[OP]
Member
I recently put some walnut and maple slabs in my utility room to dry out a bit, thinking I would have them kiln-dried in the spring. This room contains my gas boiler, which heats my house. Well the temperature in there is 100 degrees and humidity around 30%, so after 2 months all the lumber is down to 6% moisture content. The slabs are 1-2" thick and were cut from live trees this past fall. Anyone know enough about kiln-drying to tell me if there are drawbacks to this setup?
Member
Sounds fantastic! I've got 2 utility rooms with bunches of wasted space, and might have to mimic your discovery. Hopefully no-one comes in saying this is a bad move.
Contributor
Kurt, go back to the Sawmill Creek home page and page down to the forum for sawmills and kiln drying. Those guys will be glad to help you out. Or if you ask one of the Moderators, they can move this thread to that forum to help you. The Mods are listed at the bottom of each forum.
Good luck!
Fred
Last edited by Frederick Skelly; 01-13-2017 at 8:07 AM.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
Member
This time of year your house tends to dry out because of the added heat. My firewood seems to dry out in about a month in my basement.
Moderator
A proper kiln generally also controls air flow over and through the material, so the danger of just setting things in a hot and dry room like that is potentially uneven drying. You'll want to consider leveraging a fan or fans to help with that I would think.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
[OP]
Member
Jim, good call on the use of a fan or two to circulate the air around the lumber. I will definitely be doing that.Originally Posted by Jim Becker
Member
The moisture from the wood has to go somewhere and can rust stuff. Water evaporated from wood that condenses can be corrosive, too. Generally, basements and rooms in homes are not good places to dry green lumber. Air dried lumber can be brought inside to acclimate as most all the water has already been evaporated.
Contributor
100 degrees isnt all that hot so if your not seeing surface degrade or crazy movement your likely OK but remember on 8/4 the core may still be far higher than a surface reading. The main issues would be if they dried too fast and you fought with degrade or case hardening but again, at 100 degrees that'd be unlikely. You wont gain the benefits of killing pests but air dried and barn attic dried lumber has been used for ages.
Member
My kiln is the second story of my shop, which has a gambrel roof. It gets to be as hot as 125 or 130 F in the summer. It is slower than commercial kilns but works rather well if you are patient.
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