# Super Kiln gets Super carriage



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

My "super" kiln was getting a little old to load and unload by hand....so I built a "super" carriage....LOL...but as any job it always gets bigger. I needed 9' wide doorway....so bigger opening....AND since in the future I plan on moving next to my new shop I've envisioned, I went ahead and opened 9' wide opening on opposite end to out load directly inside in the future. Then I re-closed to put all my D/H and my heating source in (mechanical room). I had to get creative...so I arched the top where I could have ample headroom over for the new entry door and a better air return system.

I'm delivering the air a little differ than usual...since the carriage is a wagon running gear and the lumber sits higher than usual, I'm forcing the air under the center on floor below the slabs and letting the heated/dry air force up and out through the stacks. since it's mostly flitches in there order as log the air will flow better than normal flat stacks.

I can hold approx up to 4,000 bd ft if I figured correctly. The exterior rails are movable for quick set-up and break-down. I've got several pics now and will have more when finished.

Enjoy and have a Blessed and Prosperous day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

More pics.


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## Tom the Sawyer (Sep 4, 2012)

Tim,

That's a nice looking kiln and modular construction is thinking ahead so you can move it. I'll probably build a kiln later this year so I'm looking at different ideas, I've got a couple of questions. :thumbsup:

Is this a DH kiln? You mentioned forcing the air up under the slabs, is there ductwork built into the floor? It seems like most kilns direct the air flow across the faces of the boards/slabs (from side to side), will vertical movement of the air onto the bottom face of the stack give you even drying? 

Will you be using a single carriage? The way my kiln would be positioned I had considered using a carriage to load and having a spare so I could pre-dry on one carriage while the other was in the kiln and then move it in when the other was done to save cycle time. How wide and long will your stack be to get 4000 bf? That'll be almost 20,000 lbs when green (walnut).

Great job on your build, looking forward to updates. :thumbsup:


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## amalina (Apr 1, 2013)

Great job Tim. Makes me want o go ahead and improve my kiln.


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## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

Nice setup Tim.

Down in N.C I ended up with what looks like a similar shed that is aluminum with sandwiched insulation inside the panels.. About 1" to 1 1/4" thick. Assembled with phillips screws. Double metal insulating doors. It's wired for power and lighting. I have never seen that kind of shed construction before.
No back doors on mine, but the front is nearly identical. It's 10'X16'.
If I move in the near future, I'll have to find a way to move it with me. Legally it's too wide for the roads, so I'll have to check out what to do.

I was thinking it would make a good combo of a kiln and when I'm not drying wood i could use it as a workspace.


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Da Aard,
Your building sounds llike mine, it's built with metal door window cut-outs. They take a special bit and cut the foam back at a 45 deg angle and mull the panels together with the lowprofile phillips head screws...really simple but extremely easy to heat, Mines 12x20. Yeah they can move up to 12 wide without special permits here. Mine was made somewhere near your place but in Kentucky. 

Tom, I'll try to get them all answered. Yes it's a DH actually it's a DAREN kiln plan.....SUPERSIZED ...LOL. Air flow: because the wagon frame sets about 24" to the bottom of wood above floor and the clearance under the frame work is about 14"x 70" x 20'. My theory is to hang a "skirt" down each side of carriage at floor creating a Plenum ???(HVAC term). No duct work as you were asking. I'll use a hvac squirrel cage fan to force air into the "carriage plenum" which will force air up through lumber, there will be a cap/top across the top of lumber to force air back out the sides . 
Size: the carriage deck is 8'w x 18'l and I can stack up to 48" high and go under door header. Punched all the #'s again removed for air gaps and came up with a calculation of 3,584 bd ft. with the shape of flitches in 8/4 lumber.
wieght: I don't do hot green (fresh off saw) but try to get a yr to each 1" bd thickness of AD ing for the most stability....I'm not after the "white" maple but the spalt, nothing wrong with that type...it's just not my style.
Double carriage: I've seen one like your talking about except they used the dried carriage rolled into a process room and the other entered kiln, then the processed carriage was reloaded later just in time to enter kiln again as the process rotated continueosly. 

Thanks for asking and the comments.
Have a Blessed day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


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## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

Yeah these sheds are very well built. I'm quite impressed with the construction of them. Mine has a window and a workbench.
I move down to N.C. on the 13th of this month for good.
Then I can sift through what was left in it and set things up. The previous owner left a lot of tools.


