Kiln drying five year old air dried stacked Oak Elm Beech

[Jonnya]

Hello all,

I have just built a kiln to dry 15 boards of wood average 5-6 cm thick 2.5m x 80. Plus some 2.5m x 25cm planks (beech) The wood has been seasoned for up to five years so moisture content is not as it should be. The wood is Elm Oak and beech. The oak feels really dry) Theres a 2 kw heater in there with fans and a dehumidifier. Generally how long should the wood be further seasoned for to get it to the right moisture content of 11%.

All thoughts greatfully recieved.

Thanks, Jon.

 

[custard]

One of the reasons that thicker boards sometimes cost more is because the kilning process goes up dramatically as boards get thicker, 60mm boards often sit for 8-12 weeks in commercial kilns, sometimes longer.

Also, you say that because the wood has been air dried for five years "moisture content is not as it should be". I don't understand that. Timber is virtually always air dried before kilning, generally for over 12 months.

Most woodworkers don't seem to realise the time, effort, money and complexity that goes into timber production. I'm astonished when I see decent quality hardwoods selling at £30 or £40 a cubic foot, it needs a lot of things to go absolutely right before anyone can make any money at those prices!

 

[Bluekingfisher]

"Moisture content not what it should be"?? .....................in Galloway, the term moisture is an understatement I would have thought, wetter than a fishes wet bits more like :lol:

 

[No skills]

Perhaps he ment sat outside in the rain for 5 years.

I think Chris schwarz had a blog post ages ago about drying timber, and how difficult it is to dry thick pieces of wood - I will have to find it.

 

[marcros]

i think that the OP means by "not what it should be", he means that it is different to what the OP expects that you would normally begin the kilning process.

 

[Jonnya]

Yes, thank you Marcros...is there anyway to speed it up or is 8-12 weeks typical for a 5cm board. The boards were fairly dry under cover air drying...If they had a moisture content of 15 how quick to get to 11?

 

[Steve Maskery]

I'm afraid I can't help you on this, it's not my area of expertise at all, but I will tell you one thing. There are many of us who would be very interested indeed to see how you get on, if you would be kind enough to blog it.

Can you show us your kiln? You need 3 posts in order to post pics, so you are nearly there already.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one here who would follow this experiment with interest.

 

[Glynne]

Out of interest, what is the current moisture content?