Author Topic: wood Drying For Everyone  (Read 403 times)

ghost5

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wood Drying For Everyone
« on: July 30, 2013, 10:00:32 AM »
I have been processing logs that were sitting in my yard and it didn’t take long to load up my other kiln which isn’t that big. I then stacked my shop full, rearranged the shop, filled it up again, turned all I could, still too much, so I started stacking it outside on an 8’x4’ pallet I had that was built from 2×6 lumber and covering it with plastic. This was heating nicely but the plastic was still in contact with the wood so the moisture wasn’t leaving like it should.

A few days ago with the help of my 2 nephews we started building another kiln around the already stacked wood on the pallet. i had left room just for this. The back is 48” high, front about 36” with a 65” wide removable panel in the front for access. The top when finished will be removable, too. Yes it has vents top and bottom and no it doesn't have temperature or humidity control. I'm poor and solar is free, it dries when it dries.

I ran out of plywood but decided to post it as is so you can see how easy they are to build. All of the wood so far is scrap from other projects and the plastic is leftover from the other kiln. After the pics were taken we covered the wood in plastic again and weighted the edges until I can finish up the sides.

This kiln is loaded with walnut, Bradford pear, sweet gum, poplar and box elder. Drying time drops from around 1 inch per year to 5 weeks or so. Not bad for scrap and free power.








Offline Shadetree Callers

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Re: wood Drying For Everyone
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2013, 03:27:17 PM »
Nice job Tommy .
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Offline West Augusta

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Re: wood Drying For Everyone
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2013, 03:37:38 PM »
Gonna be some nice calls come out if that plus you got to spend some time with the Nephews. Looks good Tommy.
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ghost5

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Re: wood Drying For Everyone
« Reply #3 on: August 02, 2013, 09:28:40 AM »
Thanks guys. I have two running now plus my drying shed for longer stock I air dry and my shop is stacked full. Every spot I can find to stack material has been used and I still have logs to process. Guess it could be worse I could be buying all the wood I need instead of doing it this way.

Offline firedup

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Re: wood Drying For Everyone
« Reply #4 on: August 03, 2013, 08:47:32 AM »
Pretty cool. I need to do something like that. Got a bunch of wood to break down and I can relate to the storage issues. I noticed the bottom was pretty open. I can see that it would allow any wind/air to move thru and help the process.  Does it rain in much?

ghost5

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Re: wood Drying For Everyone
« Reply #5 on: August 03, 2013, 05:47:51 PM »
Pretty cool. I need to do something like that. Got a bunch of wood to break down and I can relate to the storage issues. I noticed the bottom was pretty open. I can see that it would allow any wind/air to move thru and help the process.  Does it rain in much?

If you read it again I say this isn't finished I posted it so you could see the framing. A kiln needs to be enclosed to generate and retain heat. All of the sides are covered as is the top it is a really just a greenhouse.