bowl turners vacuum kiln

[low_48]

I saw this link on Woodcentral and wanted to share this guys idea on drying  bowl blanks.
http://www.svwoodturners.org/Newsletters/2006/10-2006.pdf
Den are you watching?
I was under the impression this thing would not work, but then I am just reading the newsletter like you guys are. He uses a light bulb in the chamber as a heat source. I thought that radiant heat would not work in a vacuum chamber. Maybe he is cycling the vacuum on and off for the heating cycles. I've asked a couple of questions on woodcentral about this, maybe I will get some more info. Thanks.

[Den Socling]

This is similar to what we have discussed in the past. The heat from the bulb is not radiant but convective because of the fan. A 100W light bulb could produce enough heat to dry one board foot in 13 to 20 hours if you could get all of the heat into the wood.

He is running it as a discontinuous vac. He says in pulls the pressure down a couple times a day.

And, as mentioned in the past, water gets in the oil of the pump.