Router Forums banner

What do you think about....

4K views 22 replies 7 participants last post by  nikki1492 
#1 ·
a solar kiln?

Solar Kilns

Ya know I've got nearly 200 bf of red oak most of which is green. It's now on stickers in the place where I will soon need to winter my lawn tractor.

It's really useless to put it elsewhere in the basement because it's a damp place... and don't think my electric bill can take the hit from a dehumidifier.

I came upon this link and thought hummmmmm????

So I'm bouncing it off you all and need your opinions.

Thanks much in advance.
 
#2 ·
Barb,,,

funny you bring this up, I was looking at this link last night, wondering if it would really work:

Solar Wood Drying

I know of a few guys down here (located in SWPa myself) who have built their own standard kilns and have had great success with them. However the cost for me to do such a project would be prohibitive.
I'd be real interested in some of the feedback you get on this...

b
 
#5 ·
Hi Bill....aha! a fellow Pennsylvanian :). Like you, a standard kiln is out of my financial league. Nor do I want to become involved in buying/building solar panels with the batteries, wires, etc. I try to keep the KISS principle alive in my world.

I'm very new into woodworking and have been practicing on left over wood from an addition to my house. When I paid $25 for a 1X8X10 of clear pine at the local building center I almost lost it. Where I live there are many more trees than people... <grin>

Then I started watching the local equavilent of Craig's list and found this red oak.... 200 bf for $100 plus $25 for delivery... which they also unloaded and stacked the wood for me, I said why not?

Again I'm saying "why not" but want/need input from a great bunch of people here. I totally trust they will give me their honest opinion and great information.

That's a great link you tossed in. Thank you.

We have lots of sawmills around here and I like using woods which are harvested locally. BUT..... that usually means green lumber which is rough cut. The humidity in this area generally exceeds the temperature and I don't have 10 years to wait for a drying process. <very big grin>

I believe the comments/information will be great. The more input the better chance I have a making a good decision about this.
 
#3 ·
You guys will have to make this a garden shed for the wife and a kilm for you. I original came from Warren , Pa. Boy all the free wood I could get if I had a kilm back in the day. Or a shed to store your tracter with a side room for the kilm.
 
#4 ·
Solar Kiln

I completed a solar kiln based on that in use at Virginia Tech. It's a scaled down version (about 150 bdft capacity). I dried three charges so far and it has worked very well. Two charges were 4/4 cherry. Each charge took about three weeks to dry from 50% moisture content (m.c.) (as delivered from the sawmill) to 6% m.c. These two charges were dried during July and August (2008). The last charge was 8/4 cherry and took an estimated 8 weeks to dry. I say "estimated" because I loaded the kiln in early September (2008) and unloaded it in May (2009). No measurable drying occurred during the winter months.

Controlling the drying rate is nearly automatic. I usually operate it with the vents closed completely all of the time and have had success. I operate two cheap box fans connected to a $15.00 outdoor timer. I set the timer to operate the fans starting about two hours after sunrise until about an hour after sunset.

There's plenty of info. available online. Also, American Woodworker ran an article about two years ago as well. Wood Workers Guild of America (WWGOA) has a video on their website reviewing this kiln ("Solar Kiln Basics" in the upper left).

Buying green lumber is less than 1/3 the cost of kiln dried, and best of all the lumber shows almost no indication of stress and machines very well.

Attached below are two different deliveries from the sawmill.
The first is of 150+ board feet of cherry (select and better), all 4/4. Total cost - $100.
The second is of 250+ board feet of cherry (FAS) (100 bd.ft. of 8/4 and 150 bd.ft. of 4/4). Total cost - $250.

Granted my supplier is overly generous. But the typical rate for cherry in southwestern Pennsylvania is only about 1/3 more in cost. Still far less than 1/2 the cost of kiln dried.

There was an initial material investment in the kiln of several hundred dollars coupled with sweat equity. And the moisture meter cost $125+, but I've already recovered this. I highly recommend a moisture meter with external probes like this one. Probes enable you to monitor the center of the board as well as inaccessible areas of the lumber stack. The probes are essential for thick lumber. Case in point: the 8/4 lumber charge described above had a measured mc of 6% on the surface and 14% in the center at one stage of the drying process.

