WOOD DRYING KILN

If you plan on making your own boards out of logs, you will eventually find that you need a kiln to dry the wood.

There are many ways to make a kiln. This is just one simple, inexpensive method. I bought some 2” thick Styrofoam panels. They cut nicely on the table saw. I made a couple of cuts with a hand saw, which left a very rough end. I was able to smooth it up though, with a Surform planer.

I had researched making this kiln a year before. The instructions said to use reflective Styrofoam. Unfortunately, by the time I got around to building the kiln, I had forgotten that it specified “reflective”. This is what happens when you just used plain Styrofoam.

Rather than buy all new 2” Styrofoam, I covered up all the melted areas, close to the light bulbs, with some ½” reflective sheets.

I also found that using construction adhesive, just “melted” the Styrofoam. This craft type glue worked the best for gluing the Styrofoam.

I made the end panels with a ¾” board, in order to mount the electrical box, for the keyless light fixture. After some experimenting, I found that one 200 watt bulb at either end, was perfect for maintaining 180° in my size kiln. That is the temperature that you need to hold, for 24 hours, in order to kill any bugs in the wood. If your wood has a moisture content over 30%, you need to keep the temperature down at around 120°, until you get to 30% moisture. Otherwise the excess moisture may explode the log. I found that 100 watt or 75 watt bulbs worked good for maintaining a reasonable temperature.

You want to have a little air circulation through the kiln, so that you’re not just heating a sauna. The moist air needs to have an escape. I drilled a 2” hole down low, on both sides at the one end. Then at the other end, I slid the lid open a little, allowing a natural convection of air movement through the kiln. Adjusting the opening at the top, lets you regulate the temperature inside.                                                                  The heat tends to warp the Styrofoam, in the middle, so I need to place a little weight on top to keep the lid flat.

A cooking, meat thermometer works well for monitoring the temperature.

I sized my kiln so that the panels would fit in one specific corner of my workshop, when I disassembled it.

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