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Loaded kiln today/night approx 2400 bd ft....yeeep finished at 9 pm. didn't get started until after 5....We got storms coming in and rain forcasted all weekend with possible flooding so I got it loaded and temporarily started the D/H and fan because I didn't want damp wood setting in kiln with nothing running.. I gotta finish some plumbing, electrical and HVAC ductwork connecting fan to the hydronics coil, and sealing around doors.

I loaded a log corncrib into it, I'll finish bringing MC done and bug kill it all. I salvaged a few of the split log floor that was in it and 75% of the wall logs. Haven't decided if I'll sale the parts or build rustic furniture with it...I do have 1 bench commissioned from the split log floor.

Here's some pics.....Almost forgot one ...looks like a picture window with that beautiful green......JOHN DEERE!!! LOL (oops my bad, I didn't realize I'd already Posted)

Enjoy and have a Blessed day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


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## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

Those logs look like a lotta dry time will be required.


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Definitely the thicker the longer....they average 5.5" thick and had gotten rained on in the stack so it was holding extra moisture. I started out at about 14-16% or less...my gauge showed 68% RH when started and is down to 59% RH on the air surface in 18 hours. Actually I sealed all the doors and repositioned the DH for better efficiency and watched a 4 % drop in 6 hrs. with a 5 degree increase in temp. Once I'm down to the air MC I want I'll start watching kiln for several wks at the water output, once it stabilizes out to nearly zero output for a week, I'll debug at 135 degree heat for a few days for the extra thickness penetration.

Here's the blue tape....all sealed up.

Have a Blessed and Prosperous day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Update on kiln operations. I use a wireless home weather station to monitor the interior of the kiln while in drying phase. It records every 3 hrs and stores it for 2(?) weeks before overwriting. These logs had gotten heavily rained on prior to going to kiln. These 3 pics show the starting day/night on the 3rd temp at 64 deg. and RH @ 66%, 
by the 7th the temp had risen to 86.6 deg and RH down to 49% and
by the 9th morning reading temp 95.2 deg and dropped to 44% RH,
by that evening temp reached 101 deg and 42% RH,
This evening temp (cooler days) 99 deg. and 39% RH.

At this time the only heat is the D/H and squirrel cage fan motor heating the kiln. It's been pulling around a gallon every 3 hrs, I had no idea there could be ALL this water in the logs.

Enjoy and have a Blessed and Prosperous evening in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


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## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

Yeah, that is surprising about the water coming out by the gallons. 
I've never dried wood in a method where the water content could be measured. My normal setup is too simplistic for that and just drives dry space heater heat in a tarp and it all escapes out the other end. It works for me, but isn't considered highly professional.
I have a weather station setup I've never used, fresh in a box, and am leaving it behind with this move. It's PC based and not compatible w/ Apple. Tim, if you want me to save it for you, I'll pack it up for you. Just e-mail me quick because we leave tomorrow morning @ 3am.
I'll also shoot you an e-mail about this.

God Bless(es)


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## amalina (Apr 1, 2013)

*Weather Station*

Nice work Tim. Could you share the name brand and model of the weather station. I have one that shows temp. Would like to upgrade. Thanks!


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Amalina...your ask me the hard part...a name...LOL. I'll try to get a pic of the name. I purchased from Lowes or Home Depot....at that time they both had the same ones and at that time it cost around $125.00 for the unit which records also wind and ???else. I just use the humidity (registers in RH, I just convert by a scale I found on the net RH vs MC "Dr. Gene") and the temp. I set the remote monitor head in the kiln ( it's best farthest from heat and D/H units to get a more accurate readings) ( I prefer in the returning air area if possible, but in this case (due to building hieght) I chose the furthest floor area (20 ft) to record the minimum floor temp for the 130+ bug killing needed. In time I'll double monitor one high and one low.

Aard....it's easy....I set a gallon (now 4 gallon) bucket/pail under the DH drain and monitor and pour out. When it gets close....like a qrt or less in 24 hrs for a week at the RH I chose for these logs I'll know they're close. The logs were stacked on wagon and a drenching rain....LOTS of water actually way more than I expected.

Thanks and have a Blessed day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


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## amalina (Apr 1, 2013)

*Wind speed*

Thanks Tim. Measuring wind spend may help in calculating air flow.

I appreciate it. Hope you have a blessed week!


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## amalina (Apr 1, 2013)

*Wind speed*

Thanks Tim. I looked at Home Depot. Found one that will record up to 3 remotes. I am thinking I can then monitor the humidity, temp and air flow at three levels in the kiln. Here it is. 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Meade-Pr...h-328-ft-Sensor-TE827W/203638659#.UZEV7MzD-70


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