Solar Kiln Build #2

Bill Gaiche · May 09, 2011, 10:46:31 PM

Well after about a week with some rain involved, I have this much done. Been a little slow for a one man show but its going ok.

WDH · May 09, 2011, 10:53:03 PM

I like it so keep the pics coming.

fishpharmer · May 09, 2011, 11:02:14 PM

Your off to a good start.

What are the dimensions of this new one?

Bill Gaiche · May 09, 2011, 11:21:16 PM

Outside dim. are 12'x6'. bg

fishpharmer · May 09, 2011, 11:25:05 PM

Thanks.

Planman1954 · May 10, 2011, 09:41:52 AM

That looks great. Where are you going to get the panels for the top?

Bill Gaiche · May 10, 2011, 06:00:45 PM

Planman1954 , as of now I guess Lowes. Tuftex PolyCarb. Its good for temps of -40 to 270 degrees. About $28.00 each. I have to have the 12' ones. They come in 8' and 12 '. To bad not in 10'. bg

laffs · May 10, 2011, 06:54:26 PM

looking good Bill , let us know how much time & $ you have tied up in it

Bill Gaiche · May 10, 2011, 08:44:14 PM

laffs , thanks, I will try and keep track of cost and time. bg

Larry · May 11, 2011, 10:58:10 AM

I used Lowes fiberglass panels. 17 years later they are still in good shape. The new owner uses it for a garden shed.

For the inside layer I used 6-mil poly. The idea of insulating the roof is great but the choice of poly on my part was poor. I had to replace it every year or so and it was a pain.

Piston · May 11, 2011, 11:06:25 AM

Lookin good so far! How did you figure the angle of the front/roof?

Bill Gaiche · May 11, 2011, 05:54:12 PM

Thanks guys. I did the angle thing the hard way. Dont know anything about rithmatic. I built the south wall the heigth I wanted, then set a 45 degree square on top of wall and streched a string up till it interceted a temperary north wall stud and made a mark at the top. Poor boys have poor ways but it worked. I have the siding on south, east and west wall now. I am going to use treated plywood on north wall so that it will give more strength in mop to support the doors which i feel will be pretty heavy.bg

LeeB · May 12, 2011, 12:00:38 AM

I haven't researched solar kilns in a good while, but I think the collector angle is supposed to be fairly close to your lattitude, ie. if your lattitude is 54^ then your pitch should match in order to collect the most sunlight.

ely · May 12, 2011, 08:50:42 AM

looks great, that is something i need to do for myself. was there a thread on solar kiln #1?

pineywoods · May 12, 2011, 09:19:18 AM

re collector angle.. The optimum angle will vary depending on lattitude, season and even time of day. 45 deg is a good compromise. I use corrugated netal, again a compromise, but most of all that's what I had handy... :

Bill Gaiche · May 12, 2011, 01:51:34 PM

ely, there really wasnt a #1. I just called it #2 because (Planman1954) had already started his about the same time I started mine. He has a thread on his. Just thought I would keep it seperate from his so we didnt get confused. So at least that I dont anyway. bg

Bill Gaiche · May 18, 2011, 10:07:15 PM

I have gotten a little more done. The rains has slowed things down some. Rained this morning, again tomorrow morning and on Friday. This where I am as of today. bg

thecfarm · May 19, 2011, 11:22:57 AM

Looks good.
Larry just an idea,IF you do it again,would greenhouse plastic work? We still have some on a small one that is 6 years old. Probaly kinda cloudy now,but for what we need it's fine.

Handy Andy · May 19, 2011, 11:47:11 PM

Couple questions, did you put posts in the ground, or does the kiln sit on the ground? And how do you plan to insulate your doors. Is the poly double wall or single? Sorry, that was 3.

Bill Gaiche · May 20, 2011, 09:49:56 AM

The kiln sits on 4 3"x6" beams which sit on 12 concrete blocks. Doors will be insulated just like the rest of kiln, 6" in the floor and 3.5" in all the walls. Will use one single sheet of Tuftex PolyCarb.

Bill Gaiche · May 30, 2011, 11:34:56 PM

With some dry days I have been able to almost complete my Kiln. I need to paint my collector plate and install the black tarp for the curtain tomorrow. Installed the roof or sheeting today. Finished at 3pm. Doors closed and vents open the temp was at 145 degrees. Outside temp. was 88 and partly cloudy. I thought this was pretty good. Have not figured what the materials have cost yet. I will do that later and let you know. Had a little flying visitor today, as soon as I took his picture he flew. He was about 1 1/4" long not including his antennas. I think I saw some photos like him on here a while back. Hope to put in some red oak in this week which I hope to build a dinning table for the wife this fall and some for friend's kitchen cabinets. I have air dried the lumber since Dec 11th, 2010. I will have some questions or some of your opinions on what I should do at drying this later. bg

Fil-Dill · May 31, 2011, 08:46:06 AM

Bill, if I may ask, where did you get your thermometer. I have found plenty of oven therm. but none that start out at 50 deg. I am a week behind you on building. I did get mine under roof over the 3 day weekend. Still working on doors and mounting fans. Thanks for all the info in the thread. Looks great.

Bill Gaiche · May 31, 2011, 09:41:45 AM

Fil-Dill, Thanks. I got it from where I worked years ago. Was used in a coal fired plant. Dont know where it was purchased from. I guess that it was purchased from some industrial vendor. I looked this one up and it seems like it is reasonable and will do a good job. Check it out. Good luck, bg http://www.novatech-usa.com/Products/Dial-Thermometers/82160-12

pineywoods · May 31, 2011, 11:19:34 PM

Good work B G. Hope it works as good as it looks. Other than the nice paint job, it looks awful familiar ;D

Bill Gaiche · May 31, 2011, 11:57:25 PM

pineywoods , thanks, seeing yours really helped. I have a load of red oak to put in it in the morning. I am going to leave the vents open for now and run the fans on a timmer during the day. Will check the MC later. The wood has MC of 16 now. Can you give an idea of about how long this may take to dry. bg