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kiln drying hardwood

Started by robbshowe, November 08, 2008, 09:44:02 AM

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robbshowe

I have a lot of green hardwood slabs and am trying to 'kiln' dry it around a brazier.(an old oil barrel with holes in it!)  I now realise the necessity for a moisture meter but as I don't have one at the moment has anyone else tried this out and how long will it take to be dry enough for use indoors on an open fire? I am using a lot of old scraps of softwood to fuel the brazier and it seems like good way of keeping my yard tidy also do something useful with my offcuts!

beenthere

robbshowe
Have a pic or two of the setup?
Sounds like a tough task at hand, but you do have a plan.

To monitor your progress, set up some way to get the weight of some pieces as samples, then weigh them as you "dry". At some point need to take a test sample to weigh green and then oven dry it, to get the actual moisture content.

Then need to decide how dry is "dry enough" for your indoor open fires.

Interesting project.  :)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

robbshowe

Beenthere
Thanks for the advice.  I'll have to figure a method of weighing the palletised greenwood!  Great idea though - should have thought of this.  I'll send a photo as soon as.

pineywoods

Quote from: robbshowe on November 10, 2008, 02:56:31 AM
Beenthere
Thanks for the advice.  I'll have to figure a method of weighing the palletised greenwood!  Great idea though - should have thought of this.  I'll send a photo as soon as.

If you're using pallets, that means a fork lift of some kind. Plumb a pressure gauge into the line going to the lift cylinder. Find a few items of known weight and calibrate in pounds, kilos, whatever..OR if you know the size of the piston in the lift cylinder, use a little math to calculate...
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
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beenthere

Quote from: robbshowe on November 10, 2008, 02:56:31 AM
Beenthere
Thanks for the advice.  I'll have to figure a method of weighing the palletised greenwood!  Great idea though - should have thought of this.  I'll send a photo as soon as.

robb
Weighing the pallets is one way and using the pressure gage and the math should work too, but what I had in mind was similar to dry kiln procedures for lumber. Just locate sample 'pieces' of firewood in the kiln that are retrievable for weighing at discreet times to track the drying.  :)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

robbshowe

Just a short note to say that my home made barrel kiln is doing the trick just fine.  All my previously wet hardwood slabs/logs have dried out just fine.  I never tried weighing before and after other than just a casual lifting of a  piece of timber from the centre of the pallet.  If it felt crisp and significantly lighter that it did when I started I was happy.  The resulting firewood is burning a treat compared to that pile of green timber I started with! The odd bit that remained too wet I rested up close to the burning fire and before long it too was fine.  Simple is usually best! I may add a couple more barrels to allow me to increase my throughput though as I seem to produce a lot of slabwood when machining my post and beams on the Woodmizer. 

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