Dishwasher drying wood

[Steve Plunkett]

I am having to replace my old dishwasher today because it's tired and won't wash the dishes anymore. But the heating element still works. I am thinking about moving it to the shop and using it like an oven to dry green wood. Anyone ever try that? What do you think?

[Byron Trantham]

I'm no expert on this process but I think it would dry it too fast. :confused:

[Chris Padilla]

Steve,

If you feel you have a good grasp of how the pros dry wood or feel well read on the subject, I'm sure you might be able to make it work. However, a D/W isn't very big and you wouldn't be able to get much flat stock in there. Bowl blanks might work well or partially finished bowls. I dunno.

[Jamie Buxton]

Like the other guys, I suspect it wouldn't work very well. But did you know that you can use your refrigerator to dry wood?! I knew a guy who bandsawed thin slices (maybe a fat eighth) of fresh lumber, stickered them with similarly small stickers, and put them in his freezer. The freezer, like all modern freezers, was the dehumidifying kind. Before the thin slices had time to warp and move around, the freezer froze them stiff. Over a long time, the water (ice) in the wood slowly evanesced, just like ice cubes do when you don't use them, and eventually he had dry bandsawn veneer. Freeze-dried lumber!

[Michael Ballent]

I would think that you would still need to modify the washer so that you would have some air flow in the unit. Probably not a lot of airflow but still some... I am no expert on the topic but there are articles out there about how kilns work that may provide you with some insight on how it is supposed to be done... obviously you should try it on something like free wood ;)

[Paul Downes]

I've heard of this before and am going to get one for my own use. The way I understand it, you will need to remove the heating element and the pump and substitute a light bulb as a heat source. You will also need to put in an air circulating fan. I don't think you need much heat, and the fan probably doesn't need to be that big. By removing the guts of the water and heat parts of the washer I would expect there would be a hole left in the bottom to allow air in from the bottom. I think the guy who came up with this idea was drying bowls and pen blanks.