drying wood

[fireflex8263]

I am new to drying my own wood. What would be the best route to drying it. I don't have access to a kiln and would be drying it in my garage. Thanks

 

[low_48]

Right now I use the microwave for something special that I didn't dry last winter. Won't be long before my favorite drying time starts. I cover the top of my furnace trunk line with wet wood. Everytime the furnace comes on, then get a gentle soak of warmth. Furnace shuts off, they cool off. Works really great!!!!!!! You can get a years worth of pen stock really quickly here in IL in January. It's not a bad idea to just put them up in the attic right now. Make sure to space them so they can get air all around them. Kinda depends where you live, but it may be too hot to put them in right from the tree. Let them dry out for at least 2 weeks if you live in a hot climate. Drying too quickly will cause internal checking.

Rich

 

[Gary]

Here's what works well for me...my wife says "No way!" to the microwave.

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<br /> 71.92&nbsp;KBo way!" to the microwave.

 

[woodwish]

Here in Florida the furnance option doesn't really work very well, and drying naturally takes forever in 80-90% humidity. I recently have been drying some in a small microwave (Walmart, brand new for about $50) usign the defrost settings. It really helps if you cut them to pen blank size before drying. Search some of the other threads for exact details but the secret is to use defrost only and never longer than it takes to just get it warm to the touch. Let is cool completely before zapping again. As it gets dryer it will not get as hot to the touch so don't over do it. I have dried several different types of wood in less than a week (maybe 12-15 cycles). It works for me but any place that is dryer and warmer than normal will accelerate drying. I have considered just putting some up in my attic for a few weeks for initial drying time. I have cut up tons of wood (lterally) in the 10 days from Hurricane Ivan so I do need to find a better way of dryibg in bulk than my microwave.

Ray

 

[Mac In Oak Ridge]

Y'all be careful putting raw wood in your attics. Make sure that there are no bug holes in the wood and check twice. You get a powder post beetle infestation in your attic wood and you'll be replacing the whole roof before it's over.

 

[Efletche]

What about using a food dehydrator? I have a few of the 'Ronco' food dehydrators that run on convection air. Because I keep them running continuously for my beef jerky, I know they don't get too hot. Do you think they would work? I'd like to try some of the Loquat wood I picked up from the last hurricane, just to see what happens, but I don't want to stink up the house.

 

[tipusnr]

Gary,

What am I looking at and how much does it cost...budget based woodturner you understand.

 

[C_Ludwigsen]

Russ Fairfield has an article over at WoodCentral under "Russ' Corner" where he rescued an old dishwater and added some lights for heat. My friend Ryan, a new member here, has duplicated it. I seem to be always be in my wife's car instead of my truck when I see one put out to the trash! And it is gone by the time I get back.

Besides, it isn't TOO strange here in Tennessee to see a broken down kitchen appliance sitting in the yard next to the barn.

 

[Gary]

Tip, it's a food dehydrator. It has multiple plastic trays, a heating element, controller and fan. There are many brands available. Mine came from Northern Tool. They have a five-tray model for $159. The nine tray is $199. Here's the link if you are interested:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&langId=-1&catalogId=4006970&PHOTOS=on&productId=338395&categoryId=763491

 

[tipusnr]

Thanks for the information gentlemen. I did look at Gary's recommended website as well as printed Russ' article. More for the wish list. It's almost as long as the Honey do list now!!

 

[Ozzie]

Some years back I made a food dryer for drying apple, pear and other fruit slices. I don't remember where I got the plans for it so I will try to give you what I can recall about it. I believe it would also work for drying blanks.

It was basically a cube shape about 18". The top, (roof), had a two by sixteen inch opening in it to let the moisture and excess heat out. The front of it consisted of a base plate tall enough to block the heating element, (more on that later), and the door. There was also a 1/2" gap between the bottom of the door and the base plate to allow air to enter the drying chamber. The shelves were just like screen frames with aluminum screen material to let the heat come up thru the different layers of shelves. Dimensions of the shelves were to fit the inside of cube with clearance for ease of removal. Shelf guides/rests were simple strips mounted to side of cube.

The heating element consisted of four simple porcelain light fixtures of the type commonly used in basements, and used 60 Watt bulbs. As a note, I only used two at a time and it seemed to work great for drying fruit. The fixtures were wired in parallel, Hot/black wire to Hot/black wire, etc. so that if one bulb burned out the others would stay on. I left mine on for days at a time without problems.

Hope this is of help to you.