Thread: Solar Kiln

Hmm.... a question that came up a little while ago.... and a matter close to the heart of a few of us.

there has been quite some work done on solar kilns, and there are a few arround.

there is a funky guide on drying timber from one of the government boffinrys.

exador has beel looking at this one pretty hard as has reeves i think.

bugger the chain saw mill there are a few blokes arround with peterson of lucas mills.
Exador's mill is still busy under contract at the moment but sigidi mills good and cheap I hear.

some of those blokes will probaly chime in soon.

cheers

Give Rosegum timbers at Bellingen a call.
They sell solar kilns from pissy little ones up to humungous ones.
personally....solar sux.
To dry properly you need steam and a boiler and and huge amounts experience.

But thats just my thoughts...

Soundman & Glock,

Cheers for the input.

What exactly is a peterson or lucas mill?

I don't want to pay someone to mill the timber for me. I am happy to mill it myself for 2 reasons: 1. I like to build my own machinery 2. Why pay someone else to do what i can do myself.

I have always derived much more satisfaction from achieving a goal personally, rather than simply just breaking out the Visa card.

My neighbour works in a timber mill, so i have access to timber at around cost. That's not the point.

But I would appreciate any constructive advice or thoughts on chainsaw mills or solar kilns.

Shane
You can make your own bandsaw mill... I know Ive seen plans on the net one that springs to mind is one a bloke made using tyres and rims from a VW and the original bushmills were built from the ground up by many people so it can be done
Theres a mob over here in Welshpool named Westfords that would manufacture to any level and you just add the motor of choice etc... but their internet link seems to have been hyjacked by some mob called Lyns Lumber in the states I will have a hunt in the shed tomorrow and find their info and you can give them a hoi

For now heres a link to a page that will give you a bit of info on comparisons of bandsaw mills to sawmills... its also a part of Peterson mills site so go for a gander send for thei free info package

Heres the link to Lucas Mills and to Woodmizer

Mate theres a million and one sites about mills just type in "bandsaw mills" "sawmills" to google

The main differences are:
1) The bandsaw mill has a thinner kerf
2) the lucas peterson type mills are far more portable into rough terrain
3) The bandsaw mill uses a bandsaw type blade while the lucas type uses a large circular saw type blade
4) you can do slabs to a finish degree will the lucas type mill on site with the slabbing attachment {not included}
5) you do your log cut on the flat with a bandsaw tyoe mill while the lucas type can do both on the flat and vertical cuts {up one way back the other}
6) with the bandsaw mill you get as close to the log as you can then roll it onto the trolley for cutting meaning someones got to grunt with the saawmill you take the mill to the log in peiices and set it up over the log no grunting

I understand the sawmills were initially designed for use in the dence highlands of Papua and Fiji and therefore needed to be very portable by man power over very rough terrain

Both run from approx $9000+ to $15000 on average and up to $50000 to purchase new {Im yet to see one for sale second hand} so theyre not cheep

Good luck and I will post that info tomorrow
Cheers
Shane

Regarding the solar kiln thing...

This is a simple design that should lend itself to easy demensional enlargements

Another is here and here and finally here

Again mate google is your friend here
Shane

For lots of pictures of a Lucas mill in action, have a look here:

http://www.baileys-online.com/Mill.htm

What exactly is a peterson or lucas mill?

There are some pics of my old Peteron mill in this post.
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=18314

Dingo has covered it pretty well, the swingblade mills seem more popular in NZ and Aus because of the bigger logs we have. Most of the portable bandmills max out at about 36" dia logs, they are more common in the US where the logs are generally smaller.

You are however looking at a serious sawmill, cutting nice big boards from decent sized logs with a couple of helpers you can saw out a cube of timber an hour. An order of magnitude above a chainsaw mill

As the above post shows I saw, dry and build with my own timber. Air drying works fine as long as you have the space and time to wait. Solar kilns work fine on a small scale, but in the commercial situation that Glock works in they may be too slow and weather dependant. He doesn't want to have to wait 6 months for a load to dry because it's winter and cloudy every day.

By all means get yourself a chainsaw mill, they do work and are great for recovering one or 2 logs in an awkward locations or just being able to break down a free log yourself. But as for cutting cubes of timber, you want a real mill of some sort. I wouldn't rule out hiring someone in with a Lucas or Peterson if you collected enough decent logs to make it worthwhile. For $500 of sawmill time you can get yourself a serious stack of boards

Cheers

Ian

Build yourself one of these: http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=17414

Cheers to Dingo, snowyskiesau, Ianab & Silent C for the excellent info!

That's exactly the kind of info I was after.

As i said earlier, I'm not thinking of a commercial venture here, just the occasional log now and then. I AM happy to wait for a month or so for timber to dry out. And I don't want to spend a Brazilion dollars cutting down half the amazon.....

Again, thanks fella's for the great info.

Cheers,
Shane

Originally Posted by Beerbotboffin

Cheers to Dingo, snowyskiesau, Ianab & Silent C for the excellent info!

That's exactly the kind of info I was after.

As i said earlier, I'm not thinking of a commercial venture here, just the occasional log now and then. I AM happy to wait for a month or so for timber to dry out. And I don't want to spend a Brazilion dollars cutting down half the amazon.....

Again, thanks fella's for the great info.

Cheers,
Shane

No wuckers mate still from the above post Id agree a chainsaw mill would do you fine as the initial outlay for a mill or bandsaw is bloody scarey unless you can recover the $$ cost by cutting enough to on sell it or get enough hourly work to defray that cost

Wesfords also have a bracket gadjet that you attach to your chainsaw to slice planks dependant on the length of your chainsaw... they also have a rail system that seems pretty cool too theres an attachment that makes it self propelled through the log as well.. gawd knows the costs but it would be a cheper option than a mill

Hang on hive me a few and I'll get the info for them
Cheers

Okay Shane here we go

Westford Enterprises Pty Ltd
5 Forge St Welshpool 6106
(08) 9350 5555

Give em a hoi... ah buggar it I will first thing tomorrow get em to send out their info on all their products... will probably take a few days but oce I get it I will scan and post it for you
Cheers
Shane

Waahooo!! their site now works as it should go here

ooh the one I was thinking of is a rail mill... okay email sent will now wait till tomorrow and give em a call

Shane

Call Bowerbird timbers, Yarra Valley 03 5966 5966, they run a solar slip kiln. 40m3 lots at a time.

Gotta love this eh!!

One other thing... go here for plans! $169Can $ thats what? $185AUD

Cheers again hey and let us know which way you go eh?
Shane

Dingo, You're all over it.

That's exactly what I was on about.

I'm currently O/S, will be home in a couple of weeks. After a few beers, ride the motorbike, a few more beers, another ride and gove the missus a kiss, might have to start work on the project!

Will keep ya informed.

Cheers,
Shane