Nathan, drive a piece of steel or PVC pipe into the ground so that your bottom door latches slide into the pipe. It will hold the doors open without having to kick a block away. Works great on my shed.
When I was a security guard at Memphis Hardwood in 76/77, I marveled how much math they had to use, to dry each kiln load. They would load the stacks via a rail system and rail dollies into the kiln which were somewhere between 75 to 100 feet long. The person in charge of drying the wood, had to cut samples from each stack as they pushed it into the kiln. After all the stacks were pushed in, they would close the doors and he had all the samples, he would bring them to the office, weigh each sample, mark it with the weight. After all the samples were weighed and marked he put them in the small kiln in the back room of the office. After 24 hours he would weight all the samples marking them with the new weight and find how much weight in moisture was loss. He would calculate the average moisture of the kiln filled lumber, and have to calculate the drying table He was doing all his calculating one day when I got to work. He explained to me how the moisture content of a load, dictated how slow they have to bring the kiln up to temperature, how long they have to be in the kiln at full heat, and how long to lower the temperature. He said they had a kiln which had a failure in the controls and caused the whole load to not be usable, because it caused the grains to open up like honeycomb. During the winter it was so neat watching all the steam coming out of all the kilns.
Yes when you have the capability to get that hot that quick, the moisture leaving the wood too fast will make it pop and splinter when they hit it with a saw. The moisture has to be removed nice and slowly so the wood retains its integrity
@@OutoftheWoods0623 It was a big operation, now it is a vacant lot. The old Bruce hardwood plant was across the street and was on over six times the land. The plant was being torn down while I was working at Memphis Hardwood, until they left a fire going when they went home and caught the whole plant on fire burning it to the ground. They had been disassembling it to reclaim all the huge beams, what a loss.
As someone who spent the summer jury rigging a small, "temporary" solar kiln in their driveway (temporary as in minimizing solid connections so it can be taken apart easily when the neighbours inevitably complain) I totally feel the pain of trying to keep the airflow moving as it should with less-than-ideal conditions. And from the looks of things, I might need much more airflow to keep things progressing as they should!
Thanks for the insight into kiln drying lumber… it’s way more complicated than I thought. I’d always figured it was “close it up, heat it up, and you’re done.” I see now it’s more about surrounding the lumber with dry air and moving the dry air around/through the stacked wood. Heat seems to be more a factor in sterilizing, and controlling the “drying rate” must be critical to creating stable lumber… not a hurry up process! I’d love it if you could give a quick rundown on the “easiest” and “most difficult” drying challenges (if such a thing makes sense).
When I worked at both the block plant (think concrete building block) and the lumber treating plant (the boards with those little marks on them) the kilns were steam. Yeah, I know that seems counterintuitive, but that's the way it's done. They also got a lot hotter than 120F. But those aren't "fine wood" either. For log home logs I've seen them both float them in ponds and run sprinklers on them. There, they want to season the pieces without having them check, crack. There was a lathe at the plant about 40 feet long. Impressive! Every time I see that unit sitting on the floor I think of the waisted space. You'd think it would mount outside and be ducted. But I aint no engineer.
Nice kiln 👍🏽. But some thoughts that I got: - "Standard" crate/crates that you can move with the tractor, bolted stoppers on the floor? - Is it some kind of a heat pump, or is it "direct" power that heats the kiln? - You could make a curtain of tarp cut to 10-15" wide "flaps". On the sides (three to five feet) all the way to the floor and in the middle half the way down. It could make quite a good "seal"...
Pretty nice set up. only 2 weeks to dry is really good. I know if you want to spend twice the amount of money you can cut the time in half with like a iDry vacuum kiln, but man this thing is pretty impressive for the price. I didnt think it would work nearly that quickly.
