Thread: Todays milling - more lemon scented gums

Thanks BobL, you certainly are a wealth of information aren't you?
I'd love a sea container kiln but I can't justify the dollars they want for one ex east. I wood have the driest firewood around if I wasn't able to keep it filled with sawn timber!

Originally Posted by comgreserv

Thanks BobL, you certainly are a wealth of information aren't you?
I'd love a sea container kiln but I can't justify the dollars they want for one ex east. I wood have the driest firewood around if I wasn't able to keep it filled with sawn timber!

The regular price for decent 20'er is around $2500 but I have seen them go at auction for as low as $1000. I saw a 40'er go for $1800 - just didn't have the storage place at the time for one that big. I see there is a 20'er in the Quokka for $1600 - that is cheap - It's probably gone by now

I got mine as a swap. The guy wanted a new brand name laptop with a 12 month warranty so I went to Woolies and bought a Lenovo for $799 - cheapest container I have ever seen. It's pretty rust on the outside but I really don't care - threw some Ranex all over it which should keep it at bay.

The problem with Seatainers is they are too low. I really want to be able to stand my slabs upright when they are dry. The 2.4 m limit is a nuisance because most of my stuff is longer than that.

Cheers BobL,

If only the kilns were that cheap! they want 40k for a gas assisted solar kiln. I'd have to move alot of boards and slabs to make it pay for itself!

Dry slabs on end? water to run down in drying process?

Will have to come out and have a cuppa with ya and check out you setup one day, phone doesn't often slow down tho...

Bob, My friend,
Crossed boxes for me as well. How well does this timber dry and mill??
Pete

Originally Posted by comgreserv

Cheers BobL,

If only the kilns were that cheap! they want 40k for a gas assisted solar kiln. I'd have to move alot of boards and slabs to make it pay for itself!

Yep - my thought precisely. Then there are running costs, gas and running about 1 kW fans continuously - that's a grand per year just for the electricity.

Dry slabs on end? water to run down in drying process?

Not dry, I stack slabs flat with 19mm spacers between them until they are almost dry. Then I stand them on end like books to finish drying. Stacking slabs flat inside a container above 1.5 m is very hard work - everything has to be hand lifted. But when they stand on end they can reach the roof and each one can be accessed individually.

Will have to come out and have a cuppa with ya and check out you setup one day, phone doesn't often slow down tho...

No worries - just a heads up not to expect too much, I am just an amateur - milling about one day a week. Weeknights I do my sharpening and chainsaw maintenance and fiddling around etc.

Originally Posted by Pete J

Bob, My friend,
Crossed boxes for me as well. How well does this timber dry and mill??
Pete

If all my pics are crossed boxes then you may want to read this thread.

RE: How well does this timber dry and mill??
Not sure what you are asking here Pete.

Recording the temperature over time inside the seatainer shows that when it is full of timber it is consistently 5-7 –Cº warmer inside than the outside temperature. So if it is 45Cº outside it's only 52ºC inside. The reason it does not get hotter is because it is well vented, whereas a sealed container will get much hotter. According to CSIRO tests it does not matter if it gets to as much as 60Cº and drops overnight as this gives the wood a chance to relax.

Cracking is about the same as air drying,

According to my moisture meter it dries to between 13 and 15% MC in the seatainer in about half the time or maybe a bit less than air drying. I've only had the seatainer for about 12 months so I am still experimenting.