Best way to dry milled planks

[Brushcutter]

Thanks lots of great info there. Left it in the big greenhouse under the shade netting with the vents open for the time being. I'll get it stacked up outside when i have a chance.

 

I've hurd solar kilns mentioned before, how do they work? Can you make one or is it more complex and costly than i imagine?

[tockmal]

1. Dead and storm blown Oak, Charlwood, W Sussex

2. Limbs milled to make bearers, levelled up with first layer of sticks in place.

3. Stack's gone up, sticks nicely aligned vertically.

4. Happy customer :wave: you can see we stacked some chunks (by his feet) on the long boards to stop them moving.

For that job we used commercial roofing batten, it's nice and regular, it's not going to rot and it's readily available and cheap.... the stack ended up with a lid of corrugated iron to keep the rain out. If you use old sheets, be a bit careful- if rainwater runs over rusty iron and onto oak it will stain the timber.

 

Excellent pics, thanks

[wills-mill]

No probs... Champion Timber do it too

 

WRC cladding, Champions price:

rebated shiplap 25 x 150 £11.63 per metre inc VAT

shiplap 16 x 100 £4.28 per metre inc VAT

Tongue/Groove/Vee'd 16 x 100 £4.29 per metre inc VAT

 

That's £75 per cube for the small and £85 per cube for the 6x1 :scared: Perhaps I should start machining!

[wills-mill]

Thanks lots of great info there. Left it in the big greenhouse under the shade netting with the vents open for the time being. I'll get it stacked up outside when i have a chance.

 

I've hurd solar kilns mentioned before, how do they work? Can you make one or is it more complex and costly than i imagine?

 

Close the vents!

 

They are as simple as you want. Go to Woodweb, there's a massive article to download with about 30 or 40 designs. They are basically an insulated, sealed shed with glazing to the South (double if you want, inflated plastic sometimes) and a black painted plate behind (the 'collector') the glazing. When the temp rises, fans switch on to circulate the hot air on the collector through the timber stack underneath, and small vents are opened or just flop open to allow a certain amount of moisture out.

 

A lot of the designs are for simple materials in the developing world, so they're not complicated.

 

I went to Tino Rawnsley's when I was down in Cornwall last year with my ex and he very kindly took time to show us round their setup which is very impressive. On a cold, grey day of about 12 degC the temperature inside was over 30 deg for free.... 70 degC is quite common in direct summer sunshine. He had installed electric elements to force a particular order over a period in winter, but it ended up costing him £500 in bills. He'd rather take the time and let the sun do the work. I think the bill for the fans and sensor gear is about £20 to £40 for a large load of timber (could be wrong, but it was very cheap)...

 

Milling this time of year is great anyway... the first few months of drying are nice and cold. If you open up a prime bit of wood in baking August weather it could get fecked before you know it!

[Quickthorn]

Some great advice on here..thanks.

 

I've got some sycamore to mill soon, probably about 1 cu m or so. It may end up as shelves and various bits of furniture. I haven't decided, so I'm not exactly sure what to cut..the plan is 2" boards. Any advice on what dimensions I ought to mill?