Drying Kiln Plans Recommendations

[Douglas Robinson]

Having brought home my 200 Bdf of black walnut last weekend I realize I am out of room for any more wood. I want to continue to buy wood from Jeff, but realize I need another option. So I am considering building a kiln. Can Anyone recommend good relatively simple plans for a kiln?

Thanks

Doug

[DaveO]

Doug, there was a lot of good advice and a few plans or links to informational sites on kilns in this thread: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/s...ead.php?t=6646

Also there is a wealth of information here:
Kiln Construction at WOODWEB's Knowledge Base


Hopefully that will get your research started



Dave

[Douglas Robinson]

Thanks Dave. I noticed that AFTER I posted. I have to remember, search 1st then post if I cant find the answer.

Doug
_____
There is no 12 step program for stupid.

One thing I wished were possible is to utilize Kyle's Kiln service. Kyle is basically on the other end of the state from where I am. It's just not practical or feasible to make it happen. If someone had a kiln that was closer to me, I would strongly consider using it as an option.

Ted and I had an in depth conversation regarding building a pair of solar kilns with wood burning heat backup. Similar to a pair I seen on the Internet. I'm trying to convince Ted and mainly his dad Winston of the benefits of a kiln. Ted is all for it, but does not have the time to build or operate it nor do I. I'm going to suggest Winston operate it. Making this happen s literally months away.

If anyone knows of a kiln service in my general area please let me know. The big question with using a kiln service is price. If we could build our own we could dry for a lesser price. But I sure would be interested in talking to a few folks who offer kiln service and what they would charge per BF.

Remember, this is my hobby and my goal is supply good quality lumber at a good price, if circumstances occur which prevent any one of those two from happening, it'll be game over and I'll go off and do something else.

I do appreciate every member who has purchased lumber from me. As a woodworker, I fully understand that we get raked over the coals for material. Many times I've walked into lumber yards and BORG and started calculating how much it would cost me in materials to build a piece of furniture. I come to the same conclusion each time, I would need to take out a bank loan and that's utterly ridiculous in my mind.

Thanks

[Bernhard]

Doug,

I have the Virginia Tech solar kiln plans. Sent me your email address and i'll sent you the a .pdf copy.

Bernhard

Couple of questions:

* Does anyone have or can point me to Virgina Tech class schedule for lumber drying.
* Would there be any interest in helping build a pair of solar kilns one weekend out at Ted's Log yard?

I guess what I'm asking, if I can convince Winston to attend the Va Tech lumber drying class and get the kilns built quickly (after it warms up some) we could start offering dry lumber. Of course after the lumber is dry the price would have to go up some, but I think there is still plenty enough margin between what others are selling for and what we would sell for to meet my goal.

I'm going to try and push for the kilns next time I have Ted and Winston together and strongly suggest Winston consider attending the Virgina Tech class. I think we all have day jobs and would need to work this on a weekend. A group of guys could whip these out quickly I'm sure.

In the mean time I'm going to start drafting up some building plans for the kilns. Maybe Kelvin already plans for the ones he built too. I really can't see much negative to putting in a pair of 1000BF kilns, but I can see lots of positive.

Those of you who have kiln plans, please post them here, so I can review them and come up with a good draft. Let me know if I have over looked anything (good or bad).
Decisions are good as long as the facts are presented accurately.

Thanks everyone

[MikeH]

Originally Posted by jeff...

Couple of questions:

* Does anyone have or can point me to Virgina Tech class schedule for lumber drying.
* Would there be any interest in helping build a pair of solar kilns one weekend out at Ted's Log yard?

I guess what I'm asking, if I can convince Winston to attend the Va Tech lumber drying class and get the kilns built quickly (after it warms up some) we could start offering dry lumber. Of course after the lumber is dry the price would have to go up some, but I think there is still plenty enough margin between what others are selling for and what we would sell for to meet my goal.

I'm going to try and push for the kilns next time I have Ted and Winston together and strongly suggest Winston consider attending the Virgina Tech class. I think we all have day jobs and would need to work this on a weekend. A group of guys could whip these out quickly I'm sure.

In the mean time I'm going to start drafting up some building plans for the kilns. Maybe Kelvin already plans for the ones he built too. I really can't see much negative to putting in a pair of 1000BF kilns, but I can see lots of positive.

Those of you who have kiln plans, please post them here, so I can review them and come up with a good draft. Let me know if I have over looked anything (good or bad).
Decisions are good as long as the facts are presented accurately.

Thanks everyone

Jeff,
Did you get the VT plans from Bernhard? If not, he sent them to me and I can forward them if you want.

PM me with your email address if you want them.

No - had not got them - can you just post them here? If not please PM them to me - I've got my personal email account locked down tight, all Internet sourced attachments are tossed into dev/null upon recipt. I got tired of dealing with freaking malware / spam / viri / worms / x-rated trash.

[MikeH]

Originally Posted by jeff...

No - had not got them - can you just post them here? If not please PM them to me - I've got my personal email account locked down tight, all Internet sourced attachments are tossed into dev/null upon recipt. I got tired of dealing with freaking malware / spam / viri / worms / x-rated trash.

I just uploaded the pdf and it is here in case anyone else wants it.

HTH,

[Bernhard]

Originally Posted by jeff...

Couple of questions:

* Does anyone have or can point me to Virgina Tech class schedule for lumber drying.

Here it is:

Brian H Bond
Asst Professor CYWood Science & Forest Products (0503)
E-mail:bbond@vt.edu
PID:bbond
Office/Work:Brooks Forest Products Center
1650 Ramble Road
Blacksburg, VA 24060
(540) 231-8752

Cheers,
Bernhard

[Bernhard]

Here is the link to the updated Website of VT:
Unfortunately, I can't find the course offerings, I am going to email Brian Bond.

Virginia Tech Solar Kiln | Dept. of Wood Science and Forest Products at Virginia Tech

Cheers,
Bernhard

[MikeH]

Originally Posted by hpm67

I just uploaded the pdf and it is here in case anyone else wants it.

HTH,

I've just update the PDF with the current version on the VT website that Bernhard just gave us. The filename is the same.

Thanks,

[Bernhard]

Originally Posted by hpm67

I've just update the PDF with the current version on the VT website ......

Thanks,

Thank you, I still can't figure out how to upload files or attach a pic.

I am still very much interested in builsing the solar kiln. Has anyone checked into glazing? I prefer polycarbonate double or triple wall. It doesn't break, stronger than glass, lighweight, good insulating properties, can be cut/machined, available in 4x8 and longer sheets. There are a lot of suppliers out there, mainly for the greenhouse market. Transportation is a major cost, so if there are other interested parties, we ought to combine orders to save a couple of bucks.
Cheers,
Bernhard

Bernard, got a guess how much those polycarbonate double wall sheets run?

Thanks

[NZAPP1]

Originally Posted by jeff...

Bernard, got a guess how much those polycarbonate double wall sheets run?

Thanks

I would also like to know the cost