Hi Nathan, very interesting look at your kiln. Perhaps you might consider mounting your wet bulb sensor on a fold back bracket so it’s out of harms way when your loading up. Then just pull it out when your closing up. As a person who has destroyed a number of probes that stuck out in laboratories I worked at I know how annoying it can be. All the best from Australia
Is the objective to create a large temperature difference between the wet bulb, and the dry bulb? Essentially reducing the dew point (air moisture content)in the kiln. The moisture in the wood, then transfers to the dryer air.
You got it. Since air can hold more water vapor the hotter it gets, you can tell the relative humidity by looking at the difference between the two bulbs. The dryer the air, the more quickly water will evaporate from the bulb (and the wood), and evaporation lowers the temperature of the surface it's leaving (why a breeze feels colder on wet skin than on dry skin). The lower the relative humidity, the more quickly water evaporates, and the lower the temperature of the wet bulb reads. When the temp of the wet bulb comes close to the dry bulb, you know humidity is high, so you can open vents/turn on the compressor to remove moisture from the air and the kiln.
@@OutoftheWoods0623 I’ve noticed a couple questioning the model 70. But it would most certainly be my choice as well. Sawing as many logs as you do the 70 is the obvious choice!
Had a good laugh at your expense over your pronunciation of styrofoam (sounded like stairfoam to me vs. St - long i - ro foam) and polystyrene (poli st - long i - r - long e - n - silent e)
I know squat about drying wood so take my thoughts here for what they're worth but, could you use some kind of plastic or cloth to hang around the stack to close off the open areas instead of trying to fit different size pieces of Styrofoam? You'd have to weigh the ends down so they would stay tight to the floor and not flap around. I think I saw metal poles on the side of the kiln so maybe you could use magnets to hold them to the sides of the kiln. Just think'n out loud. 😉
How far from dwellings are you sited (given that sound carries outdoors in quiet country spaces) and do the fans run during the night or can you set it for silent mode out of hours ?
Hello from Chicago! Once the wood is dried and out of the kiln, does it gain moisture by being in a normal environment for a bit? Let's say it takes you awhile to get to use the wood or sell it?
HELLO NATHAN ITS IS RANDY AND I LIKE U VIDEO IS COOL THANKS NATHAN FRIENDS RANDY AND I LIKE KILN DRYING LUMBER AT LT'S BEST , NYLE L2OO PRO TOUR IS COOL NATHAN THANKS FRIENDS RANDY
Get your OTW shirts/stickers/gear here farmfocused.com/otw/
I bet that kiln wasn’t cheap
ANYONE WHO IS LOOKING FOR A NYLE 1200S KILN SYSTEM I HAVE 2 SYSTEMS COMPLETE WITH DUCT WORK LET ME KNOW IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED. THANKS
Looking for 15k each or best offer
Nothing like being able to dry your own stuff.
I know you're liking that dryer.
Take care
Thanks 👍
I used tarps to block the bypass air. They are much easier to mold to the un even ends of your piles.
Nathan, drive a piece of steel or PVC pipe into the ground so that your bottom door latches slide into the pipe. It will hold the doors open without having to kick a block away. Works great on my shed.
👍
When I was a security guard at Memphis Hardwood in 76/77, I marveled how much math they had to use, to dry each kiln load. They would load the stacks via a rail system and rail dollies into the kiln which were somewhere between 75 to 100 feet long. The person in charge of drying the wood, had to cut samples from each stack as they pushed it into the kiln. After all the stacks were pushed in, they would close the doors and he had all the samples, he would bring them to the office, weigh each sample, mark it with the weight. After all the samples were weighed and marked he put them in the small kiln in the back room of the office. After 24 hours he would weight all the samples marking them with the new weight and find how much weight in moisture was loss. He would calculate the average moisture of the kiln filled lumber, and have to calculate the drying table He was doing all his calculating one day when I got to work. He explained to me how the moisture content of a load, dictated how slow they have to bring the kiln up to temperature, how long they have to be in the kiln at full heat, and how long to lower the temperature. He said they had a kiln which had a failure in the controls and caused the whole load to not be usable, because it caused the grains to open up like honeycomb. During the winter it was so neat watching all the steam coming out of all the kilns.
