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Went to Lumber Drying School in Alabama

Started by WDH, September 14, 2013, 08:53:56 PM

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WDH

I am interested in a small kiln, so I went over to New Market, Alabama to spend a day with Forum member Yellowhammer (Robert).  He was one of the first to install and operate the Nyle L53 Dehumidification kiln.  Through his hard work and diligence, he has become an expert in operating this kiln.  From his structured approach and detailed records, I believe that Nyle has learned as much as he has about this kiln.

The L53 is designed to dry from 300 BF of fast drying, sticker stain prone wood like yellow poplar and pine to 1000 BF of slower drying wood like oak.  It can dry 600 BF of the medium drying hardwoods like walnut and cherry.  I knew it was going to be a fine day when Robert said that he would have lunch for me when I got there.  Ribeye steaks and baked potato!



 

Robert uses a pallet system.  Each pack of lumber is stickered on a pallet that he makes.  320 BF to a pallet.  The pallets are allowed to air dry for a bit to lower the starting moisture content of the wood.  Robert varies the load in the kiln based on the drying characteristics of the wood and the kiln's capacity to remove water. He uses the wood load as another variable in controlling the drying process.  Here is the kiln with with two packs of cherry that were ready to come out of the Kiln.  The average moisture content of this load was 6.1%.



 

He uses foam insulation left over from the chamber construction to baffle the load to assure that the air is drawn through the lumber stack.  The dehumidification unit is located in the back of the kiln and pulls the air through the lumber to remove the evaporated water.  The controller is located outside the kiln.



 

The kiln chamber is insulated very well, and the door seals perfectly.  He uses a trailer door locking cam to make sure that the door is tightly closed and sealed.



 

Robert also has a solar kiln that he uses as a pre-dryer.  Here it is with a load of sassafras ready to come out and go into the dehumidification kiln for sterilization. 



 

Here is a pic of Mr. and Mrs. Yellowhammer with some air drying packs in the background.  Pre-drying allows the kiln to dry more wood faster and improve the efficiency.  These packs are yellow poplar, red oak, hickory, and sassafras. 



 

A special treat was getting to tour his beautiful farm in mountains of North Alabama.    I was very impressed and inspired by Robert's operation.  I can't wait to get started on my own kiln.  Thank you Robert!  I owe you big time.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

fishpharmer

Built my own band mill with the help of Forestry Forum. 
Lucas 618 with 50" slabber
WoodmizerLT-40 Super Hydraulic
Deere 5065E mfwd w/553 loader

The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Kingcha

a Wood-mizer LT15 10hp Electric, 45hp Kioti tractor, electric smoker, wood-fired brick oven & yes a custom built Solar Kiln

YellowHammer

WDH - We were more than glad to have you visit. 8) 8)  It was a special treat for us.

For those of you that have not met him, WDH is as nice and knowledgeable in person as he is on the Forum.   It was a clear fall day, and after we'd talked business awhile, I showed him around in the farm.  He really knows his stuff, much more so than any other professional forester I'd ever had here.  It was amazing how he was able to point out species I'd never noticed before, and I thought I'd pretty much knew my own woods.
I can't wait for you to get your kiln up and operating so I can stop by and visit.
YH

YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

hackberry jake

Man! Thats a lot of lumber! I sure would like to get one of them there kilns.  8)
https://www.facebook.com/TripleTreeWoodworks

EZ Boardwalk Jr. With 20hp Honda, 25' of track, and homemade setworks. 32x18 sawshed. 24x40 insulated shop. 30hp kubota with fel. 1978 Massey ferguson 230.

thecfarm

Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

bama20a

That is a nice looking operation you have,& It is nice when fellow forum members can meet, Just makes this world alittle nicer,
I do have a question though, ;D,It looks as you have the outside of your solar kiln painted flat black.I've often wonder about that,because I noticed that tobacco barns are painted flat black also,I've often thought that would be a beneifit on a kiln, to raise the temp & help hold heat.Any comment? Anyone?
It is better to ask forgiveness than permission

YellowHammer

Although it doesn't really hold heat like a heat sink, black paint on the outside reduces the differential thermal load on the wall insulation, especially in the winter.  The black paint on the outside absorbs enough solar energy to cause the outside wall be a few degrees higher than the ambient air temp, essentially simulating a warmer day than it actually is.  With perfect insulation it wouldn't be significant, but in real life, it makes a difference.  On a cold Alabama day, the outside black wall will pick up enough energy to almost be warm to the touch.

I think it looks nice too :D

YH
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

drobertson

only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

WDH

Another impressive thing to me was how well Robert prepared his wood for sale.  Expertly dried, planed, defects cut out, and placed neatly in racks by grade and price.  I did not get a pic, maybe Robert will post one. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

fat olde elf

Great report Danny.  You do good work..........
Cook's MP-32 saw, MF-35, Several Husky Saws, Too Many Woodworking Tools, 4 PU's, Kind Wife.

