Solar wood kiln based on the Virginia Tech model, but slightly smaller
Пікірлер: 106
@denismorissette4192 жыл бұрын
I can see that you love things well done. It is not only a very right and precise construction but it is also beautiful to look at. Tanks!!
@davelebleuwoodworking1272 жыл бұрын
Thanks!! Well done or why bother.
@davidfowler7558 Жыл бұрын
What an outstanding build and attention to detail! Job well done! Thanks!
@davelebleuwoodworking127 Жыл бұрын
Thank you. It works great.
@koreyfreemanofficial Жыл бұрын
Great build!
@davelebleuwoodworking127 Жыл бұрын
Thanks. It was fun and works great.
@johnschuster91922 жыл бұрын
I like this idea a bunch..Hopefully I can get a unit built this winter..Thanks so much!
@davelebleuwoodworking1272 жыл бұрын
The other thing I consciously did when building it was to put it on blocks so that if I ended up not needing it anymore I could sell it and have it removed easily
@twigglykevin3 жыл бұрын
every time i said to myself you should do this or you need that, you added it great video.
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it.
@TheHomePros62212 жыл бұрын
Hot air rises so it sucks cool air from the bottom and expels hot air through the top, make sure the fans are blowing the correct direction
@davelebleuwoodworking1272 жыл бұрын
You would think that's the case. I added a couple baffles just below the top vents. That helps. The fans are blowing in the right direction.
@huytang72252 жыл бұрын
Wow!!! this is great idea, awesome videos.
@chasjacks93782 жыл бұрын
I would have liked more detail and video but, it looks great and will work like a charm.
@someonestrange94893 жыл бұрын
I don't think you are supposed to bear weight on the face of a block. They cant take nearly as much compression in that orientation.
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
Thank you for catching that. I did some research and you are correct. Once I get the current load of wood out I will change their orientation or switch them out with wood blocks.
@someonestrange94893 жыл бұрын
@@davelebleuwoodworking127 Glad to help. Would hate to see a collapse if you put a big load in there.
@adamfronczak81572 жыл бұрын
Nice job thanks for making the video . I’m gonna build one pretty similar to this from what I’ve read online this design seems to be working fairly well for everybody. I have some available BTUs of heat from my outdoor boiler that I was thinking about piping into the kiln . My thought was to put The extra zone on a aquastat and timer to give it a quicker heat up in the mornings and a higher constant temperature throughout the day. I am in Northern Maine and morning temps are below 0 quite often.
@davelebleuwoodworking1272 жыл бұрын
Great idea with the free BTU's. Last year was a tough winter for sunlight outside of Boston, so it took a long time for the first load to dry. Came out great though-finally. My design is basically the Virginia Tech version but scaled down since I won't use it for large amounts of wood that often.
@kupkakexo17982 жыл бұрын
@@davelebleuwoodworking127 you live in Boston? I use to live in Boston. I live just outside Worcester now!
@TheUserid823 жыл бұрын
Nice to see the build but a few things you can add to improve it are. Eye bolts on the sleepers under the stack of wood so you can strap it down with ratchet straps to help keep the wood from twisting in the drying process and they make automatic vents for greenhouses that you can add to the output to automatically open and close them for you when it hits the temp you want inside. Have you looked around the area for others with small setups to rent out space inside? no reason to have it go empty when you can make an easy $50+ a month holding some lumber for others
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
I didn't mention it but I have granite counter remnants painted black on top of each pile to hold everything flat while it's drying. They are probably 100 pounds on each end and the middle. Thanks for your comments. I appreciate it.
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
Was given a nice 10' White Oak log and needed to figure out how to get it onto and off my trailer so I could take it home and cut it into boards with Millie (my chainsaw Mill). I ended up using an electric winch, which worked great. I posted a video on how I did it.
@gordonfrank Жыл бұрын
Please give detail on fans. Size, where you bot them, etc. Nice build. Hope it's working good for you.
@davelebleuwoodworking127 Жыл бұрын
Thought I had already replied. Sorry for the delay. I got them on Amazon. iLIVING 12" Shutter Exhaust Fan with Thermospeed(TM) controller, 65W, 960 CFM, Silver (ILG8SF12V-ST)
@davelebleuwoodworking127 Жыл бұрын
The fans work great. The only caution is when the wood is dry I unplugged the fans. It got so hot in the kiln the thermostat controller melted a little. I ended up covering the whole kiln unit with a silver tarp while not in use to keep the temps down.
