Bit The Bullet

[fstedy]

 8) 8) 8) Well I finally bit the bullet and purchased a DH Kiln  8) 8) 8).
Had been looking for a while now and its become a must for me to move my lumber with a decent profit. The Nyle was my unit of choice but it just didn't fit into the budget at this time. Found a (slightly used about 5 years old ) Ebac LD 3000 for a price that fit my budget. I already have a 10' x 33' shed that I'll be insulating and converting into a 20' long chamber this will give me a good start on drying. Red Oak will be the wood that is dried primarily and I hope the learning curve doesn't get too expensive. I plan to go very slow at first. Any help from you folks will be most appreciated.

[Brad_S.]

Don't go too slow, too slow can cause cupping.
I air dry my red oak under cover and finish off with the kiln. I have customers who like WIDE boards, and drying this way I can keep a 24" wide board flat, and it saves power as well. Down side is you have a lot of inventory sitting on stickers drying.

[Don_Lewis]

If you dry green lumber, don't put in more that 1000-1500 board feet. If you air dry below 30%, you can put in more but you pay for that with longer drying times. If you make the kiln hold 3000 BF it will take twice as long as it would if you put in 1500 board feet. Slow drying is not a benefit when below 25%. Above 25% cslow drying can cause degrade

[Tom]

Those are some handy "rule of thumbs" to remember. 

[Den Socling]

To put a little knowledge behind the 'rule of thumb', remember this. A DH kiln is not that much different than a dehumidifier in your home. It has a maximum capacity and then it can't keep up. Different species have different moisture content the day they are cut. Different species will dry at different rates. The 'drying capacity' of any DH kiln will depend solely on the capacity of the refrigeration system to condense water vapor. The amount of water vapor in the kiln depends on the amount of wood plus the moisture content of the wood plus the rate that water vapor is leaving the wood. So the rule can be adjusted.

[fstedy]

Thanks for the input guys. I keep reading everything on this subject I can find next it will be some practical application. Drying smaller loads of wetter wood makes sense while staying within the drying schedules. What size kiln samples are most of you cutting to calculate MC? I have a Lingomat DXC meter with 3/8" pins are they long enough to get good readings on 4/4 material or should I purchase the 1" and 1 1/2" kit?