Solar Kiln for drying lumber

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I am fortunate to have a small sawmill for cutting my own lumber.   We have mostly Fir trees but also some occasional access to Cedar, Maple, Ash, Walnut, etc. provided by generous friends and neighbors, almost always the result of storm damage.    The downside has always been the one to three years drying time for the lumber.   I built this kiln to hopefully reduce that time to a few months,  we will see.   Plans, such as they were, came online from the Virginia State University website.    the plans were more of an idea that a blueprint so some innovating had to happen.  I opted for a concrete slab for a base rather than the PT wood they recommended. Air is circulated via three small solar fans that seem to work well so long as the sun is shining, that is not a sure thing in our climate.

Albert

12 Comments

That looks like it should work out for you!
Great build! Something I’d love to do at some point when we get on more land after retirement…👍🏼👍🏼

Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".

Curious if it works as expected? We wait and see.

https://dutchypatterns.com/

Good looking kiln, Albert, How much will it hold at one time?

Cheers, Jim ........................ Variety is the spice of life...............Learn something new every day

Bet it cuts the 3 year time by a significant margin.   Looks good.  

Ron

I like the way you have great access and the ability to not need power run out to it! 

There was an article om FWW magazine a few months back that went into detail on building one, got my juices flowing but alas no way to harvest/slab wood, let alone trees!

You should be into nicely air-dried wood in a fraction of the time!
Jim,  
Still not sure about capacity,   I have a couple of pallets of Oak and Ash in there right now,  from what I read you can really get technical about capacity and dry time,  I'm not a technical guy.

Albert

Albert,
We're jealous!  When we were younger we studied all the various ideas for kilns, but it just never got built.  Yours looks terrific. Congratulations!
L/W

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Benjamin Franklin

Nicely done.  I would like to make a scaled down version for my driveway.   Did you put a moisture barrier underneath the concrete slab?  Concrete can wick up a lot of moisture from the soil so you may need to keep an eye on that.  That may be partly why they recommended a wood floor?   It might be beneficial to put plastic over the slab to help deal with that.  If it is an issue, you may find that  there is condensation on the underside of the plastic and it could vary by season and with changes in weather.   Just thinking out loud.  

--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.

Lazyman 
Did you put a moisture barrier underneath the concrete slab?  
I DID NOT PUT A BARRIER UNDER THE SLAB,    The website recommended painting all interior surfaces  black but I just lined the interior with heavy black construction plastic, including much of the floor.   I figure if there is moisture under the plastic I don't care.    The inside temp gets over 125 on a sunny day so it seems to be working out.

Albert

What is the outside ambient temperature on days when you get over 125°?  Just wondering what sort of differential you are able to get.   Do you operate with the vents open or closed?   Are you measuring/monitoring the humidity inside the kiln?  

--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.

I will have to get more into the operation to comment on it.   It is summer here and on a bright day I can hit 125 and the outside temp is probably in the eightys.    So far I'm running with the vents open and there is a definite draft exhaust from the top vents.   More to follow, someday, maybe.

Albert