Building Kiln
Joe Dallorso
Has anyone built a dehumidification kiln as seen
in fww book on wood? I am in the planning stages.
Can't justify the price of a factory unit. I intend
to dry bowl blanks. Air drying leaves too many
cracks ect. Know someone with a factory unit and
it produces excellent results - 7-10% in 30 days.
Berger
In article <32B949...@somtel.com>,
The drying cabinet is something I came across in Hawaii it is simply a large
cabinet built from plywood or similar material aprox 3'x3'x5' high ventholes
drilled in the top and bottom, two 60 watt light bulbs a thermostat set at 20
degrees Centigrade. Wet turned bowls are placed on wire shelves. Time taken to
dry depends on type and thickness of wood but two weeks is a good average. To
keep bowls as round as possible insert a length of wood 1/2"x1"in the top of
the bowls this stick should be placed accross the run of the grain
just cut these sticks on the bandsaw with a slight taper on the ends with an
easy fit into the bowl, this trick means you can leave your blanks thinner in
the wall section and therefore cut down drying time.Further inprovements can
be made by either freezing the bowl for 48 hours or boiling for 1hour before
placing in cabinet these processes rupture the cell walls and give you quicker
more even drying.You can use an old refrigerator as a cabinet and drill a
bunch of holes in the sides top and bottom. If drying only a small number of
bowls, keep up the humidity by keeping a wet towel in with the bowls.
Cheers Soren
Berger
In article <59ujkd$d...@venus.plain.co.nz>,
>box seems much less expensive than what I had in
>mind.Do you measure the bowl blanks with a meter
>when dry?
Hi Joe
The best method for judging when a bowl is dry is to look at the base, when
this is oval you can be sure that the bowl is ready,as the base has the
longest side grain it takes the longest to dry so don't be fooled by an oval
top edge or indeed a moisture measurement taken in that area.
>Seems like 2 weeks is fast.
If you use the brace inside and wet turn quite thin, make sure that you do not
leave too much wood in the bottom of the bowl, this part does not move a lot
so does not require much surplus, use the freezing stage and your Maple
should be well dry in 2 weeks.
>Any case
>hardening
No the temp is only room temp and humid so there is no risk of hardening.
>Great idea about the stick but I can't
>see why it doesn't pop out.
For really open bowls just return the edge a little to retain the brace
I'm interested in
>drying about 2 dozen bowls at a time which I've
>started selling at craft shows ect. I use native
>wood that I get around the house here in Maine,
>mostly Maple.
Go for it down to your local white ware repair man and get yourself a fridg
and you will be drying bowls by tonight!!!!!!.
You have some very interesting tricks
>that I've never read of before. Very nice hearing
>from you.
> Joe Dallorso
>
>
A pleasure hearing from you, down here under the world everything looks
different so I guess we come up with all sorts of new thoughts.
Cheers Soren