Home made wood kiln

Tom Barb

Tom Barb

Active member
So I've been doing some research online and had some free time this week so I decided to throw together this wood kiln to kiln dry cedar for carving decoys. The cedar I have been getting has been soaking wet and I don't want to wait the one year per inch rule so I decided to give it a whirl. So far this has cost me $0. I put it all together with wood I had laying around the shop. I am now at the point where I need to spend a few bucks to finish it.

The base is made from 2x8's with 2x4 stringers. I them used 3/4 inch plywood to build the box. It will then be lined with 2 inch rigid insulation (which I ran out of). I am going to heat it with 2 (possibly 3 if needed) heat lamp bulbs. I also made some adjustable vents out of plywood. I saw a video online of a guy with the same setup getting it up to 150 degrees.

Here are some pics and I'll be sure to post how it works when I finish it and fire it up. Also, any advice is appreciated.










 
Purty Neat - I bet that thing would hatch a few duck eggs! Cool Project - I look forward to the results. Thanks for sharing
 
Tom, Looks nice.

Make sure you keep the boards as long as possible and try to find your self a Kiln Schedule for cedar. I had a similar setup at one time and it will check the heck out of the boards if you dry it too fast.

Definatley anchorseal the ends.


The vent at the top of the box will give you your best heat control.

3/4"-1" stickers are good for cedar.

I have some other tips I'll pass on next time we catch up.
 
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Thanks guys. I will try and finish it tomorrow or Saturday sometime and start playing with the temperature control before I put any wood in there.

There will be no floor as to let the heat lamps be more effective.

Jode I looked up a schedule but it's a bit confusing. We'll talk more this weekend. Hope you don't mind having your brain picked lol.
 
I like the looks of it Tom! I made one a few moons ago out of an old fridge for drying turning squares. I cut vents between the fridge and freezer and filled up both compartments with 2x2x12 blocks of Bodarc. I used the old fan in the freezer turned around in it's housing to draw air from a vent in the door across the wood and out the top. A heat lamp like yours provided adequate heat. The summer humidity hear in Bama slowed the process but I still was able to go from milled blocks to duck call in about nine months. I sealed the ends and had very little checking in a wood known to check as it dries. Good luck with the project.
 
That will work well. I have something similar that we use to make longbows and recurve bows. Essentially a plywood box lined with hard styrofoam board. I used the foam with the silver metallic lining. I think I use 3 200W bulbs. The wiring on mine is really simple. But I have a thermostat switch inline. The thermostat keeps the temperature around 185 degrees from what I recall. If you had an ideal temperature in mind, perhaps you could do the same. The switch will turn the bulbs on and off as needed to maintain the appropriate temp during drying.

Chad
 
Chad that sounds like it might be the ticket with the thermostat. I will look into that when I start wiring.
 
Ok so I got it all wired up and have been toying around with different bulbs and vents and such. This past week it has been cold here and I was able to reach 140 degrees with 2 250 watt bulbs. I reached 100 degrees with 2 125 watt bulbs. Today it was in the 50s and I was able to reach 150 degrees with the 250s and hold 110 with the 125s.

I want to get some sort of temperature controller to be able to set it and forget it no matter what temperature it is outside. Does anyone have any ideas that don't require a rocket scientist to wire?

Here are some updated pics










 
Ok fellas I have the final verdict on the kiln. After playing with different bulbs and vent settings, I went with the 2 250W bulbs. I put a cheap fan in there at the top to get some air movement. It held right at 110-120 degrees. I would turn it on every morning and off every night so it could cool down. I had a test batch of cedar in there for about 3-4 weeks. Most of the wood was around 20% moisture content and it got it down to about 7-11%.

Id say this is a cheap and successful way to dry out your decoy wood without having to build a big solar kiln. (Although that is in the plans for one of next years projects lol don't tell my wife) This will do for now.

Here's an updated pic.


 
glad that worked well for you. Learning what I needed to do last year to regulate my kiln was the hardest part of the first batch. Now it is on cruise control when I fire it up. Just turned it on the other day since our temps are above freezing at night. Has been hovering around 100 degrees on 200 plus feet of bass.
 
I would try it with only a vey small hole to let moisture escape and cover the floor as well. It seems you would want the air inside to be very close to 100% humidity and to have the wood on release its moisture relatively slowly and in a controlled way. That is what I think is the difference between a hot box and kiln.
 
I recently made an electric smoker that uses a hotplate as a heat source and used a temperature control for an electric griddle that I found at goodwill for $2. I don't have any pictures yet but I have played with it a couple times and holds the temperature very well at lower temps. It did take a bit of tinkering as I had to wire in the "outlet" cord to it. but can be easily done if you have rudimentary soldering skills. I can hold 100 deg +- 5 deg with it. I will get some pictures when I can. I am planning on using it as a fermentation chamber as well as a smoker for sausage, but who knows maybe it can triple as a kiln for small blocks.
 
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