Solar Lumber Drier Build Along

[jteneyck]

Hi All,

Some will remember that I built a shed last Summer to store wood in; wood that had been cluttering up my basement shop, with room for more.  Some might also remember that I bought a bandsaw lumber mill a couple of months ago.  So now I have the means to produce lumber much quicker and easier than with the chainsaw lumber mill I was using.  


 I had a dehumidification kiln in my basement shop at one time, but that left with the wood purge.  I had some intentions of reinstalling it in the shed but after I bought the bandsaw mill I decided a solar drier would better fit my needs.  A solar kiln can dry green lumber; a dehumidification kiln like I had only works well with AD lumber and we all know how long that can take.  Also, a solar drier should reduce the % degrade over air drying because the process is under better control.  And my dehumidification kiln only held about 275 bf per batch; I need something a lot larger now with the bandsaw mill.  

So I read about solar kilns and found most are based on the Virginia Tech. design, which is pretty simple.  During one of my searches I found an article in Wood Magazine with their take on the VT design, and decided it was just what I was looking for.  So here's my version of their design:



Overall dimensions are 12' W x 8' deep x 9.5' high.  There is about 96 ft of South facing glazing so the kiln will dry about 960 BF of lumber, based on 1 sq. ft of glazing for 100 BF of 4/4 lumber.  For thicker stock or less load of 4/4 stock you reduce the amount of glazing by covering a portion of it with something opaque.  Construction will be standard shed framing, but the floor and walls will be insulated and sheathed on the inside as well as outside.  There will be a man door on both end walls for loading/unloading lumber. The drier will be able to hold lumber up to 10' long, the same as my bandsaw mill.  


After getting a building permit I ordered the framing lumber and a couple of yards of crushed stone for the base.  A couple of days ago I got started by building a 2 x 6 frame to hold the crushed stone and leveled it.  I laid a piece of paper machine drier fabric that my neighbor gets for free inside and then filled it with crushed stone. 

 

Next up is the floor assembly.  

John

[brianwelch]

Hi All,

Some will remember that I built a shed last Summer to store wood in; wood that had been cluttering up my basement shop, with room for more.  Some might also remember that I bought a bandsaw lumber mill a couple of months ago.  So now I have the means to produce lumber much quicker and easier than with the chainsaw lumber mill I was using.  


 I had a dehumidification kiln in my basement shop at one time, but that left with the wood purge.  I had some intentions of reinstalling it in the shed but after I bought the bandsaw mill I decided a solar drier would better fit my needs.  A solar kiln can dry green lumber; a dehumidification kiln like I had only works well with AD lumber and we all know how long that can take.  Also, a solar drier should reduce the % degrade over air drying because the process is under better control.  And my dehumidification kiln only held about 275 bf per batch; I need something a lot larger now with the bandsaw mill.  

So I read about solar kilns and found most are based on the Virginia Tech. design, which is pretty simple.  During one of my searches I found an article in Wood Magazine with their take on the VT design, and decided it was just what I was looking for.  So here's my version of their design:



Overall dimensions are 12' W x 8' deep x 9.5' high.  There is about 96 ft of South facing glazing so the kiln will dry about 960 BF of lumber, based on 1 sq. ft of glazing for 100 BF of 4/4 lumber.  For thicker stock or less load of 4/4 stock you reduce the amount of glazing by covering a portion of it with something opaque.  Construction will be standard shed framing, but the floor and walls will be insulated and sheathed on the inside as well as outside.  There will be a man door on both end walls for loading/unloading lumber. The drier will be able to hold lumber up to 10' long, the same as my bandsaw mill.  


After getting a building permit I ordered the framing lumber and a couple of yards of crushed stone for the base.  A couple of days ago I got started by building a 2 x 6 frame to hold the crushed stone and leveled it.  I laid a piece of paper machine drier fabric that my neighbor gets for free inside and then filled it with crushed stone. 

 

Next up is the floor assembly.  

John

Sorry, you may no longer use the phrase man door, as it is exclusionary. It must now be referenced as an access facilitator or some facsimile thereof (jeez, can't even use the word "human", or "person" anymore I guess)...Clearly you are not paying attention to those with no binary gender bias

Looking forward to the build-along

Brian

[Admiral]

Sorry, you may no longer use the phrase man door, as it is exclusionary. It must now be referenced as an access facilitator or some facsimile thereof (jeez, can't even use the word "human", or "person" anymore I guess)...Clearly you are not paying attention to those with no binary gender bias

Looking forward to the build-along

Brian

Actually, "person door" is acceptable, I personally checked that out with my employer's corporate diversity coordinator during our mandatory training session.

[brianwelch]

Actually, "person door" is acceptable, I personally checked that out with my employer's corporate diversity coordinator during our mandatory training session.

I must disagree, due to the masculine syllable "son"... kidding!

In any case it's just nothing more than a series of solutions looking for problems...

[Gary G™]

Will this one be as livable as the wood storage unit?

[jteneyck]

Sorry, you may no longer use the phrase man door, as it is exclusionary. It must now be referenced as an access facilitator or some facsimile thereof (jeez, can't even use the word "human", or "person" anymore I guess)...Clearly you are not paying attention to those with no binary gender bias

Looking forward to the build-along

Brian

Old habits die hard, but I'm the person who will be using those doors and I am a man.  That's my defense and I'm sticking with it.  

Will this one be as livable as the wood storage unit?

Not quite, but it should still look pretty good.  I plan to use the same color scheme as the storage shed but the exterior sheathing will be LP Smartside instead of vinyl siding, painted to match.  The doors will be ladder core with insulation and sheathed the same way instead of the nice ash frame and panel access doors (Is that better?) on the shed but I'll paint them red to match.  I'm planning to use metal roofing on the North side instead of shingles, but the color will be red like the shed roof, assuming I can get that color locally.  The trim will be white like on the shed, too, but probably painted wood rather than pricey vinyl, although I did see some new stuff at HD a couple of weeks ago that was a lot more cost competitive than what I remember paying for the stuff on the shed.

[jteneyck]

I finished the floor today.  It's straightforward construction.  I put a piece of plastic over the base, then screwed the 2 x 8 rim joists to the floor joists.  Yes, I used screws.  We went through using screws for framing construction last year when I built the shed.  Anyway, after the frame was together I added ledger strips to hold some foil faced foam insulation I had on hand, cut the foam to fit, and then screwed the 3/4" plywood flooring down.  







Walls next.  

John

[Stwood_]

I built one some years back. Structured like a regular storage building, then covered in 10mil plastic.
Door access on each end, and set a dehumidifier inside, along with a box fan to move air.
It held about a 1000 stickered feet of lumber.