Plans For Building A Wood Drying Kiln

These figures hold true for lumber up to 2.

Plans for building a wood drying kiln.

Using a personal solar kiln to dry lumber can take several weeks but the opportunity to afford even exotic hardwoods and prepare them to your liking can make building your own wood. The dimensions given are only a suggestion. Leave enough space to have a standard household dehumidifier at one end and a small fan at the other. Better still we developed a plan for our kiln so you can build one just like it.

For all kiln drying schedules a heater should be used to sterilize the lumber and kill any insects that may be present. After a few months bring the wood indoors and finish the drying. Build a kiln to suit your drying needs. Click on the wood doctor.

Wood industry fact sheet solar drying basics west virginia university extension service. We constructed this nifty 8x8x12 passive solar kiln. Purchasing fresh cut lumber from a sawmill and drying it in a home wood kiln can be less costly and more satisfying than buying pre dried commercial lumber. Building the kiln is straightforward.

Wood mizer dehumidification and solar wood kilns range from 300 to 35 000 board feet capacity for drying lumber. To slow the drying process for thick wood or when the kiln is less than full you can block off parts of the roof with an opaque covering or tarp. And boy does it work not to mention save money. If you are into boat building this site describes the building of a 45 foot sailboat very interesting.

Softwoods will typically take half the time of hardwoods. For a kiln temperature of 140 f sterilization takes three to five hours. A kiln constructed to these specifications figure 1 will dry 450 board feet of one inch thick hardwood lumber in 6 weeks or less of good weather or 600 board feet of two inch hardwood lumber in 15 weeks. Kiln drying lumber is a simple cost effective method recommended for anyone who wants to increase profits by selling dried lumber.