Mini log kiln

[The avantgardener]

This is one of the old glass houses at Hadlow College, I walked in there on a pretty dull February day, i gave me that feeling you get when you get off the plane somewhere tropical.

[andy cobb]

Has anybody had any success using a sawdust burner to heat a kiln? After all it's a by product we all have, even if you needed an electric fan to get it to burn better.

I'm sure theres a damn good reason everybody doesn't have 1, but I'm sat drinking gin working out how to waste some more money

[AHPP]

Has anybody had any success using a sawdust burner to heat a kiln? After all it's a by product we all have, even if you needed an electric fan to get it to burn better.

I'm sure theres a damn good reason everybody doesn't have 1, but I'm sat drinking gin working out how to waste some more money

On a slight tangent, I’ve often thought a briquette maker would be a handy thing to have. Yields a product with some shape and structure to it so can burn in conventional log burners (probably easier/cheaper for you to acquire and rig up for a small kiln - unless you’re planning a bigger operation, in which case maybe a dedicated sawdust burner is better for you). One of my plans for my own firewood at home is getting a briquette machine (proper one, auger type, looks like a giant sausage maker) and putting it in the back of a van or box trailer. I’d do a round of local joinery shops, have them dump their (bone dry) dust into my machine hopper and use their electricity to extrude briquettes into the van/trailer. I’d then park the van/trailer near the house door and take them straight to the log basket until the trailer’s empty. No cutting, no splitting, no storage, minimal handling. I think the machines were about two grand when I last daydreamed about it and a 3.5 tonne horsebox would do for the trailer element. They’ve even got front and back doors for loading and unloading.

[andy cobb]

8 hours ago, AHPP said:

On a slight tangent, I’ve often thought a briquette maker would be a handy thing to have. Yields a product with some shape and structure to it so can burn in conventional log burners (probably easier/cheaper for you to acquire and rig up for a small kiln - unless you’re planning a bigger operation, in which case maybe a dedicated sawdust burner is better for you). One of my plans for my own firewood at home is getting a briquette machine (proper one, auger type, looks like a giant sausage maker) and putting it in the back of a van or box trailer. I’d do a round of local joinery shops, have them dump their (bone dry) dust into my machine hopper and use their electricity to extrude briquettes into the van/trailer. I’d then park the van/trailer near the house door and take them straight to the log basket until the trailer’s empty. No cutting, no splitting, no storage, minimal handling. I think the machines were about two grand when I last daydreamed about it and a 3.5 tonne horsebox would do for the trailer element. They’ve even got front and back doors for loading and unloading.

A friend bought 1 of the cheap Chinese sausage briquettes makers a few years ago,

It was more aggro than anything, it was constantly blocking the dies up solid even though the dust was kiln dried. He sold it 6 months after he bought it.

Would a waste oil burner be suitable for a kiln? It would be a lot easier to regulate the temperature and maintain a constant temperature for 2-3 days

[openspaceman]

10 hours ago, AHPP said:

I’d do a round of local joinery shops, have them dump their (bone dry) dust

That'l be bone dry dust and silica debris from the sanders.

 

Even the Shimada screw press dies have a short life because wood is actually abrasive. They have to be built up with stellite welding frequently.

 

I wonder if a sawdust burner could be made clean enough to direct fire a rotary kiln the same way oil or gas is used in dryers, of course there will be a higher moisture content  but that would not be a problem if the fuel were essentially free.

 

Ours was down to 30 parts per million CO and no visible smoke.

[ash_smith123]

A friend bought 1 of the cheap Chinese sausage briquettes makers a few years ago,
It was more aggro than anything, it was constantly blocking the dies up solid even though the dust was kiln dried. He sold it 6 months after he bought it.
Would a waste oil burner be suitable for a kiln? It would be a lot easier to regulate the temperature and maintain a constant temperature for 2-3 days

We had this idea a few years ago to run our kilns overnight. We bought an old oil boiler but it never really got going properly and then they bought new rules out for waste oil burners (licences ect ect) so we didn't bother going further with it. If you can get free oil (hard these days as garages have to get rid of it "responsibily") and a cheap oil boiler it might be worth a try!

We also had a cheap sawdust burner when we started 8 or so years ago. I think the company are still on eBay now, but the thing was amazing. You could start a fire, 10 minutes later fill it with wet sawdust and it would burn for ages giving incredible heat!

[Steven P]

My only thought about sawdust is that for a given voluum, there isn't so much actual wood n there - a lot of air - so what might look like a big pile of wood isn't that much. OK I don't have a sawduxt burner but when I burn sawdust on the wod burner I have to pretty jush sit by the burner feeding it constantly - dry sawduxt burns that quick.

[AHPP]

That'l be bone dry dust and silica debris from the sanders.
 
Even the Shimada screw press dies have a short life because wood is actually abrasive. They have to be built up with stellite welding frequently.
 
I wonder if a sawdust burner could be made clean enough to direct fire a rotary kiln the same way oil or gas is used in dryers, of course there will be a higher moisture content  but that would not be a problem if the fuel were essentially free.
 
Ours was down to 30 parts per million CO and no visible smoke.

Is the silica dust a problem when in with burning stuff?

And can you write more about your career please. It sounds from your posts I’ve seen over the years that you’ve done loads of interesting stuff.

[openspaceman]

1 minute ago, AHPP said:

Is the silica dust a problem when in with burning stuff?

Not a problem burning but it wears out the dies.

 

I have written about my working life in a thread somewhere here, the conspicuous feature of all my ventures is my complete lack of business acumen.