I have pictures of the kiln somewhere. I'll post when I find them.

Grass Walkway Lawn Public space Yard


Wood Hardwood Bench Lumber Outdoor bench
 
#13 ·
Most old time farmers called them cold sheds, (without the fans) I had one for many yrs until the lumber supporting the old slider panels rotted away. We used it for late season radish, lettuce etc, (they like the sun, don't like the heat).

Real simple and cheap is free pallets from the local Lumb yd, electrical conduit, (PVC) and clear poly barrier. We use the PVC and poly barrier for cloches and solarization sheets. As a cloche you can start your potatoes and such weeks or a month earlier than usual if you can get the starters.

As a solarizer you can soak and cover a used bed with the clear barrier for a couple of weeks and start a 2nd crop of taters free of scab and any of the critters associated with an overly used bed.

The temps inside get up well above 130+°. It would work well for drying lumber during the summer if you had the time roll the lumber and space for a cold frame/cloche.
 
#14 ·
"Hey there, John.... what's a ridge runner like you doing on Long Island, NY?

Barb" I went to school in NYC after the Marine Corps. Found my wife on a blind date set up by a class mate. She lived on the island so so do I now. And My spine is still turned from going around the ridge.
 
#21 ·
Great thread folks... enjoyin this one!!'

I love the idea of my own kiln, however, I know how I am about things and wouldn't stop at just "enough".. *L* (check out my thread in table top routing).. You'd think being from SW Pa. about hour east of Pitts. finding kiln dried lumber wouldn't be a problem. Yet, it did take some looking and searching. I found a guy up in Jennerstown who has a small business with a kiln. Turned out to be a great guy to do business with. You walk into his "shop" and you see nothing but sawdust, equipment, sawdust and wood.
The owner is just a good guy. And his pricing is more than fair. It turned out that he built his own kiln. which was basically a converted 1 1/2 car garage. I got the royal tour and he explained how everything worked. I was pleasantly surprised at how simple a functional kiln can be. Being lil more than an over active 'hobbyist', constructing my own kiiln probably wouldn't be practical, but darn, it sure would be fun....
 
#23 ·
Hey Bill, I understand about "enough". I was like you once. But life taught me lessons that have made me content/happy and grateful with "enough".

The kiln will be completely mobile after minor tear-down. I don't know how long I will be living in PA. At least as long as my back/neck hold their current conditions.

Last year I made a decision to live here until I could no longer get along from my on-the-job injury and now my lower back going to &%^$. The trees we use to play with is keeping me here. My two older kids live in desert climates.... brown hills.... YUK! I've vacationed with them long enough to know I don't like the climates. They aren't thrilled either but it's where the jobs are. My baby girl lives 11 miles from me with her four kids or I wouldn't be here at all.

I'm excited to get started BUT.... I don't do shopping or appointments on Tuesday.... senior citizen day in our area.... talk about the entitlement mentality, again YUK! :) No offense to anyone but I seem to find them all. My black and blue heels tell the tale when I shop on Tuesday. And maybe not tomorrow because it's SS check day.... the third.

I also feel an urgency about getting the kiln up. The wood is stacked (with stickers) where I normally park my new deluxe TroyBilt garden tractor. Right now it's covered with a tarp out in the weather. But.... there is no contest as to where the tractor is going for the winter..... so..... urgency and "enough" must rule.

I was once a perfectionist which only caused frustration. I could not live up to the expectations I placed on myself. It's been extremely difficult to change that habit and it's still a work in progress. But I don't place those same expectations on others.... go figure.

Bill, your router cabinet (not just a table) is a work of art. You do absolutely beautiful work. I'm so happy that you found a source of wood that is reasonable. These days that's not an easy task.

I hope you all stick around and input your thoughts, ideas and comments. Who knows what will be the end result..... but enough is just fine for now.

Great thread folks... enjoyin this one!!'

I love the idea of my own kiln, however, I know how I am about things and wouldn't stop at just "enough".. *L* (check out my thread in table top routing)......
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top