# Mini Kiln



## Vern Tator

Well, Kevin gave me a hard time about mentioning my peppermill kilns, and thought I ought to share it here. So here they are. I make the plywood one first, as a cabinetmaker I needed to have a respectable looking one. I crosscut a sheet of 3/4 into 19" pieces. Waste not want not. Made a box and insulated it with foil covered bubble wrap insulation. Foil reflects the heat back into the box. Installed shelf standards and cut closet shelving.
It is powered by a 75 watt bulb in the bottom and has a thermostat at the top. I put a small computer fan to move the air and a leftover dust collection blast gate at the top for a vent.
The second isn't so fancy. Cut a sheet of 2" foam insulation and glued it together with construction adhesive. Slapped a light in the bottom and a thermostat in the top. No fan. Pushed some 1/2" EMT through the sides and made shelves out of an old shopping cart I was given.
Kiln #1 investment of about $150, kiln #2 investment of about $45. They both seem to do the job.


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## Kevin

Vern this is WAY totally cool that you share this with us. After you rough turn them, do you seal them again before putting them in the kiln? I can't tell from the pic. 




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## Vern Tator

Yes, I seal the endgrain, with green wood sealer.:i_dunno: The vent in the top of the wooden one serves to let the moisture out. The foam one is not as tight to begin with. The holes for the emt are oversized and the "door" is just a piece of foam leaning against the box. Lots of room for moist air to escape.
If you notice, I turn all of the mills round and separate the cap from the body. I pre bore them with a 5/8 hole, clear through the base and stopping an inch from the top of the cap.


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## Kevin

Vern Tator said:


> ...
> If you notice, I turn all of the mills round ...



Yeah Yeah Yeah we notice that stuff we are woodworkers but we want DETAILS. 



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## gwisdom

i was planing to do the same thing with a old junk fridge


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## CodyS

neat, I have some of that insulation lying around here somewhere. Thanks for sharing! 

The fridge idea is a good one as well. I even have one wired up as an incubator, with a bulb, thermostat and fan. Unfortunately the thermostat isn't precise enough for an incubator. hmmmm :i_dunno:


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## Marshall

How long does it take for them to dry??
What is the MC when you pull out the peppermills?

I'm building kiln right now, similar to yours but horizontal due to shop space usage. 
Will post pics when finished - hopefully by mid-next week.


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## Vern Tator

:dash2: Just realized that this should have been in the trees to timber, processing section. Should it be reposted there?
Any way, I have a couple of moisture meters, but find them unreliable for small pieces of rarely used woods. I don't see hackberry on the list or any of the locusts. I was buying some wood on ebay( done with that, which is a whole other story) so I have some blanks that are not native to my part of the world. I use the weight method. I have printed some neat sheets on which I keep track of dates and weights. Eventually they quit loosing and then they are done. I have temporary custody of Mama's digital kitchen scale to make the weights precise.
I don't know if all of the eagle eyes out there noticed, but both kilns are on cabinet dollies, because my shop needs most things to be movable.
Made the mistake of not checking the light bulbs for a week of so, and discovered a cold kiln, ( for how long?) so now I check them daily.


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## BassBlaster

This is way to cool. I wish I had seen this before now, I would probably allready have one built. Can you post some more details, such as dimentions, how you hook a thermostat to a light buld and what temps you run at. I know drying times vary but roughly hopw long does a load take to dry? Say, a load like you have pictured, 2 weeks, 3 weeks?


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## Vern Tator

BassBlaster said:


> This is way to cool. I wish I had seen this before now, I would probably allready have one built. Can you post some more details, such as dimentions, how you hook a thermostat to a light buld and what temps you run at. I know drying times vary but roughly hopw long does a load take to dry? Say, a load like you have pictured, 2 weeks, 3 weeks?


Well, I try to keep it as simple as possible. The first one, made of plywood, has a computer fan, for air circulation, and a top vent which is an old 4" dust collector blast gate. I run the fan about half the time, the constant hum bugs me, and I have the vent full open all of the time. I cross cut the sheet of plywood into 5 pieces @ 19" and that gave me 3 sides, a door and the top and bottom, and almost no scrap. The most expensive part was adjustable shelving, a good idea, as I can reconfigure for different sized loads. I have switches for the heat and for the fan. The hot leg of the heat runs from the switch to the thermostat, and then to the light. So, I can set the t-stat at 85 and it turns on the 75 watt bulb as needed. Peppermill blanks, bored most of the way through take about 3-4 months to dry.When I say dry, I mean that they are weighed every 2 weeks and are no longer loosing weight. I have had quite a bit of Air dryed burl, that started at 22% which was EMC at it's home, take 3 months to quit loosing weight. So there you have it, anything else you need, let me know.


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## Dave5020

Thank you for sharing your kiln plans, is there an inlet at the bottom or just the one at the top for venting?


