Thread: Making of a Kiln

would a couple of shipping containers with some insulation work just as well and be cheaper?

there is a guy that i've been to with a property, but he has a SHITLOAD of slabs all around the place. A lot where just stickered and covered with tarps with out any real issue.

he's recently just built a large open air'd shed for drying out slabs. as long as its stickered properly and not getting wet it'll just air dry. I guess you would only need to consider a kiln if you need the wood dried quick, or down to a lower moisture level. his is mainly for slabs, which then get cut down or flattened once dried or when he needs to use them. not so much for storing already cut up and dried timber.

Rohffx


You have raised many issues with what seems at first glance a simple question.

The first issue is to what financial resources you have. The second is to what sizes of timber you are proposing to dry and how much of the size. Ideally, one stack will comprise timber of the same dimensions. The clue is that a nice neat uniform stack is easier to dry successfully than one with vastly varying sizes and lengths. Ideally, you would have a stack of 150mm x 25mm boards all at the same length for example.

As to your building, it is down to insulation and airflow. I have no idea of the insulation value of the clay brick you show.

A simple kiln in this country can be made from a second hand insulated shipping container. You then need a heat source which could be gas fired or other but with the temperatures of your region, I would suggest solar is a good option. In the case of the shipping container a skillion structure is built on the roof and the structure is faced towards the sun (North in this hemisphere, but South where you live). Ideally you have a small fan (1HP is probably sufficient) to circulate air uniformly through the building.

You could probably adapt the above to your proposed building If the clay bricks have insulating properties. Some benefit can be gained by air drying for about three months before placing in a kiln. It reduces the amount of time timber spends in the kiln, which may be at some cost (fan and or heating source if not solar).

Much depends on the type of timber you are drying as to how long all this takes. Hardwoods require slower drying times than softwoods. The ease of all this depends on the machinery you have available. Moving timber around by hand is clearly more labour intensive than moving a stack with a forklift or tractor.

At a lower level of drying (slower times and variable sizes of material) this thread and the preceding pages might give you some other ideas.

Bandsawing a Spotted Gum

A quick preview:

Crude Solar kiln 2.jpgCrude Solar kiln.jpg

Regards
Paul