Looking for solar kiln plans

[Doc]

I keep reading about good plans on the net for solar kilns, but for whatever reason (maybe the Mac I am forced to use at work) I cannot get the plans to come through well enough to be of benefit.

Does anyone have plans they have used to build solar kilns?

Doc

[chet]

Doc,
I got a set of plans that I can email or fax to ya. I found them after I built mine, but they are surprisingly like the one I built. Do you have a fax number?

[Doc]

No fax. I can't do that at work......you know how that is......

I will pm you with an email addy momentarily.

What kind of luck have you had with your solar kiln?

Doc

[Gabby]

New to this but shortly ordering a Norwood mill. I know they have plans for a solar kiln (won't see until I purchase mill) and I would like to compare your plans with what they have. Fax # 315-788-3835. 7:30 am to 4 pm. except until 6 tonight
tks in advance

[Dan_Shade]

here are a few pictures of my setup:

[Ga_Boy]

Doc,

There is another forum you can visit that has plans for designing and building a solar kiln.  The forum is Wood Web, the forum is drying and processing, the modirator is Gene Weingert.  Gene designed and tested the solar kiln you will find there.

Wood Web is another resource for drying information; it is just not a friendly as this place.




Mark

[Dan_Shade]

the one I built is based on Gene Wengert's design.

basically you want the thing pointed directly south, and the roof angle to be your latitude + 10 degrees.

You can dry 10x the roof surface area.

using durable woods are a good idea (pressure treated), but I just used regular stuff.

paint the outside with a waterbase paint or stain (I used a brown barn stain from Lowes).

paint the inside with aluminum paint, then black paint.  If I had to do over again, I'd use aluminum roof paint, that's probably what the design calls for, but doesn't specifically say.

We've recently insulated ours, but haven't put any wood in it since then, hope to fill it up this weekend.  Prior to insulation, it would get to 135 degrees F in the summertime, it was 70 one day when it was pretty chilly out a month ago or so.

I need to put another layer on the roof as well so that it increases the insulation value of the collector panel.

I used a $35 attic fan from lowes, can't remember the CFM, I just have one fan, I'm not sure if 2 would be better or not.

I'd like to get some vent covers that allow me to close off the vents easily, now i just tape them up, but my scientific methods of doing this aren't good.  I know just enough to be dangerous.

[Doc]

Dan....I am with you man! I am not even to the point where you are yet. If I new enough to be dangerous you can bet that I woudl make it known that I was dangerous.

make up your own vents. Do the plans have the dimensions for the vents to use? If so you can make a slider out of plywood, and a frame for the sliding piece out of 1x2 scraps. Drill a series of holes in the 1x2 every 1/4 inch or so for a small dowel and peg the sucker open or drop it closed. That shoudl be sufficient I would think, and cheap too.

Now I may have over simplified this a bit, but I am all about cheap and no waste. I can find a use for those scraps of wood from the makings of the rest of the kiln. I don't throw anything away......

Doc

[Brad_S.]

Doc,
Before I got into this full time, I was going to build a solar kiln using the plans of well known shaker box maker John Wilson. He had plans published in Fine Woodworking some time back, but I received them at one of his workshops. Can't find them now but things of interest I remember are:

He used insulated sliding glass door windows he got for free from local glazers. They are double pane, usually 24" x 76" that have been fogged or removed in a remodel. Some glazers want a few bucks for them but you can get them free from others as it saves them dumping fees.

He used a squirrel cage furnace fan (often found free along the side of the road) located in an area adjacent to the kiln and blew the air into the chamber through 4" sewer pipes in the floor.

I looked at his website under his kiln topic, but it is still under construction. I would think an e-mail to him would get you plans.
http://www.shakerovalbox.com/

I was well on my way to constructing it and had yet to spend any money. Still have the glass panels around thinking someday I will complete it for slow and gentle drying of 12/4 and 16/4 stock.

[Doc]

Ga...I looked at his site, and will be contacting him shortly...thanks.

I have a couple of furnace squirrel cages that I was going to use for fans. I figured if they woudl put up with being stuck in some really ugly places (attics, crawl spaces, etc) they woudl put up with being in the kiln for a long time. They should move more than enough air for my purposes, and last a long time. I can get them cheap from a friend in the ac business (replacement jobs leave scrap pieces).

Now to pick up a book on processing and drying wood so I have an idea of how I shoudl be running this thing. I suppose I have alot more reading yet to do before I get started, but want to have enough knowledge that I am not stumbling over my own two feet with a stack of green lumber trying to figure out how to dry it.

Doc

[stumpy]

Check out www.timbergreenforestry.com He has been using solar kilns for many years(he has 3 of them) I think he can provide plans. His kilns are large, but I'm sure the plans can be scaled accordingly. I was very impressed with his operation.

[Doc]

Stumpy
have you looked at what he wants for plans? I have no intentions on building one that big, but it is a cool idea.

Doc

[stumpy]

No I haven't. How much$?

[Dan_Shade]

that's just a big shed with drop down sides, look like plastic (makes a greenhouse) with a solar collector for the roof (looks like more plastic) I wouldn't pay anything for those plans.

Doc, pick up "fine woodworkings - Wood and How to Dry It" and read it.  It has a bunch of solar kiln information.

They're really pretty simplistic, and they work, they're just slow. I've dried softwoods in the one we have, got them down to like 8%, we put a bunch of red oak in it yesterday, hardwoods supposedly take 12-15 weeks to dry in a solar kiln.

[Carl_B]

Another  source for a solar kiln plan is Kiln plains Wood magizine 1912 Grand Ave Des Moines Ia. 50309-3379 Cost is $9.95 

[Doc]

I can't remember who sent me these plans in the mail, and there was no name, just address on the envelope. Thanks to you! These are great!

Now I am headed in the right direction. I appreciate the help fellas!

Doc

[chet]

Yer welcome Doc.  ;)  I hope they work out for ya.

[Doc]

They shoudl work out fine.......now I have to learn something of drying wood properly....hahahaha.

Thanks Chet!

What do I owe you man?

Doc

[chet]

They shoudl work out fine.......now I have to learn something of drying wood properly....hahahaha.

Thanks Chet!

What do I owe you man?

Doc

Just keep us posted how she turns out.      A couple of pics posted of da finished project would be nice too.   ;)

[Doc]

I was hunting around on Ebay today for a used mill, and found some guy selling a cd with 1200pages in PDF format of lumber drying information. Now I could be wrong, but I have seen one of these cds already on a similar subject that was downloads of free pdfs off the net compiled into a cd and sold on ebay. Will it ever end?

<link>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=67237&item=7501087896&rd=1</link>

Somebody take a look at the contents, and tell me if this info is available for free on the net....

Doc

[stumpy]

I bought one of them on EBAY about 6 months ago. I think it's pretty informative. I'm sure the info is available, but pulling it all together is the time consuming part. I'll see if I can copy mine and send it to ya. If I can, I'll send you a email and get your address.