Does anyone own or use a Kiln?

[crashgtr]

Hi,

I have the opportunity to get a kiln amoca 67 that needs a little work but I am not sure if this general purpose kiln could be used to dry wood for turning and how I would get instruction on dryikng wood in the kiln.

Any one have any experience with or knowledge about drying lumber in these small general purpose kilns?

It seems the Kiln needs a some repairs and I am trying to find out exactly what is wrong with it so I can assess how much it will cost to fix etc.

thanks for any advice.
Liz

 

[john lucas]

Fine Woodworking publishes a great book on drying wood. It has a section on Kiln drying. There is a lot of information available both on the web and in books.

 

[Martin Braun]

No need for a kiln out here in AZ. If anything, I need something to humidify my wood.

For turning, I have heard of some people using old refridgerators with heat lamps & blowers in other parts.

 

[Andy Coates]

Just the book

Hello there,

there's a book on eBay at the moment that would be just what you're looking for...

try here:

Kiln Drying Book on eBay


Andy

 

[John Abt]

I remember that there were plans published on the web about building a kiln from CDX plywood, foam insulation, light bulbs and a thermostat. I can't remember the site, but if anyone else remembers, I certainly would appreciate it.

Lamar Crafts has a wood drying kiln listed on their site, but the link isn't connected to anything.

 

[4mikee]

I've seen the same thing. Try this one from the symposium vendor list australianburls.com, under turning tips there is information on a kiln. Also, there is limited info about on (there is a photo) on Cindy Drozdas site. I too have found the plans doing searches for bowl kilns, solar kilns, etc.

 

[Ron Sardo]

Here is an article.

http://www.woodcentral.com/russ/russ8.shtml

 

[MichaelMouse]

A lot of information about dry kilns available prepaid, as in we already did, at http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/ . Kilns of all sorts, schedules for drying various species and more. Nice thing about this information is it's heavily scientific, increasing your chances for success as you learn your own equipment. The search will turn up a bunch of articles for you.

In general, as you know, turners don't use kilns. They take too long on thick (face grain) raw stock, and carry much more risk of degrade than roughing oversize and allowing to dry. Where your kiln might help would be in the installed electronics for monitor and control of relative humidity. Big drawback is that it's a "batch" process, rather than one where you can throw this weekend's roughs in with last week's without resetting the clock. You want to step the RH down carefully to prevent drying degrade, and a bunch of wet ones added just stop loss or perhaps cause gain in the initial bunch.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

confused

A bowl that is finish-turned to ¼" to 3/8" thickness will stabilize to around 10% moisture content in about 3 days, depending on the species, and the original moisture content. Thicker wood or a full 'dryer' will require a longer time.
Cracking and distortion is no more of a problem than with air-drying. For a slower drying rate, I either fill the bowl with wet shavings, wrap the piece in a grocery bag, place a pan of water in the bottom of the box, or

i was under the impression that one uses the kiln for a rough turned bowl not
1/4 to 3/8 thickness???????????

 

[Wilford Bickel]

I use an old upright freezer I turned into a kiln with fan and light bulbs. I turn dry wood almost exclusively and dry all my blanks prior to turning. PM me if you want details on the system.

Wilford

 

[Anthony Yakonick]

http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b166/AnthonyYak/?action=view&current=2006_0602Image0002.jpg

 

[Brian Hahn]

Amaco kiln?

I know this is a little late in the thread, but Amaco (American Art Clay Co.) makes kilns for ceramics and glass use, so they are designed to go to anywhere from 1000*F to 2400*F. Thats a lot more than you need for drying wood. You might end up turning ashes instead of ash.

 

[woodwish]

A lot of penturners have experimented with homemade kilns (not the ceramic kind you mentioned) to dry small blanks for pens and bottle stoppers. I have used a small broken fridge with a light bulb, fan, thermostat, etc. One of the better ideas was someone used a broken dishwasher that the drying heater still worked but not the water pump. fits under the counter easy and all that.

Kiln drying large pieces is a whole new world and it seems from what I have read it is worth the trouble.

 

[John Abt]

I resurrected this thread because I found the article that I had mentioned.

Woodturning Online has a link to an article by Dennis Daudelin detailing the construction of a temperature controlled kiln for drying bowls. It may be worth a look.

http://www.woodturningonline.com/assets/turning_articles/Kiln/Introduction.html

 

[Bill Boehme]

I have the opportunity to get a kiln amoca 67 that needs a little work but I am not sure if this general purpose kiln could be used to dry wood for turning and how I would get instruction on dryikng wood in the kiln.

