gathering dust

[Charlie Knighton]

i have one of those electric smoker grills with the water pan and everthing gathering dust in the basement, any ideas to make this thing a kilm to dry wood??????????????? 😕 😕

 

[Mr. Don]

Wood kiln

Nah..junk it!! I used an old refrigerator. I cut a hole (3") in the side at the bottom, another at the top just below the top-mount freezer, equiped these with a sliding gate to regulate air circulation, put an old turkey roast pan in the very bottom (inside) for water, and put in a small (8" square) Honeywell ceramic heater. Then poked a hole thru the door about midway up on the front so I could stick in a dial type thermometer. After some fiddling with the thermostat on the heater, the draft gates, and water, I hit on the PERFECT small wood kiln!!! Been using this for 4 years and am (pat on my own back) VERY happy. Total investment $12.95 for heater. Had everything else. Oh, yup...left in the racks.

 

[XXAMIAM]

WOW Great idea Mr Don ill have to cruse by the apt. complexes and look for a fridg.

 

[Mr. Don]

Old fridge

You might try your local appliance retailer...they get them in on trade, and are glad to get rid of them. You may want to pick up 2...I also use a second heated one to store all my waxes, finishes, glues, etc. It is a neat contolled temperature area, and I put my segment wood in overnite to stabilize temp and humidity. Not to mention protecting above said stuff from winter freezing and summer heat (my shop is wood heated, but only when I am working). Those little heaters use next to no power.

 

[dkulze]

You can actually do the same thing without the heater. Use a couple of 120 watt light bulbs shielded with a baffle to prevent a hot spot. Drop a little remote thermometer (indoor/outdoor) on it and you can track it and turn off one or more of the lights to maintain a steady temp.

Dietrich

 

[MichaelMouse]

Since wood dries by loss of water, the rate of which depends directly on the relative humidity, it might make sense to control that in particular by use of a humidistat, rather than indirectly by means of temperature. The big guys do it that way, and they've got all kinds of options available.

You may use the humidistat to control either air flow or heat production, with convective air circulation.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

mouse

i am not to sure how to rig a humidistat to either smoker grill or to refrig but if ya could diagram how one would set up this wicket i found all types of humidistat gauges on web for $40 to $50 bucks

i have tried just boiling some sassafras and that seems to work well and if it is just as good i would probably leave well enough alone

is either system superior to a degree?????????? 😕 😕

 

[dkulze]

There is a setup who's diagrams are floating around somewhere that includes a home dehumidifier. If you're gonna be really serious about it, that would be the least you'd want to do, I guess.

For myself, the fridge with a hole in the bottom and top and a couple of bulbs in the bottom baffled to heat evenly will give a sufficient convection flow of warm air to drop the drying time pretty drastically. Also, as the air warms, it effectively increases the solubility of water vapor, giving you what amounts to "dryer" air. Without the convection flow, this would top out pretty quickly and you'd have nice, warm, wet wood. With the flow, drying will continue to well below ambient humidity. Biggest concern at that point is drying to quickly and causing major checks. Keep the convection holes small and this limits that. You can even close the top one intermittantly to let the humidity rise.

Versitility and simplicity. The only down side is the amount of experimenting you'll have to do before you've got your setup down.

Dietrich

 

[Mr. Don]

Kiln

Oh well, guess it is up to you. I did what I did. If you want to go with all that technical stuff and all the extra dollars jump on it. I found a little trial and error with junk wood is O.K......plus that little ol' $12.95 thermostat is simpler than all the wiring and screwing light bulbs in and out and $$$$!!!!! Try to be a scientist or dry wood to turn.....hhhhhmmmmm....get the thing finetuned with junk wood, then do your good wood when you feel O.K. with the set-up.

 

[MichaelMouse]

i am not to sure how to rig a humidistat to either smoker grill or to refrig but if ya could diagram how one would set up this wicket i found all types of humidistat gauges on web for $40 to $50 bucks

i have tried just boiling some sassafras and that seems to work well and if it is just as good i would probably leave well enough alone

is either system superior to a degree?????????? 😕 😕

You rig the humidistat to a switch. When the humidity exceeds your desired you add help by having the switch turn on the fan(s), or if it's winter and outdoors, turn on the lights. It simply controls the relative humidity directly, rather than indirectly, because it can measure it.

As to the "best" way to dry wood, depends on your circumstances. I have a basement. Means I let the well-spun piece dry for six-twelve hours waist high, then set it down closer to the floor until it shows mildew or I think about it, then I put it on the shelf up higher. Takes a month or so to dry a bowl rough, and it's tough to remember the last one that broke open on me using this simple method.

If you like gadgets and folk remedies, there are a bunch available, that's for sure. Proof positive that it's not difficult to dry a piece of wood, only difficult to push the rate, when the bottom line is that minimizing drying damage is accomplished by controlling the rate of loss from the surface to one which can be replaced from inside the wood. If you are going to speed this process, you have to know the relative humidity and control it. What you soaked in or wrapped in or stored in is immaterial, what makes a difference is the control of that RH and therefore the rate of moisture loss.