Bowl drying kiln

[Prashun Patel]

I need to make a small incubator for work. The construction should be similar to the small bowl drying kilns I've seen. However, I don't need to contend with moisture control, so it should be easier.

For those who have made your own, and who have NOT used lightbulbs for the heat, how have you done it?

Ideally, I want to build a cabinet that has the heating element enclosed in a lower chamber (vented for intake, and vented to the main chamber for heat transfer. A fan at the top of the unit will draw in from the bottom and out the top.

What kind of heating element should I be looking at?

The demands on this 'oven' are low: I just need to hold temperature at about 115deg F. I'll use a greenhouse thermostat for that.


Any help appreciated.

[charlie knighton]

i used an old dishwasher with catholitic sp??? heater

different woods react different.....I was trying to dry blanks instead of rough turn bowls.....maple ok, forget cherry and other fruit trees

[bobby stout]

Here is what is did when I built a dryer for drying fishing rod fisnish. Built a cabnet which is about 8' long and 22" wide and 3' tall. On one end cut a hole and installed a small air filter then built in a small cermic heater the heater gets the air through the filter keeps the cabnet dust free. I took the controls off of the heater moved them to the other end and the same end install a small AC diffuser something like in a travel trailer (it came out of mine) then put in a thermometer I have glass in the front where I load the fishing rods I can see then just truned it on and whatch till it reaches the temp that I want around 95 to 100 leave it. Now i use it sometimes speed up the drying on first truned bowls keep it aroung 75 for bowls.