Can you tell us something about this particular kiln model such as size, temperature, humidity control, circulating fans, etc.?

Wood drying kilns are usually large enough to walk into them since they are designed to dry lumber that has been stacked and stickered. I am wondering if this is a different kind of kiln such as what would be used to fire ceramics. In that case the temperature would be high enough to reduce the wood to charcoal.

Bill

 

[KenN]

Also late in the thread, but - I believe that Brian has it right on. Amaco kilns are either for firing ceramics (pottery) or glass. They don't make dry kilns to my knowledge and I doubt that a ceramic kiln could be altered to work as one.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Follow-up

.....I am wondering if this is a different kind of kiln such as what would be used to fire ceramics......

I did a Google on Amoca 67 and found that it is a ceramics kiln -- so it is not the type of kiln that you want for drying wood.

Also, I just discovered that this is an older thread and I did not notice the second page where the question was already answered thoroughly. Oh well, it is a new world every day for me.

Bill

 

[Charlie Knighton]

dishwasher as kilm

i am now experiementing with a dishwasher as a dry kiln, ok on most woods, one problem i did run into was with a small piece of dogwood which was green, after 4 days in kiln wood was dry but i had a lot of wrappage no cracks, it started out as 7 inches wide, but i put it aside after failing to round out the underside at 5 1/2 inches. i was not getting checks but more like chunks , returning the inside is generally no problem, but the outside espacially with wrappage makes the bowl slightly out of balance and i need more experience with this problem, i am open to any suggestions as it is hard to find dogwood big enough to turn

 

[crashgtr]

I have started using a microwave on roughly sized lumber for pens, tops and smaller stuff but I hope to be doing some bowls soon so I will let you know how it goes.

 

[laymarcrafts]

The Link on the LaymarCraft Site for the Wood Drying Kiln is now active for those who have in the past tried it without success.

http://www.laymar-crafts.co.uk/tip51.htm

RVS

 

[Steve Worcester]

did run into was with a small piece of dogwood which was green, after 4 days in kiln wood was dry but i had a lot of wrappage no cracks, it started out as 7 inches wide, but i put it aside after failing to round out the underside at 5 1/2 inches. i was not getting checks but more like chunks ,

Two things, weigh the bowls before they go in (in grams) and mark it with a pencil on the outside. Wiegh them about evry other day, they would be dry when after several readings of the same weight.

Assuming the bowl was the "normal" %10 of the diameter, which would put it at about 3/4" thick, if it dryed in 4 days, I would say that is way too fast. Should be about the 20-30 days. The idea is to control the process, not force it. While the bowl may turn back round, it would warp in the thinner stages because it is gling to have too much stress from drying so quickly.

 

[Wilford Bickel]

Like Steve says, the Kiln is not meant to give you immediate drying. You control the speed of drying by the amount of heat you apply therefore the temp the unit reaches. I will start a full load of blanks and the first 2 weeks want mine to stay in the 90 -100oF range - at this point the inside of the unit will be at high humidity and be actually sweating. This high humidity keeps the drying very slow for the first 2-3 weeks. The 3rd week we start very slowly raising the temp to about 110oF. About the 5th week we try to creep on up to about 120oF and by the 6th week I will let it go on up to 130oF where the bugs are killed. I hold at 130oF to 140oF till I get consistent moisture readings below the 6% moisture my HF meter can read. I have seen it take 10 - 12 weeks to compeletly dry a full batch of blanks.

I had a batch of cherry burl the other week given to me that had been allowed to lay on it's side on the ground and when I got it home I found it LOADED with termites. I pushed this faster then usuall to reach 130oF to start killing the termites and wound up with more cracking then in my normal runs. This may have been as much to blame on the burl as I had never had a full kiln of burl before but I sure wish it had not had the termites so I could have taken it a lot slower.

Wilford

 

[Steve Worcester]

I had a batch of cherry burl the other week given to me that had been allowed to lay on it's side on the ground and when I got it home I found it LOADED with termites.
Wilford

Next time you could fume the burl in a trash can with insecticide, or submerge in mineral spirits has been suggested also.

 

[crashgtr]

Thanks for posting the link!!