Hurricane sandy wood

[Brian Harnett]

After hurricane sandy a man talked to me about two maples that had come down on his property he was going to cut them up for firewood if I did not want them.

So I brought my chainsaw mill and milled the trees, they are hard sugar maple over 100 years old.

I have a small kiln I built that will hold around 350 board feet at a time so this is the first project of the first batch of wood out of the kiln the moisture content averages 8-9 percent after 3 weeks in the kiln.

The legs are Sapele

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l249/brianharnett/Wood%20Carvings/Coffee%20tables/IMG_3185.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l249/brianharnett/Wood%20Carvings/Coffee%20tables/IMG_3187.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l249/brianharnett/Wood%20Carvings/Coffee%20tables/IMG_3189.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l249/brianharnett/Wood%20Carvings/Coffee%20tables/IMG_3191.jpg

[Brian Harnett]

A few more pictures
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l249/brianharnett/Wood%20Carvings/Coffee%20tables/IMG_3195.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l249/brianharnett/Wood%20Carvings/Coffee%20tables/IMG_3197.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l249/brianharnett/Wood%20Carvings/Coffee%20tables/IMG_3192.jpg

[BTP]

very nice work

[CNYDWW]

Very nice job. Love the inlays.

[beacon14]

Dang that is pretty cool. Can you tell us more about the kiln? 3 weeks to dry is surprisingly fast.

[Brian Harnett]

David I built the kiln as a temporary one until I make a larger one behind my shop.

The kiln is just a box made from osb board 12' long 6' tall and 4' deep, it is inside my shop right now for the first day and a half I ran a torpedo heater to get the temp up to 130-140 with a vent in the top open that is supposed to kill any insects thay may be in it.

Then I switch over to a dehumidifier and close the vents the first two days it would pull about 5 gallons a day with the kiln temperature around 108 each day a bit less water.

The inside of the kiln is sealed with plastic vapor barrier the outside is wrapped with 12" of fiberglass insulation I had left over from building my shop.

My eventual plan is to make one that will take advantage of solar heat and be able to switch to dehumidification on cloudy days.

I have access to lots of wood and have been air drying it but it takes around two years to dry the wood at the thicknesses I like to use, even then it is hard to get below 12 percent.

I prefer to mill my own so I can cut unique pieces that most mills would not even cut.

[CNYDWW]

David I built the kiln as a temporary one until I make a larger one behind my shop.

The kiln is just a box made from osb board 12' long 6' tall and 4' deep, it is inside my shop right now for the first day and a half I ran a torpedo heater to get the temp up to 130-140 with a vent in the top open that is supposed to kill any insects thay may be in it.

Then I switch over to a dehumidifier and close the vents the first two days it would pull about 5 gallons a day with the kiln temperature around 108 each day a bit less water.

The inside of the kiln is sealed with plastic vapor barrier the outside is wrapped with 12" of fiberglass insulation I had left over from building my shop.

My eventual plan is to make one that will take advantage of solar heat and be able to switch to dehumidification on cloudy days.

I have access to lots of wood and have been air drying it but it takes around two years to dry the wood at the thicknesses I like to use, even then it is hard to get below 12 percent.

I prefer to mill my own so I can cut unique pieces that most mills would not even cut.


We have two kilns at work. both are converted refrigerated cold storage containers. One is 50ft i believe. The other is around 25ft. There is a course in kiln drying in Syracuse, NY once a year. I'm trying to get the opportunity to attend next year. If anyone wants, I can probably get a hold of the information for you this week at work.

Regards
Randy

[bob_reda]

There is alot of info on solar kilns published with plans from the Virginia Institute of Tech. I have their plans and it is rather simple to build and works relatively well.

Bob

[myxpykalix]

Bob can you send me those plans or the link to get them? thanks:)

[beacon14]

Thanks for the info Brian, I have a small dehumidification kiln here but have only used it for a couple of loads of large slabs. I guess it depends a lot on the thickness and species.

[Ajcoholic]

That is REALLY cool! The maple is so white as well. Neat!

[Brian Harnett]

A few more additions
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8513/8366642477_04462e91ca_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/91729681@N06/8366642477/)
IMG_3299 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/91729681@N06/8366642477/) by Brian Harnett (http://www.flickr.com/people/91729681@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8187/8367708404_e65b8153c7_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/91729681@N06/8367708404/)
IMG_3301 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/91729681@N06/8367708404/) by Brian Harnett (http://www.flickr.com/people/91729681@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8464/8367708892_bcf6b029bf_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/91729681@N06/8367708892/)
IMG_3292-001 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/91729681@N06/8367708892/) by Brian Harnett (http://
www.flickr.com/people/91729681@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8052/8366641751_b96f1c52c9_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/91729681@N06/8366641751/)
IMG_3289 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/91729681@N06/8366641751/) by Brian Harnett (http://www.flickr.com/people/91729681@N06/), on Flickr

[myxpykalix]

Jeez Brian can't you make anything that DOESN"T look like a freakin masterpiece?:eek::D