Question about using a kiln

[Dave B West]

I have been offered a small dry kiln to use for bowls and such. It is 12"×12"×6" tall.

The questions I have are these: first would it be worth using? If so, what settings and duration? The wood I currently have is between 30% and 40% mc and would think rough turning then putting in the kiln for a couple days?

Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Michael Schneider]

Dave, sorry for the stupid question, with those dimensions could you be talking about a kiln for enameling or small pottery? Much higher temps then a wood kiln.

HMichael

[Steve Drinkut]

I run at 90*F , takes 4 to 6 days to dry down

[Dave B West]

Not a stupid question, it is a pottery type kiln. My neighbor is a glass artist and has a kiln sitting unused and offered it to me. Not sure the low end setting, so thats my question. Based on the size, it would have to be for one thing at a time i imagine.

[david privett]

if it will not go low enough with the factory thermostat use another controller to over ride the factory one. I use one in my well house to lower the operating temp. on a milk house heater to keep it at 40 degrees F., and one in my fermenting fridge for my beer brewing to keep it cooling at 60 degrees f. but the type I have been getting is only good to 10 amps. but there has to be something out there.

[robert baccus]

Actually for a dry kiln to function properly it has to be able to flucuate temps and humidity for a given species and dementions. It is a very complicated process to do right. If you can't do this just throw it under the bench. This fact makes waxing and double turning so appealing. it is not very particular about details and is very dependable for us knuckle heads.

[Brice Rogers]

If you are trying to speed up drying, try microwave drying. There are several videos and articles out there.

Also take a look at the SMC sawmills and kiln drying section. I recall reading how people drying board lumber like to air dry it a bit to help the wood stabilize before they do the kiln drying.

It seems like fast drying tends to exacerbate cracking and perhaps warping?. Most people seem to try to slow it down.

I have a home made food dryer that I use to help speed up curing and drying of finishes. It is heated by a couple of 60 watt lightbulbs and has a small computer fan drawing in air through a fine filter.