nailed to each side. Its a 21ft span and very rigid built as a truss.



 

[Walnut Beast]

Thanks for the details! Looks fantastic 👍

[Walnut Beast]

You could put some wheels on the front of the doors to take a little stress off of them if it gets to be a problem.  What type of hinge did you use on the doors 

[whittle1]

There is 4" casters on the doors that roll up on a ramp when doors are closed. They are pin hinges welded onto flatbar.