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## Vern Tator

Dave5020 said:


> Thank you for sharing your kiln plans, is there an inlet at the bottom or just the one at the top for venting?


No, there is no inlet. I think the door has enough air gap to let air in. The other one is even simpler. It is just a sheet of 2" foam insulation cut the same as the plywood, and glued together with construction adhesive. I drilled oversized holes in the walls and used EMT ( electrical conduit) to hold up shelves made from a plastic shopping cart I recycled. Didn't bother with the fan, no inlet or outlet, just propped the door with a piece of wood. It does have a thermostat, and works just fine. One important thought *Be sure to check the light bulb every few days* I had one burn out and had no idea when, but probably wasted a week or 2 because of it.


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## brown down

Vern Tator said:


> Well, Kevin gave me a hard time about mentioning my peppermill kilns, and thought I ought to share it here. So here they are. I make the plywood one first, as a cabinetmaker I needed to have a respectable looking one. I crosscut a sheet of 3/4 into 19" pieces. Waste not want not. Made a box and insulated it with foil covered bubble wrap insulation. Foil reflects the heat back into the box. Installed shelf standards and cut closet shelving.
> It is powered by a 75 watt bulb in the bottom and has a thermostat at the top. I put a small computer fan to move the air and a leftover dust collection blast gate at the top for a vent.
> The second isn't so fancy. Cut a sheet of 2" foam insulation and glued it together with construction adhesive. Slapped a light in the bottom and a thermostat in the top. No fan. Pushed some 1/2" EMT through the sides and made shelves out of an old shopping cart I was given.
> Kiln #1 investment of about $150, kiln #2 investment of about $45. They both seem to do the job.


can you kiln dry burls without sealing them? i am way interested in building a small kiln like this. would dry my burls i have a lot faster but DON'T WANT to destroy them?? any thoughts?


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## BassBlaster

Thanks for the reply. I do believe I'm going to be building one of these. This thermostat, is this the same type like runs your furnace?


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## Vern Tator

brown down said:


> Vern Tator said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, Kevin gave me a hard time about mentioning my peppermill kilns, and thought I ought to share it here. So here they are. I make the plywood one first, as a cabinetmaker I needed to have a respectable looking one. I crosscut a sheet of 3/4 into 19" pieces. Waste not want not. Made a box and insulated it with foil covered bubble wrap insulation. Foil reflects the heat back into the box. Installed shelf standards and cut closet shelving.
> It is powered by a 75 watt bulb in the bottom and has a thermostat at the top. I put a small computer fan to move the air and a leftover dust collection blast gate at the top for a vent.
> The second isn't so fancy. Cut a sheet of 2" foam insulation and glued it together with construction adhesive. Slapped a light in the bottom and a thermostat in the top. No fan. Pushed some 1/2" EMT through the sides and made shelves out of an old shopping cart I was given.
> Kiln #1 investment of about $150, kiln #2 investment of about $45. They both seem to do the job.
> 
> 
> 
> can you kiln dry burls without sealing them? i am way interested in building a small kiln like this. would dry my burls i have a lot faster but DON'T WANT to destroy them?? any thoughts?
Click to expand...

 I don't know it you can start with green burl and not coat it. The burl I have been using has air dried for 6 years or so, and had an EMC of 22%. It seems to have dried fine without sealing.


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## Vern Tator

BassBlaster said:


> Thanks for the reply. I do believe I'm going to be building one of these. This thermostat, is this the same type like runs your furnace?


:scare::scare: :timeout: Wow, Most furnace thermostats are low voltage. I am using what I think is called a line voltage thermostat. They are pretty common at the big box stores etc. They usually will run either 110 or 220. I use the 110 since I am heating with a 75 watt bulb.


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## davebug

Not sure if this would work but this is what I used when I built my sous vide machine. http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Display-Temperature-Controller-Great/dp/B002PIM3R8/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t


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## brown down

just a thought from an electrician. if you buy 130 volt lamps they will last a lot longer. i am going to steal this plan and build one for myself with a few mods. i may put lower watt lamps in and add a few more to make up for the heat, that way if the lamp cooks, you have back up. thanks for the post this is absolutely awesome and can't wait till next week to get started!


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## Vern Tator

brown down said:


> just a thought from an electrician. if you buy 130 volt lamps they will last a lot longer. i am going to steal this plan and build one for myself with a few mods. i may put lower watt lamps in and add a few more to make up for the heat, that way if the lamp cooks, you have back up. thanks for the post this is absolutely awesome and can't wait till next week to get started!


Thanks Great idea.    I guess when I get tired of changing bulbs I will add second socket and go to the 130 volt bulbs. The second socket is a real boon, as I have had another bulb go out and not known it.


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## Kalai

That is a nice looking kiln, thanks for sharing it, I have a solor powered kiln that I use to dry my lumber.
Aloha.

