Well, due to my absolute impatience with waiting for rough turns to dry, I decided to build a kiln. I researched the heck out of it and finally landed on a somewhat simple design (until I started trying to automate it...). One big trick is that my space is very limited. I found some great unused space under my clamp cart that would allow me to build one that will hold 3 or 4 bowls.
It's nothing more than a box framed with 2x4's rippe in half, and then skinned with 1/4" ply I had left over from various projects. I made sure to seal all of the joints with caulk and lined the floor, ceiling, walls, and door with insulation. Heat is generated by two light bulbs on the bottom, (1) 125W heat lamp and (1) 100W standard bulb. These get the temperature up to about 95 in 30 minutes. You'll notice a thermostat in the photo that automatically shuts off the lights when the desired temp is reached. It is hinged so that I can fold it ack out of the way to load bowls. I have a large equipment fan mounted in the top to keep the air circulating. I also have a thermometer/hygrometer (relative humidity) mounted to the door that has a remote sensor mounted inside. There are some vent holes in the top of the box with covers that I can open if the relative humidity gets too high.
I haven't thried it yet, but will be sure and repost with some of my results. My thinking is cooking it at 95 -100 with a RH of around 40%-50% should give me pretty good results. I welcome any feedback.
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