YellowHammer

Here are a few more pictures of our operation.  This is a picture of our shop layout, with a load of sassafras in the foreground ready for processing, and cleaned and processed cherry lumber stacked on the pallet in the background, ready to be moved to the racks for marking and sale.  The cherry and sassafras is the same wood that was shown earlier in the post, the sassafras was dried in the solar kiln but sterilized in the DH kiln before it got staged for processing.

We can do about 300-400 bdft of lumber per hour, from pallet to rack.  There are lots of reasons to do this, such as significantly increasing the value of the lumber, quality control, and just because it makes a big difference selling it.

Here's what the lumber looks like directly from the kiln:


  

Here is how it ends up:


  

Here we are planing and sorting some wide cedar
http://youtu.be/J_7y9uMJlmE



  

We have multiple racks filled with many north Alabama species.  This is the oak rack with QS and flat sawn white and red oak. Other racks have cherry, walnut, pecan, maple, poplar, cedar, etc.  Each board is marked by width and surface measure so that it is easy to add up when we have several customers pulling lumber at the same time.

In addition to the lumber on the racks, we try to have a restocking reserve already processed and ready to go to refill the racks as soon as they get low, or usually every weekend.


  
Our kiln reloaded with 960 bdft of red oak, which should be out in a couple weeks, and the process starts again.


 

Of course, the when we are not taking wood out of the kilns, we are sawing and getting the next loads ready.

YH
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

beenthere

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

hackberry jake

That planer sure is quiet! I probably need new blades in mine though...
https://www.facebook.com/TripleTreeWoodworks

EZ Boardwalk Jr. With 20hp Honda, 25' of track, and homemade setworks. 32x18 sawshed. 24x40 insulated shop. 30hp kubota with fel. 1978 Massey ferguson 230.

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

OneWithWood

One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

Jemclimber

That's a nice operation.  YH has posted many useful ideas that were helpful to me and my lt15.  Thank you for sharing, YH.   

J.E.M.
lt15

Leigh Family Farm

Very nice set up Yellowhammer. I am most impressed. Do you happen to have an arieal sketch of your lay out? For all the pieces you have (air shed, solar kiln, DH kiln, shop, etc.) I am wondering how your stuff is laid out to maximize efficiency.  I am most interested in the spacing between each piece to allow for the best ease of movement of the pallets. Thanks!
There are no problems; only solutions we haven't found yet.

bedway

Great operation you have there.

Who digitally removed the box your standing on? Or is momma standing in a hole. ;D

YellowHammer

I appreciate the compliments.  No bucket, I'm just tall at 6"-4"

I don't have a layout of the operation but the goal of the optimization is to not waste time, steps or effort.  I  once counted how many times I handled a board from the log to the sales rack and it astounded me.  So now, I only handle the boards a minimum of times and try to do as much in parallel as possible.  I also cull boards at every step in the process, only the best get to the final stages.  No use wasting time and effort messing with a low grade board.
Pallets are one of the keys for making things operate efficiently, mine are exactly 4x8'feet and dead flat.  All machines allow close access for the pallets.  Boards come off the mill, get sorted, and go into pallets.  After that, they never come off until final processing.   Cutting everything to standard sizes and thicknesses is another huge timesaver.  Getting rid of waste effectively is important.
YH
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

WDH

Robert has standardized his lengths too so that he handles 8' 6" logs only for the kiln.  I saw the standardization as a huge plus.  Woodworkers needing hardwood for furniture or projects very rarely need a board over 8' 6" long.  Robert has catered to a specific market and developed a niche.  His species diversity is also impressive.  Not just red oak and yellow poplar. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

customsawyer

Not sure how I missed this report but glad that I found it. I will have to make a ride over and see the operation one day. I will have to say that I like you set up too YH.
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

YellowHammer

You or anyone's else is welcome to visit anytime.  It would be my pleasure.  I've always got steaks ready to fire up on the grill.

Kiln drying and post processing to get high quality, vibrant lumber has been the make or break step for me and is what separates my business from the rest of the field including conventional retail lumber stores.
It proves that a low tech solar kiln teamed with a basic low temp dehumidification kiln can produce such high quality lumber that people will regularly drive from hundreds of miles to buy.  I had a guy drive 250 miles just this morning.
Unfortunately, done incorrectly, I can also ruin a lot of wood real fast. Been there, done that. So as WDH saw on his visit, I've kind of settled on a process that let's me crank out lumber with a minimum of fuss and risk.

YH

YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

mesquite buckeye

So YH, is this your full time occupation? I am very impressed with your setup. ;D
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

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