Predrying

[jim king]

I wouild like to load a couple of kilns with stickered wood and turn on the fans for four or five days with no heat and the dooprs opèn.  I want to eliminate the outside air drying if possible.  It is fresh cut 4/4 and all I can say for sure is that the wood is over 50% MC.

Am I looking for trouble ??

What speed for the fans ?  I would like to start tomorrow. it was a coffee decision this morning .  This is a hard dense species that has no schedule available.

[jim king]

Just to follow up on this question.  We did predry with the fans at full speed and the kiln doors open for four days.  With only a couple of days left to finish the real kiln drying we have what could be loosly called no degrade on a hard brittle wood.

The next load I will keep good records and follow thru.

[scsmith42]

Jim, re fan speed I usually target between 300 and 350 FPM of air movement through the stacks when I'm drying oak, measured on the discharge side of the stack.  This is based upon the USDA recommendation.

If you don't have an anemometer, you can use a handkerchief held behind the back of the stack.  About a 30% deflection from straight down seems to equal 300 fpm.

[jim king]

scssmith42

Now that is the kind of technology we can handle.  A handkercheif at 30% deflection is our style.

Thanks.  I will test that tomorrow.

[Ironwood]

YOUR killing me w/ the technical responses man,............. That's my techno level too.

 Ironwood

[scsmith42]

YOUR killing me w/ the technical responses man,............. That's my techno level too.

 Ironwood

<grin>  Wish that I could take credit for originating it, but in the interests of full disclosure I recall that either Don or Tripp at Nyle told me this tip a few years back.