@logangarland64344 ай бұрын
Awsomeeee build would love to see the exact specs or your frame
@Mwfrizzellandsons2 жыл бұрын
Block has no strength on edge. Fill them solid. They may crush. Great video. Thank you.
@ewetoobblowzdogg84102 жыл бұрын
It's hard to tell by the video as I'm seeing this on my phone, but it didn't seem like you left much of an air gap between your rigid insulation in your floor under the sheathing. A half inch gap is recommended for maximum R value
@davelebleuwoodworking1272 жыл бұрын
Aha. Didn’t know that. Good catch. Fortunately the kiln has worked well. If I ever make another ( not gonna happen) I’ll incorporate the space. Lol. Thanks for commenting.
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
Tomorrow will be 4 weeks since I put the first load of wood in the kiln. Some areas are at 17-20% moisture content. It has steadily gone down. I ran it about 2 1/2 weeks with the vents closed completely. I opened them about 1/2-3/4" each for the last week and a half. Seems to be working. On a sunny day it gets between 75-85 degrees inside with a temp of 30-40 degrees outside. At night, when the fans shut off, there is lots of condensation on the roof (clear front, so to speak). As I mention in the video, I have the fans set to go on at about 74 degrees.
@AdolphusOfBlood3 жыл бұрын
74C or 74F?
@leviholliday31983 жыл бұрын
Where is a list of materials used?
@ZeeFrankensteel Жыл бұрын
@@AdolphusOfBlood F 30-40 outside, mentions it is cold, so it is Faren.. so 74F inthe kiln is not bad for winter.
@clerivanocardoso2308 Жыл бұрын
Thank you I just finished my kiln and wasn’t sure about how to vent and this helped me a lot . Can you please let me know where u find the fans u have . I’m from ma as well ( the Berkshire) thanks
@davelebleuwoodworking127 Жыл бұрын
smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FF9Q5JH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I got the fans on Amazon. They are great. I'm trying to find the link to the thermostat that turns them on.
@clerivanocardoso2308 Жыл бұрын
Thanks Dave hope you and family have a happy new year. 🙏🏾
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
Nice full sun day today. It's 28 degrees outside and 100 degrees inside the kiln. I have the vents open about an inch. This is the highest temp it's reached so far. I wonder if I should open the vents more or keep them where they are? Anybody have any insights on venting?
@davidbalgosky41073 жыл бұрын
Let it get as hot as you can to kill any bugs. I have had mine get over 120 in PA in the spring
@AdolphusOfBlood3 жыл бұрын
@@davidbalgosky4107 From my research you need at least 130F (55C) for at least 2 hours at peak during the day to kill the post Beatles of NA. Ideally take it to 160F (70C). As for if you should vent it more, I'd say no, but it is a option you have, winter air is extremely dry, so if you can get a higher air change rate you'll get a faster dry rate due to the relative humidity being so low for the incoming air. That being said it depends on if you want a more gentle drying process or not, taking as much water out as you can as fast as you can has downsides.
@jerrylittle89223 жыл бұрын
Hey . Nice work. Can you give us an update sometime on how its working for you ?
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
just posted a public update. Thanks for the compliment.
@tomzed86963 жыл бұрын
Good work!
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
Thanks!
@shawnrogan16773 жыл бұрын
Great build! Would you be so kind as to list the materials used for the fans? Where to buy, etc...building one in the spring/summer this year.
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
I got them at Amazon. They each came with the temperature activated switch. I only use one switch so they both turn on and off at the same time. I got metal fans so they won’t melt when it gets really hot on there. My thinking was buy once cry once regarding the cost.
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
iLIVING 12" Shutter Exhaust Fan with Thermospeed(TM) controller, 65W, 960 CFM, Silver (ILG8SF12V-ST) link to the fan
@shawnrogan16773 жыл бұрын
@@davelebleuwoodworking127 thank you!
@dysfunctional_vet3 жыл бұрын
well done.....thumbs up
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
Thank you 👍
@Lucas-pv2wn3 жыл бұрын
Awesome video. I’m convinced. How long did it take to dry?
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
I put the original lumber in on Dec 15th and removed it a few weeks ago. There were not many sunny days through January and February so it took quite a long time. Now I have a load of white oak in there and I think it's drying fairly quickly.
@minutemandave2 жыл бұрын
I just got a mill and I’m in Stow Mass. it’s nice to see results from the area. Is there anything you would’ve done differently now that you’ve run it for a while? Thanks,Dave.