Nice sounds like a big operation
Nice sounds like a big operation
Yes when you have the capability to get that hot that quick, the moisture leaving the wood too fast will make it pop and splinter when they hit it with a saw. The moisture has to be removed nice and slowly so the wood retains its integrity
@@OutoftheWoods0623 It was a big operation, now it is a vacant lot. The old Bruce hardwood plant was across the street and was on over six times the land. The plant was being torn down while I was working at Memphis Hardwood, until they left a fire going when they went home and caught the whole plant on fire burning it to the ground. They had been disassembling it to reclaim all the huge beams, what a loss.
As someone who spent the summer jury rigging a small, "temporary" solar kiln in their driveway (temporary as in minimizing solid connections so it can be taken apart easily when the neighbours inevitably complain) I totally feel the pain of trying to keep the airflow moving as it should with less-than-ideal conditions. And from the looks of things, I might need much more airflow to keep things progressing as they should!
Thanks for the info. Never knew it was so much to drying wood. Now I know better.
Any time!
Thanks for taking the time to explain how that magnificent machine works
Thanks buddy
Nice to see it in action
Thanks for watching
Thanks for the insight into kiln drying lumber… it’s way more complicated than I thought.
I’d always figured it was “close it up, heat it up, and you’re done.” I see now it’s more about surrounding the lumber with dry air and moving the dry air around/through the stacked wood. Heat seems to be more a factor in sterilizing, and controlling the “drying rate” must be critical to creating stable lumber… not a hurry up process!
I’d love it if you could give a quick rundown on the “easiest” and “most difficult” drying challenges (if such a thing makes sense).
When I worked at both the block plant (think concrete building block) and the lumber treating plant (the boards
with those little marks on them) the kilns were steam. Yeah, I know that seems counterintuitive, but that's the
way it's done. They also got a lot hotter than 120F. But those aren't "fine wood" either.
For log home logs I've seen them both float them in ponds and run sprinklers on them. There, they want to
season the pieces without having them check, crack. There was a lathe at the plant about 40 feet long.
Impressive!
Every time I see that unit sitting on the floor I think of the waisted space. You'd think it would mount outside
and be ducted. But I aint no engineer.
nice clean operation
I always enjoy the part where you show how much water is in the bucket!
Next time
Wow, That's a nice Kiln... Love the controls with explanation etc...
Thanks 👍
Nice kiln 👍🏽. But some thoughts that I got:
- "Standard" crate/crates that you can move with the tractor, bolted stoppers on the floor?
- Is it some kind of a heat pump, or is it "direct" power that heats the kiln?
- You could make a curtain of tarp cut to 10-15" wide "flaps". On the sides (three to five feet) all the way to the floor and in the middle half the way down. It could make quite a good "seal"...
Pretty nice set up. only 2 weeks to dry is really good. I know if you want to spend twice the amount of money you can cut the time in half with like a iDry vacuum kiln, but man this thing is pretty impressive for the price. I didnt think it would work nearly that quickly.
I remember when you built that kiln. Somehow I thought it was much larger. Looks like it's doing everything you expected it to do.
That is a very nice system. Looks great! Thanks for showing us that. Love it.
Thanks buddy
Hi Nathan, very interesting look at your kiln. Perhaps you might consider mounting your wet bulb sensor on a fold back bracket so it’s out of harms way when your loading up. Then just pull it out when your closing up. As a person who has destroyed a number of probes that stuck out in laboratories I worked at I know how annoying it can be. All the best from Australia
Yes
I was thinking that sensor looks like an accident waiting to happen!
If that screen doesn't have weather protection of some sort, get it some. Seems like an expensive part to lose to the elements. Love the videos!
Thanks for the tour Nathan. I enjoyed this video.
