# My Kiln



## BlackWater (Nov 20, 2009)

I had to clear about 350 tress to build our home here at BW last fall...... 









Most of it is now firewood, but I was able to save some Black Cherry and Walnut logs. I took them to the sawmill in September and got back a little over 300 bf (for $85 - not bad!). I asked the sawyer where to find a kiln around here, and he said there are just none left! He did give me some ideas, though, and after a little research, I came up with this:
















It's basically 2x4 stud walls covered in heavy duty visqueen. It's about 10' x 4' x 6'3" inside, built in my basement workshop. The whole front wall is force fit so I can move it completely out of the way for loading/unloading, or just slide it aside enough to get in and check the lumber once a week or so. 
I picked up a recon'd 45 pint dehumidifier on Ebay for $115, and have a small desktop oscillating fan on the floor to circulate air. It stays pretty warm in there - I'd say about 90º or more - from the heat of the DH and fan motors. 
The total cost of this contraption was less than $200.
When I got my lumber back from the sawmill, it measured about 19% mc. When I stacked it in the new kiln about a month later the mc was about 16-17% on average - my basement is nice and dry!
I stacked all my 4/4 on the bottom, with 3/4 stickers about 16" apart. Then I took my 8/4 beams and laid them all on edge on top to weigh down the stack - those cherry and walnut beams are pretty hefty! I'm hoping they'll help me get a nice flat yield.
My lumber's been cooking for about 3 weeks now, and I checked it again today. A few of my 8/4 beams are registering 10-11%, and the boards closer to the bottom are showing closer to 13%. When I get an average of 10% I plan to use my wife's 30 year old steam vaporizer for a couple days to try to equalize the moisture content between the outside of the boards and the inside. Then I will run the DH for another day or so. Hopefully this will help prevent cupping, twisting, and warping when I finally get them planed and ready to work with.

OK, all you experts! I'd love to hear your comments, criticisms, suggestions. What am I doing wrong, how would you do it better? All input would be appreciated - I'm old, but never too old to learn! 

BW


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## clarionflyer (Apr 27, 2008)

Jealous!!!
We'll get to the house later :laughing:.


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