@davelebleuwoodworking1272 жыл бұрын
I guess the only thing, which I believe I mentioned in the video, is to make it about 2" less wide. That way the front clear panels would overlap the left edge better. I had to put a small piece of flashing there.
@davelebleuwoodworking1272 жыл бұрын
/Users/owner/Downloads/IMG_7284.JPG
@Sambo163 жыл бұрын
This was extremely helpful to see. Thanks for showing all the details for your solar kiln. What part of MA are you in? I'm out in the Berks, trying to convince my wife to let me build this in my backyard! I sketched up a general concept last weekend and it looks just about like yours! I'm guessing the pitch of the roof is 55ish degrees? Thanks again for the vid!
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
I think the pitch of the roof on mine was about 42 degrees +/- Boston's latitude. I think I mention it in my original video. I say build it then inform the wife. Forgiveness is easier than permission. lol
@Sambo163 жыл бұрын
@@davelebleuwoodworking127 I've got a few projects on the forgiveness list, not sure I can add another lol!
@kupkakexo17982 жыл бұрын
@@Sambo16 worcestet mass here 😎
@jbbrown79073 жыл бұрын
Pretty good.
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
As you can see I have 4 vents down low and 4 up, kinda behind the fans. The funny thing is that I can feel warm air being expelled from the higher vents and cool air drawn into the lower vents. Doesn't seem logical. The fans are definitely blowing air toward the clear roof but somehow drawing air from down low. Any idea why that would be? I would think the cool air would be drawn from the higher vents. Go figure???
@highjuice3 жыл бұрын
I think you might need a baffle to direct the air from the fans down the front of the kiln, the clear front, which should then be expelled through the lower vents as it's drawn through the stack.
@MickeyD19683 жыл бұрын
Convection. Heat rises. I think you might be better off turning the fans around so they are drawing air UP the clear panels instead of trying to force it down. You're using solar power to heat the place, use it for the air flow as well. You might find you don't even need the fans.
@hnican3 жыл бұрын
Hey! Fantastic kiln! We just finished the skeleton of ours yesterday and are using similar fans to what you’ve got going there. I wanted to ask, what are you using for your vinyl baffle, and where did you get it? Thanks in advance for your time!
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
The vinyl is heavy duty vinyl my father had left over from about 20 years ago. It's got strong poly fibers in it which makes it very strong. I think you could probably use marine vinyl seconds. i recommend marineVinylFabric.com I've bought vinyl for my boat seats from them and their customer support is excellent. I bet they have seconds you could get at a reasonable price.
@donny_bahama3 жыл бұрын
It’s been 5 months. How about an update on the results. How much wood do you have that’s fully dried and how long did it take? What’s the moisture content on the wood that you’re calling done? Anything you wish you’d done differently?
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
Thanks Donny. I dried about 120 board feet of Black Locust from Dec-March. It is in my workshop stickered, waiting to be made into an armoire for my wife, the Queen, empress of all. It is 6-8% moisture content for most of it. the boards range from 14" wide to about 6" wide. I dried it with the bark on, then cut the sapwood off. 90% of it is 4/4. Then I have several 5/4 boards with a slightly higher moisture content, about 10%. That surprised me. The second load of lumber is White Oak. I cut up a 10' log into 8/4 slabs. I also had some 4/4 White Oak I had cut earlier that was air drying. There is probably about 150 board feet of White Oak in total. I'm hoping to make some doors using the White Oak. The Oak has been dry for a while-probably at least a month. It's still in the kiln but I disengaged the fans, rolled up the black vinyl, and opened the vents to keep the temp from getting too hot. Using a kiln is new to me so I'm learning as I go. I'm disappointed in the White Oak checking. Even the boards I air dried for over a year have checking. I painted the ends and stickered them as soon as they were dimensioned. I also found most of the boards have shrunk. Boards I cut to 4/4 are a little thinner. I think I'll mill them slightly oversized next time. I had read that Black Locust is one of the hardest, most dense woods out there. Harder than Maple or Oak. It's looks and feels similar to Black Cherry but doesn't cut as well-since it's so hard. It'll be interesting to work with it more. I'm hoping to make a short update video soon. I'll post the link here. Sorry about writing a novel here. Dave
@donny_bahama3 жыл бұрын
@@davelebleuwoodworking127 Thanks for the update, Dave! I appreciate the thorough, detailed response. Kiln drying may be new to you, but you’re an old veteran compared to me! So you’re able to dry 4/4 boards to 6-8% in about 3 months? That’s awesome! Bummer about the white oak. I don’t have any advice for you on that (maybe post a question on one of the big woodworking forums like Saw Mill Creek or Lumberjacks?) but it’s pretty cool that you have to worry about the temp getting too hot! And that you have a good way of regulating that. Anything you wish you had done differently in building the kiln.
