A nice inexpensive drying kiln

[Old Griz]

I found this article from The Irish Woodturners Guild on another site and thougtht I might share it.... I wish I knew what site had it.. but it has been on my system for a couple of months and I forgot I had it... Once it opens just do a "Save As" to keep it on your hard drive...

http://www.myfavoritepen.com/kiln.pdf

 

[Fred in NC]

Thanks for posting it, Tom.

I understand some people have used food dehydrators for drying pen blanks. These sometimes can be found in flea markets, garage sales, thrift shops, etc. for very little. Anybody use them ?

 

[RussFairfield]

An old dishwasher with a 100-watt light bulb inside to keep it warm works for me.

See link for a description http://www.woodcentral.com/russ/russ8.shtml

 

[ryannmphs]

Well, I thought I hit reply but I guess I didn't.

Like Russ said an old dishwasher works great. I started with that and now I use an old refridgerator as my "kiln". I removed all the refridgerator parts (for the most part, and there was no freon it it already). I left the fan in the freezer compartment that circulates the air between the freezer and fridger part. I usually use a 60 watt bulb. But right now the thing is so full I don't want to turn on the bulb until I rough out some of the wood.

I'll try to take a picture of it later today.

Fred, I did get a food dehydrator for free and tried it out. I didn't like it. I would rather use the dishwasher or fridge for drying. If all you are doing is pen blanks, it would be faster and easier to nuke them in the microwave or use the DNA drying method. (JMHO)
Ryan

 

[alamocdc]

I haven't finished gutting it yet, but Russ' idea intrigued me so I picked up a used dishwasher for free. For those interested, there may be a FreeCycle organization in your community where you can ask for a broken one that is being discarded. That's how I got mine. www.freecycle.org

 

[BigRob777]

I think I'll combine your ideas. I have an old microwave fan, which I have been saving for such an occasion. I also have plenty of old light sockets. I just need a storage container to use for the kiln. The question that I have is this; "will it kill worms?" I don't dare dry spalted wood in a microwave, either. I am doing an experiment with spalting my own wood. I hope it works. I'll have a medium for drying it, hopefully. Anyone know how long it takes to spalt something (mostly curly and birdseye maple)? Thanks for the ideas. Someone showed me Russ's idea a while ago.

 

[penhead]

I have been using a practically brand new upright freezer I found in the Thrift store for $10 to dry my wood...but in actuallity, all you need is about 1-1/2" of styrofoam enclosing some kind of box.

All I did to the freezer, after gutting it, was cut two small (1/4") holes in the side bottom, and two (1/4") holes in the side top. No fan is needed. Works great on the old principle that warm air rises

Couple of things I have found that I would suggest. For safety reasons, I used a 'ceramic' socket for the light bulb. The bulb wattage I use varies depending somewhat on the time of year. But I try to keep the temp inside around 90degrees. I did purchase a device that measures inside temp, outside temp, and humidity, and has a sensor that sits on the inside of the kiln and the readout is on the outside so I can verify temp without opening door. Another thing to consider, which I didn't at first ;( was where all that water coming out of the wood is going to go.

I haven't been doing this very long, so if anyone has corrections or suggestions to better this process, I am wide open [][]

 

[JimGo]

Fred, I use a dehydrator, but haven't tried it with pen blanks (just did some corn cobs this weekend, though). I think my dehydrator may have difficulty with some of the thicker blanks. But, it does a really nice job of circulating warm, dry air around the blanks.

What I might do next time for the corn cob is to soak it in DNA for a few days, let that dry, then put it in the dehydrator.

 

[Randy_]

For those of you who are changing out light bulbs in your dryers to control the temperature, there is an easier way, although it does cost a few dollars. Pick up a rotary light dimmer and wire it into the light circuit. Use the bigest bulb that you have determined to be necessary and then dial down the dimmer if you need a lesser temperature.

There are all sorts of other uses for this type of devise. I've got one hooked the table lamp by my reading chair and another that I use to control the heat of the soldering iron for my stained glass work. You could use something like this to dim the lights on your Christmas tree or any of a number of other applications limited only by your imagination. Don't try to dim fluorescent lights......you need a special device for that.....and don't use it for electric motors.

You can hardwire the dimmer directly into a circuit; but I like a different approach for more flexibility. I use a "double" electrical box mounted on a small piece of 1/2" scrap wood. In one slot I install a standard 120V receptacle and in the other is the dimmer. Add about 10 feet of cord and a plug and you have very nice controlled extension cord. And if you really want to get fancy, you can wire one of the "holes" to the dimmer and one direct so you have one controlled outlet and one that is always at full voltage.

 

[Randy_]

Just a couple of comments on the project in the link provided by Tom.

I was concerned about the unprotected fan blades as depicted....bad policy as a general rule.....and especially bad if you have young kids around. Put a piece of screen or other protective cover over that opening!! Secondly, that light bulb, as pictured, appears to be awfully close to the wall of the box. Even a 60 watt bulb can get very hot.....maybe not hot enough to start a fire; but certainly hot enough to scortch. Be sure to have plenty of clearance around your bulb or use some sort of protective insulation to prevent an accident. Finally, and this may not be a big deal; but I would think that a few holes in the box on the opposite side from the fan would provide more even air flow. I do understand that the article said the doors were not "tight"....just thought uniform airflow might help the drying process???

 

[BigRob777]

<b>Randy,
I was wondering about those issues myself. How much clearance do you think would be sufficient? I have to build one soon. I have soaking wet burl, which takes too long to dry.

Also, does anyone know how to keep blanks (especially burl) from curling as they dry? I have some cherry burl that is curling up "somethin' awful". I have a friend who is waiting for it and I can't get him the product. It is very frustrating. I am completely new to wet burls.</b>

 

[Randy_]

Rob: I don't know the specific answer to your question. If there is an electrician around, I'm sure there is a spec in the NEC code. Intuitively, I would guess 6 inches, probably, a little less. You could turn on a bulb and see how close you could hold your hand for say a minute without being uncomfortable?? I've got one of those little electronic thermometers.....think I will try to make a measurement or two....won't be terribly precise due to air currents and such; but it might give us an ballpark idea???

 

[BigRob777]

Randy,
Well, you know that lamp shades are about a minimum of 4" or so from the bulb, for the small ones. They are limited to 60 Watts, usually. I like the hand idea. I have two thermometers, from HF, for the kitchen, but since I am the family chef, I can get away with using one of them. I already have it in my shop to check on temperatures out there. It gets pretty hot. I have an AC unit, but I have to keep the air circulating to keep it out of my lungs.