Glad you enjoyed it
Nice addition.
Thanks!
Thanks for the explanation of how it works
Thanks for watching
That's an awesome unit
Thanks buddy
Thanks Nathan😄❗👍👀
ty
Great explanation of the kiln operation. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching
some poly or a tarp might be a lot easier way to seal up your pile
Love the new kiln there Nathan. A new kiln is not in the budget for me, had to build my own.
I sure do have lots to learn on them....
Thanks appreciate you watching
Is the objective to create a large temperature difference between the wet bulb, and the dry bulb? Essentially reducing the dew point (air moisture content)in the kiln. The moisture in the wood, then transfers to the dryer air.
You got it. Since air can hold more water vapor the hotter it gets, you can tell the relative humidity by looking at the difference between the two bulbs. The dryer the air, the more quickly water will evaporate from the bulb (and the wood), and evaporation lowers the temperature of the surface it's leaving (why a breeze feels colder on wet skin than on dry skin). The lower the relative humidity, the more quickly water evaporates, and the lower the temperature of the wet bulb reads. When the temp of the wet bulb comes close to the dry bulb, you know humidity is high, so you can open vents/turn on the compressor to remove moisture from the air and the kiln.
Explained well Nathan hi Bruno how is school have a day love from TEXAS
Thanks. Doing well
Excellent video. Thank you for showing us all aspects of your business. Very informative!
Thanks for watching
Love this! Always a great job Nathan!
thanks for watching
@@OutoftheWoods0623 I’ve noticed a couple questioning the model 70. But it would most certainly be my choice as well. Sawing as many logs as you do the 70 is the obvious choice!
Sweet machine, Nathan! All the very best with it! Thank you for the video!
Thanks 👍👍
@@OutoftheWoods0623 You're welcome times TWO, sir! 😁
Had a good laugh at your expense over your pronunciation of styrofoam (sounded like stairfoam to me vs. St - long i - ro foam) and polystyrene (poli st - long i - r - long e - n - silent e)
😂😂😂👍
I like thinking of them as [pig]STY-row-foam and Paulie-st-Irene
Well done Nathan! Thanks for the tour Brother!
Thanks for watching
I know squat about drying wood so take my thoughts here for what they're worth but, could you use some kind of plastic or cloth to hang around the stack to close off the open areas instead of trying to fit different size pieces of Styrofoam? You'd have to weigh the ends down so they would stay tight to the floor and not flap around. I think I saw metal poles on the side of the kiln so maybe you could use magnets to hold them to the sides of the kiln. Just think'n out loud. 😉
that's a good question, I will ask Nyle about that one, thanks for the comment
Thanks for the explanation.
You bet!
That’s a cool tool to add to your services for having prepared woods to work with Nathan. Thanks for sharing with us. Fred. 🙏🏻🙏🏻👍🏻👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻✋🏻✋🏻
Pretty informative video on the kiln ole bud.
Thanks buddy
Hope for the best, plan for the worst. I didn't see a place to put a good lock on the kiln's doors.
don't really need one, im here all the time, I dread public outings,
How far from dwellings are you sited (given that sound carries outdoors in quiet country spaces) and do the fans run during the night or can you set it for silent mode out of hours ?
No silent mode. Not sure on distance. No issues. Isn’t too loud when the doors are closed.
Man what I'd give to have a kiln near me...nearest one is 2 hrs away....not even pallet makers here have them
Thanks for the tour!
Thanks buddy
Thanks, very informative!
yes sir, your turn next buddy,
So you dry lumber at 110 farenhite? Correct me if I'm wrong , will that sanatize the lumber from bugs and mold? Thanks
How long did it take you you to learn to operate your own sawmill?
Hey Nathan when are you going to tear down that old barn can’t wait to see that
Soon!!!
Very nice 👍
Wow!! I didn't realize you had so many fans, Nathan. 😂
So that water coming out of the condenser is essentially distilled and thus perfect for batteries, ironing etc?
