Questions on The Kiln Drying Process

[Rik Blaauw]

Hi, Nice thread(revival)

Not sure on what material to use on the inside. Would also be interested to find out more since I will also be building a kiln in the near future.

 

I did however stubble upon a good read on drying wood

http://uccoatings.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/USDA-Drying-Hardwood-Lumber.pdf

 

It might be a bit out dated, but is quite elaborate and deatailed on almost every aspect of drying wood.

 

atb

[miller-Ian]

im hoping celotex insulation is a a good material as i have a fair bit of it in 100mm and 50mm the only thing i can see that might be an issue is the foil on the surface making condensation

i can get the other syroflex stuff but it mean spending money

[axehaircut]

High density styrofoam is recommended because of the steaming process. The polyurethane type insulation should work fine if you're not going to steam the timber. It might "sort of, kinda work" with the steaming process but.....hmm not sure. I have seen it done before. If you have it and you don't mind taking a chance, give it a go. Tell us how you get on. As far as I can remember (check first!!) gorilla glue will work for joints.

[Forest2Furniture]

im hoping celotex insulation is a a good material as i have a fair bit of it in 100mm and 50mm the only thing i can see that might be an issue is the foil on the surface making condensation

i can get the other syroflex stuff but it mean spending money

 

I've got a client who used that stuff and then covered it all with black plastic sheeting, I think he used damp proof sheet.

 

He was drying sweet chestnut and I'd told him to leave it for a few months to air dry as like oak it has a high tannin content, the kiln worked fine for the first few firings.

 

Then he got a bit cocky and decided to mix green elm and green sweet chestnut at the same.

They had to go through the steam process twice as after the first time all the timber was covered in a white mould, eventually the Elm came out reasonably well as it was on the bottom but a little warped on the longer boards. However, all the sweet chestnut honey coned and took up the brown of the elm.

He ruined 40 cubic ft of sweet chestnut and was less then impressed when I told him he'd dried some nice firewood!