Hey guys,
I have a sinker cyprus slab that I need to have kiln dried pretty quickly. Moisture content is ~20% and the slab is about 3" thick. I've been told that a vacuum kiln would be ideal for drying the slab quickly. Does anyone know of a Vacuum Kiln company based in Georgia? I've tried searching Google but haven't had any luck.
Thanks,
Matt
Anybody know of a vacuum kiln in GA? Or anywhere in the Southeast?
We don't have any down there but sooner or later there will be. Today, for instance, we had two inquiries from Florida. One was a company that specifically wants to do custom drying.
How did you determine a moisture content of ~20%? Sinker Cypress that thick is probably going to have a soaking wet core. And if you used insulated pins, I would bet that you missed wet pockets all over the place.
Our kilns will dry the stuff but it takes a special drying schedule.
If you are willing to ship it, we have customers doing custom drying. Email me at dsocling@vacdry.com and I'll email a list.
Thanks for the replies. We actually cut into the slab and saw the moisture coming out of the end grain. It was in the kiln for 5 weeks and still had that much moisture in it. I think I may have found a vacuum kiln for it to go in but I'm not sure if they will take on such a small project. They are a huge company down in Wadley, Ga. http://www.battlelumberco.com/english/kiln.html They have a 1.2 million bf kiln drying capacity and they kiln dry 3 million bf per month. Hopefully I'll be able to get in with them :-[. *crossing my fingers...
-Matt
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/44674/IMG_7330_JPG~0.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1483821716)
I hate to sound like a bummer but only our kilns can dry your slab. Or spend months in a conventional kiln.
Den,
What kind of kiln do you have? How long do you think it would take to dry it and how much do you think it would cost? We're on a pretty tight timeline... Looking forward to your response.
Thanks,
Matt
I have vacuum kilns that I designed and built. http://www.vacdry.com/ It would take about 10 days - maybe less. Cost would be insignificant if I loaded it with something similar but right now, I don't have anything like Sinker Cypress coming up.
Look at this stuff. http://www.vacdry.com/index.php/projects/77-sinker-cypress
Den, say a guy only wanted to dry one slab at a time such as Matt. Would it be possible to bag it, and put it in a hot water bath to dry. I have both a rotary vein pump and a venturi powered by a commercial compressor.
Larry, I'm afraid not for Cypress. It takes a very special schedule (settings) to get the water out of thick Cypress. Maybe you could dry something like cherry or maple.
One time I helped a guy dry a bar top in a bag. I don't remember what the species was but that time it worked. I didn't ask for a cent but he sent a $1000! :) Must have worked well. I think that was for a restaurant.
There is a big problem with water vapor coming out and hitting your vacuum system no matter what the species is.