Kiln Drying

mlotterhos · 02-28-2008, 03:32 PM

First time poster here...thanks in advance for your help.

I am looking for a company that would kiln dry approximately 3,000 - 5,000 BF of lumber for me per month.

Are there facilites like this out there that will dry lumber for third parties? I am preferably looking for something in the New Bern, North Carolina area but will explore anywhere within a three hour drive of Raleigh, NC.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Ray Martin · 02-28-2008, 04:28 PM

Hi Mike,

I'll defer your question about drying to our sawyers. There are a number of them on this forum.

I would, however, like to encourage you to post a note to the Who We Are forum and introduce yourself to the whole gang. Maybe you could tell us a bit more about yourself and your woodworking. 3 to 5 thousand feet of lumber is a huge load. What kind of business are you in? You may find others in the same business here and they would be willing to offer comment. You can also start your own photo gallery on this site. (We do love photos.)

I hope our sawyers are able to get you the answer you want and we look forward to hearing from you about woodworking in general.

Ray

mlotterhos · 02-28-2008, 05:34 PM

Thanks for the info Ray. I'll fill out some information in the Who We Are section sometime this weekend.

Regarding my business, I am in the exploratory stages of looking at an opportunity to manufacture flooring and moulding. I have been doing some hobby work of this nature for the past few years but I have an opportunity to increase the scope and perhaps make it a full time business.

The driver behind everything is a unique opportunity to harvest some old growth timber in eastern North Carolina. New Bern is the closest city to where we will be sourcing our wood and I'm trying to determine if we will need our own facility for drying or if their are firms out there that would provide this service for us.

Thanks again for any help!

DaveO · 02-28-2008, 06:24 PM

Welcome Mike, you might contact Coastal Lumber http://www.coastallumber.com/ They are a very large scale lumber operation with facilities in the area of NC that you are interested in. For volume of lumber like you talking about you would probably need to find someone with multiple kilns. Most of the local sawyers might have a single kiln or two for their own use and dry for others when it's not loaded but I doubt they could handle 3-5K BF a month.
Good luck with your endenvors, I know there are a few members who are interested in the same thing.
Dave

jeff... · 02-28-2008, 07:31 PM

I would recommend contacting Scott Smith, he'll do just as good a job as anyone. http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/member.php?u=1430

Thanks

scsmith42 · 02-28-2008, 10:32 PM

Jeff, thanks for the plug.

Mike, if you'll send me a PM with your contact info, I'll be glad to give you a call and we can discuss your needs. I have a dehumidification kiln and am about 30 miles south of Raleigh.

Additionally, another one of our members - Ivey - is in the process of building a kiln at his sawmill in Burgaw. That may be closer to you, and he may be able to shoot you a package deal on milling and drying.

Regards,

Scott

Ivey · 02-29-2008, 12:14 AM

Thanks Scott
Mike I am in the process of building a kiln chamber, when built I plan to install a dehumidification kiln unit in it. I am running into a few problems with the county
inspectors (something about being farm exempt), but we will get through it. I had
planed on having it ready by spring, however with the inspectors, and being wrapped
up with logs it may be a little later in the summer.
Be glad for you to give me a call, if I can help you with what you are trying to do I will.
Thanks,
Ivey

jeff... · 02-29-2008, 12:49 AM

Originally Posted by Ivey

Thanks Scott
Mike I am in the process of building a kiln chamber, when built I plan to install a dehumidification kiln unit in it. I am running into a few problems with the county
inspectors (something about being farm exempt), but we will get through it. I had
planed on having it ready by spring, however with the inspectors, and being wrapped
up with logs it may be a little later in the summer.
Be glad for you to give me a call, if I can help you with what you are trying to do I will.
Thanks,
Ivey

Ivey congrats on the kiln, that's really great news. I'm sorry to hear about the inspectors - like you ain't got a great highly respected resource (Scott) to help you right? Just tell the inspectors Listen do you know Scott Smith? that straighten em out. Sometimes you just gotta drop a big name ya know?

scsmith42 · 02-29-2008, 09:36 AM

Originally Posted by jeff...

Ivey congrats on the kiln, that's really great news. I'm sorry to hear about the inspectors - like you ain't got a great highly respected resource (Scott) to help you right? Just tell the inspectors Listen do you know Scott Smith? that straighten em out. Sometimes you just gotta drop a big name ya know?

Jeff - between you and Travis - you're killing me man!

mlotterhos · 02-29-2008, 10:32 AM

Thanks a bunch for the info everyone. Scott and Ivey, I will reach out to the two of you next week.

If anyone else has any input it's greatly appreciated.

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone on the board a little better. It's nice to find a community of like minded people that actually care about helping each other out.

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