Kalai


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## brown down

Vern Tator said:


> brown down said:
> 
> 
> 
> just a thought from an electrician. if you buy 130 volt lamps they will last a lot longer. i am going to steal this plan and build one for myself with a few mods. i may put lower watt lamps in and add a few more to make up for the heat, that way if the lamp cooks, you have back up. thanks for the post this is absolutely awesome and can't wait till next week to get started!
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks Great idea.    I guess when I get tired of changing bulbs I will add second socket and go to the 130 volt bulbs. The second socket is a real boon, as I have had another bulb go out and not known it.
Click to expand...

thanks for that great idea here is the one i built this week 
little twist to it but hopefully it will do the same as yours does! let me know what you think!
[attachment=4499][attachment=4500][attachment=4501][attachment=4502][attachment=4503]


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## Vern Tator

I got a PM about where I have my fan and what temperature I run at. I have the fan at the top blowing across the kiln. It is above a baffle to keep the breeze off the top course of wood. I started running the kiln at 80 degrees and have gradually raised it to run at 85-87 degrees. I don't know if this is too hot or not. To date I have had very little wood loss. My first loads were all air dried wood that was about 22%. I can see that there is a crack in a piece of madrone that went in sooooo green that I did't bother weighing it. It will easily turn out if it doesn't get much bigger. This is the first load that I have run starting with green wet wood, so it should be interesting. I think it has lost enough weight that my small digital food scale will be able to weigh the pieces. Monday seems like a good day to weigh and see what is going on. I will post more when I learn more.


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## Vern Tator

Cool Window, I like that! Now instead of watching paint dry we can watch our wood dry.  
_Clearly I don't get out much._

Reactions: Funny 1


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## TimR

I got this idea from a local club member who uses an old dishwasher for his kiln. Doesn't take up much space and is about right for most woodturning sized pieces.
I gutted mine of motors and stuff and then mounted a lamp socket on the inside back and a 2 light socket adapter. After insulating the outside of the kiln with water heater wrap, I can use a 60W bulb to keep temp at about 90 F or the 60W plus a 40W to keep at about 120F. I think I read somewhere about getting temp that high to help drive out critters. I do bring up temp slowly so as not to shock it and have a cheap remote thermometer to monitor temp inside. 
Nice thing about dishwasher is that it has a vent on door that naturally helps some of the humidity escape. Opening the door occasionally helps too!
Most recent stuff I dried was some fresh cut dogwood...and alot of it split on me, which dogwood does, but had MC down to about 12% in about 2 weeks for blanks that were 2x2 and smaller.

EDIT>>>Ok, I understand without pics it's all just words! Just to be absolutely clear...the frig is for keeping CA glue fresh. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I have no idea how brown bottles keep making there way in!
[attachment=4851][attachment=4852]


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## brown down

Vern Tator said:


> I got a PM about where I have my fan and what temperature I run at. I have the fan at the top blowing across the kiln. It is above a baffle to keep the breeze off the top course of wood. I started running the kiln at 80 degrees and have gradually raised it to run at 85-87 degrees. I don't know if this is too hot or not. To date I have had very little wood loss. My first loads were all air dried wood that was about 22%. I can see that there is a crack in a piece of madrone that went in sooooo green that I did't bother weighing it. It will easily turn out if it doesn't get much bigger. This is the first load that I have run starting with green wet wood, so it should be interesting. I think it has lost enough weight that my small digital food scale will be able to weigh the pieces. Monday seems like a good day to weigh and see what is going on. I will post more when I learn more.



i put all of my wood in that mini kiln wet around 30 percent or higher in some cases. they have dropped significantly! i put my rough turned pepper mill blanks in their on the 19th spalted maple and i am finishing one now, it is around 10 percent so hopefully it doesn't warp or crack on me trial and error, hopefully no error:wacko1:


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## Jason

Do any of you have them inside the house, basement, garage. I wonder how safe they are to use.

Jason


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## Vern Tator

I have 2 small ones in my shop which is attached to my house. No problem.


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## NYWoodturner

Awesome thread Vern! Thanks for sharing ~ Scott


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## Jason

Ok so i don't want to wire in the lights to my home, any suggestions on what i can do for a light source that can plug in.

Jason


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## Jason

Wood a ceramic lamp like used for a lizard or turtle or anything with a heat bulb instead of a light bulb work or am i asking to burn my house down

Jason


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## ssgmeader

gwisdom said:


> i was planing to do the same thing with a old junk fridge



Ditto but now the things just to much in the way


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## F.W.von

I built as nice sandblaster cabinet with a fridge door.
Actually used a drop light bezzle for a sand drain so that will be nice to put a bulb back in.

Cabinet is 3' x4' tall x6.5 ' long
I'm gonna anchor seal all my end cuts an fill the cab up.
Maybe I'll put a piece of steel under the whole stack to take heat
Maybe try different bulbs until I get a nice 130f range of heat


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