Hello everyone.
I have been growing a passion into wood working and wanna make it my main source of income. I started to cut down the trees of friends around and using the wood for my projects.
Thats when I started to encounter the problem of the bending of the wood in the process of drying.
I want to make a semi-commercial’ish kiln room (13feet x 20 feet or 4meter x 6meter) and I am wondering if I could use this clay brick to make up the walls of the kiln. I live in a place that is very warm during the summer and not too cold during the winter(min 5c or 40f).
Those are the clay bricks that I want to use, which is commonly used in my country to make up the outside walls of buildings. It can go up to 42c or 110f during the summer.
9inch/9inch or 24cm/24cm
Could those be enough to constitute the walls of the kiln? and/or any recommendations you experienced wood workers can make? Maybe there is a secret in the industry that I should know about drying wood? Could air drying be viable in my climate?
Thank you.
Replies
Should be doable. I assume a solar kiln is what you should be looking into. Lots of info out there.
Heat, humidity and air flow are what's important for drying wood. What the walls are made of is really close to irrelevant as long as you can manage those 3 things. Proper stickering and stacking are critical to air flow in the drying drying process. A heat source and a fan are your next concerns. Get all of those things right and you should be in business.
I am thinking about cost effectiveness on the longterm if i am going to have to run it 24/7/365(on and off). Efficiency of retaining the heat, and I was wondering if the makeup of this clay brick(plus concrete on both sides) is enough insulation for the walls. I am also on a tight budget for this project, but I want to make something that wont need structural adjustments in the future. Do it once do it right mentality(but cheap).
If you are going to be running this constantly, you really need to add real insulation. Concrete, brick, etc have very low R values. Insulation will cost far less than the extra money you would spend for heat.
Another consideration for solar heat is orientation of the kiln to get the most sunlight during the cold months of the year. Solar ventilation techniques could save electrical costs. If you have reliable prevailing winds, that could also save on ventilation costs.
Is your kiln a heated shed to accelerate air drying or a Modern kiln to bring the wood in a controlled manner to 6-8% RH? If it is the later, invest in a good set of plans and build accordingly.
That makes sense.
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