Good ?? Not sure
Should have no dissolved matter in it, no kettle stone in steamirons or radiators and no problem to top up old style batteries.
Make it easy on yourself and call it "foam board". Great Channel!!!
Great suggestion!
Polly-sty-reen mate !
Where do you get your stair foam. Lol. Love the ask sent. Lol.
Lowes
any ideas on what the electricity cost to run the kiln?
I’ll cover soon.
been looking forward to this
Thanks for watching
Pretty simple for someone in climatology. You could go be the local weatherman if you ever wanted a side job.
Poly Sti (long I) reen
👍👍
How long to dry a stack?
Looks
Good
Poly-sti-reen!
Turning wood to gold!
Indeed
LOL I need me some stair-foam
What cabinet/shed did you install for your L200 to go into. I watched your install but was not sure what cabinet you selected! Great Videos.
What's the cost on that kiln w all the goodies.
I think around 38k
Stare-a-phone...LOL 😂🤣
Very cool!
Thanks for watching
Nathan would solar panels run the kiln?
It’s 50 amps. Would take a lot of panels
does this kiln have electric heat cuz i dont see any gas lines? just wonder that is all
Yes
So about how long before the wood is dry?
2 weeks
Hey Nathan have you run this kiln enough to figure how much it costs yet? Great video, thumbs up.
yes will cover in a video,
👍are you still using the kiln you made? I'm planning on building one next year, Lord willing. Thanks
Yes
Do Melissa and Mike know about this kiln?
Yes.
Here in Australia we call it POLY-STY-REEN (sty as in pigsty, rhymes with pie).
ty
You’re welcome.
Of course we also say AL-YOU-MIN-EE-UM, so pronunciation isn’t global.
How many KWH does it take for a drying cycle ?
looks great,
40k tho, ill have to do a DYI solar kiln
Maybe one day
Hello from Chicago! Once the wood is dried and out of the kiln, does it gain moisture by being in a normal environment for a bit? Let's say it takes you awhile to get to use the wood or sell it?
It does but that moisture can be removed by climatizing your wood to the environment it will live in .
👍👍👍
Is microwave drying better 🤔
What’s the best way to get up with y’all to mill some lumber for me?
Poly-sti-reen
ty
(Polly STY reen)... fancy name for (STYro foam)
Yes
I can't believe you have to install baffles to an " automatic kiln ".
Never seen a kiln that you don’t have to. Even the large industrial kilns you still have 2
*- Polystyrene*
*- 'Poli sti reen'*
*- POLYSTYRENE*
ty
@@OutoftheWoods0623 .
*- Yes, 5:55, 'Sty' | Polystyrene [ poli-Sti-reen ]
Polly- Sty-reen. :-D
pronounced polly st Irene polystyrene.
I have never heard of stair foam. Thanks for the correction
HELLO NATHAN ITS IS RANDY AND I LIKE U VIDEO IS COOL THANKS NATHAN FRIENDS RANDY AND I LIKE KILN DRYING LUMBER AT LT'S BEST , NYLE L2OO PRO TOUR IS COOL NATHAN THANKS FRIENDS RANDY
thanks Randy
😊👍
Thanks for watching
Pol-lee-sty-reeeeeeeen . . . .
polly-sty-reen (If it helps any.) Thanks for helping me pass away another boring day...
thanks for watching
@@OutoftheWoods0623 I live in Colonial Heights. Hope to some day meet you IRL and see your awesome setup. (read: Bucket List)
Wth is stare phone???
lol
POLY STYE RENE
👍👍
pah-lee-sty-reen
ANYONE WHO IS LOOKING FOR A NYLE 1200S KILN SYSTEM I HAVE 2 SYSTEMS COMPLETE WITH DUCT WORK LET ME KNOW IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED. THANKS
Say styrofoam again lol.
What's the cost on that kiln w all the goodies.
38k