@skipbickford39702 жыл бұрын
👍
@davelebleuwoodworking1272 жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@LucLeb.3 жыл бұрын
The area next to the kiln towards the woods looks awfully good for styrofoam boat storage, have you thought of doing that?
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
been there, done that, moved on.
@robertol.27163 жыл бұрын
Great looking kiln! What would you say are the total hours you put into the project from start to finish?
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
Yikes! If I reply to your question and my wife sees I might be in trouble. lol Probably about 4 or 5 hours (total lie).
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
Honestly, I normally track hours for each project but did not for this one. I would guess it took about 25 hours over a bunch of days. Having and using a nail gun cut out a lot of time hammering nails.
@woodatuse3 жыл бұрын
I'm down in CT and just built one of these myself last year. My high Temps were getting to almost 200 degrees in July/August it was pretty crazy. When you open your bottom vents can you feel your fans pushing air out of the kiln? I don't think my fans are strong enough
@woodatuse3 жыл бұрын
Also awesome work! Looks great!
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
For the first couple weeks I had the vents closed. There seemed to be a lot of condensation building up on the inside of the roof. I then opened them about 1/2"--there are four vents up higher and four lower. Then a week or so ago I opened them about 1-1 1/2" and it seems to be working well. The moisture content has gone down each week and the built up condensation seems to be dissipating. We've had some nice sunny days. Outside it's 25-35 degrees. Inside it's 80-90 degrees. I don't necessarily feel the air exiting the vents but it must be working. I'm due to take moisture readings on Wednesday and will post any changes. Do you cover your kiln with a tarp or something when not in use, especially in the summer? My wife and daughter think they have a sauna coming. ha
@woodatuse3 жыл бұрын
I do not cover it, but I may use that as an option I did not think of it. I need to work on a little better insulating and I should be close to 100 degrees in the winter. I also purchased a sensor push to record my Temps and humidity during the day it works very well.
@calincalabrese62603 жыл бұрын
Where in ct? I'm in Clinton looking to build one too
@woodatuse3 жыл бұрын
@@calincalabrese6260 litchfield
@danielvrana94443 жыл бұрын
Let us know how the mice did? Please tell us if they made homes in it? Thanks
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
No mice. The doors close tightly and I have screens in each vent. That said mice are very industrious.
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
Ok. Turns out one mouse found its way in. I put a trap out and caught it in one night. No more unwanted visitors since. I have a trap just a waitin'
@eduardo_k3 жыл бұрын
Do you have any idea what the relative humidity is inside the shed?
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
I don’t know for sure. When I see lots of condensation I make sure the vents are open so it will dissipate. Lately we have not had many Sunny days so the moisture content in the boards hasn’t moved much.
@thewalnutwoodworker61363 жыл бұрын
How much did this cost to build?
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
Yikes! I think it was north of $1500 but I don't have the exact number.
@garywink43832 жыл бұрын
Great video but really lacking on inside views. Too many things you talk about but cant see what you are talking about
@davelebleuwoodworking1272 жыл бұрын
Thanks Gary. I was flying by the seat of my pants.
@moonpup62623 жыл бұрын
how about some solar panels to power the fans?
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
I thought about that but I don't use the kiln enough to justify the expense.
@user-wp4dh4wh7l3 жыл бұрын
how long does wood dry?
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
It took about 3 full months to dry. I think this was because it was winter with few sunny days. As soon as it got sunny the drying accelerated.
@trevordeane39403 жыл бұрын
Looks really good but I did not see a link for the plans. Do I just look up Virginia Tech?
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
Yes. I based it on the VT plans then scaled it down just a bit after watching a bunch of other kiln videos.
The thermostat controller works great. However, I should have put it either outside or in the back part of the kiln as the cover melted at one point. I guess that means the kiln works well. :)
@backwoodsmedia6865 Жыл бұрын
@@davelebleuwoodworking127 thank you
@backwoodsmedia6865 Жыл бұрын
How did you hook it up for solar
@Peter-od7op6 ай бұрын
So sad you. Live In mass
@davelebleuwoodworking1273 жыл бұрын
kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYDbd4SgibNpfsU Here's the link