Kiln tempetures

[Tim Wagner]

What kind of temps are we talking about? Can one be made on a small scale and operate efficiantly? In or outside the home?

[Ian Abraham]

Probably the best kiln for small scale drying is a solar kiln. It's not just the temperature, it's also the humidity and airflow / air transfer that you need to control.

Do a google search on Solar kilns or have a look / search at www.woodweb.com. I think I have even seem some posts here on members homebuilt solar kilns. They can be built reasonably cheaply and have low running costs.

Cheers

Ian

[Jim King]

A kiln is a controlled air movement of lower moisture content than what you want to dry going over the boards. A few boards stacked by your furnace with a fan blowing on them to a 200,000 bf commercial monster all operate on the same principle. It is important to air dry the wood with air movement down to about 20% before putting it in the kiln to prevent degrade. I have seen kilns of plastic sheeting , wood, cement and aluminum . All work. For the do it your selfer shop it is more patience than technology.

[Tim Wagner]

that makes a lot of sence. I am at about 26% humidity in the basement now.

[Jim Becker]

One other point...the tempuratures in a kiln are directly related to the type of kiln, too...

[Ian Abraham]

that makes a lot of sence. I am at about 26% humidity in the basement now.


To expand on what Jim said.

You dont want to go putting GREEN timber in your basement to dry. You dont have much control over temp / humidity and it could dry too fast and check (crack).
But once the wood is air dried (under 20%) it's pretty difficult to harm it. So now it's OK to stack in an attic or warm dry basement, point some fans at the stack for a couple of weeks, and let it dry down to 8% or so.

What a proper kiln does is control the temp / humidity / airflow to dry the wood at it's optimum speed. Or at least at a safe speed, solar kilns are generally slower than conventional systems, and not as tightly controlled. Instead they rely on the overnight cooling and reconditioning to prevent drying too fast.

Finishing drying inside at room temp isn't technically kilning, but it will get the wood dried properly. :)

Cheers

Ian