I recently had a 30″ beech milled into quartersawn billets, 16/4 square and 50″ long (about 100 of them) for my planemaking workshops. These have been sealed, stickered and stacked outside covered. So far they have lost about 35% of their initial weight (I stacked the wood so that I could withdraw one billet from a central area for periodic weighing). Rather than wait ~4 years for the stuff to dry, I want to push it along somehow. Local kilns are not interested in working with wood this thick, or in small amounts. Any suggestions?
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Replies
If you're going to cut them down to "plane-size" you could dry them in a microwave.
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
Bill,
A year or two ago there was an article in one of the magazines FWW or maybe Woodwork for building a smallish dry kiln. plywood box with a light bulb inside, and maybe a small fan. The guy was using it to dry chair parts. I can't find the thing now.
Ray
Bill I’ve had some good luck using a small heater (electric) and dehumidifier couplee with a small box fan with a rheostat . I created a small frame to cover the pile and enclosed area with a heavy mil plastic. I then added 2” foam board and sealed the edges and corners with duct tape. I went from wet lumber to 12% on 6/4 stuff in about thirty days using beech
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