Oldfella's kiln build

[Oldfella]

Decided to put this here to unclutter my grow blog.

Gunna build a kiln.
Got a shed.


The shed was going to be a smoker for fish but that plan fell over, a kilning shed it will be.
Got some controllers.

You can never have too many. In my last job I always had 3 pressure guages.

Got a fan blower blaster thingy.


That's all for now I will put up some more tomorrow.

 

[deluxestogie]

That fan looks like it could launch your kiln into low Earth orbit. You may want to consider adding a fan speed controller to the mix.

Bob

 

[Oldfella]

That fan looks like it could launch your kiln into low Earth orbit. You may want to consider adding a fan speed controller to the mix.

Bob

Ha ha it's variable speed. Zero to hard out. It's out of heater that I stripped for parts back in the day. I thought I might put it on full blast and pressure test the kiln, but, then again maybe not. Thanks for the pointer anyway it's something that if found at recycle place by someone who didn't know they could wreck their kiln and be very upset.
Oldfella

 

[Oldfella]

Ha ha it's variable speed. Zero to hard out. It's out of heater that I stripped for parts back in the day. I thought I might put it on full blast and pressure test the kiln, but, then again maybe not. Thanks for the pointer anyway it's something that if found at recycle place by someone who didn't know they could wreck their kiln and be very upset.
Oldfella

Here you go Bob, should do the trick.

If it doesn't I can alter things to do the job.

 

[deluxestogie]

My power occasionally blinks off (or goes out for several hours). Fortunately, the digital controller on my kiln uses some sort of non-volatile memory. So it just resumes whenever the power comes back on. The same is true for my kiln's fan, which uses a physical rheostat. The box fan in my shed uses a physical switch, so it resumes as well. The newer, temp controlled window fan in the shed uses a clever, digital power switch, and its temp setting is only as good as the continuous power. When that window fan experiences a power loss (even for 1 second), it just stops, and sits there, useless, until I go out and pat it on the hand.

I see what appears to be a physical, toggle switch for your fan controller's main power, and a rotating, physical dial for the fan speed. So that looks perfect. Your digital controllers for the heat appear quite similar to mine, but their settings memory is something you might want check, to know if you need to scramble after a power loss (if such events even happen in NZ).

Bob

 

[Oldfella]

My power occasionally blinks off (or goes out for several hours). Fortunately, the digital controller on my kiln uses some sort of non-volatile memory. So it just resumes whenever the power comes back on. The same is true for my kiln's fan, which uses a physical rheostat. The box fan in my shed uses a physical switch, so it resumes as well. The newer, temp controlled window fan in the shed uses a clever, digital power switch, and its temp setting is only as good as the continuous power. When that window fan experiences a power loss (even for 1 second), it just stops, and sits there, useless, until I go out and pat it on the hand.

I see what appears to be a physical, toggle switch for your fan controller's main power, and a rotating, physical dial for the fan speed. So that looks perfect. Your digital controllers for the heat appear quite similar to mine, but their settings memory is something you might want check, to know if you need to scramble after a power loss (if such events even happen in NZ).

Bob

Thanks Bob. That's one thing I never thought about. I just checked by switching them off. And behold they all just carried on as if nothing had happened. Just a potty break. I'm not concerned about the fan it can be done to make it stay on, the switch in the pic is only one that I have, I have others. It's all good fun anyway.

 

[Oldfella]

Edit: The toggle switch switches a light not the fan. Fan is on rotory dial.

 

[Oldfella]

Edit: The toggle switch switches a light not the fan. Fan is on rotory dial.

OK. Now let's see.

Oh yeah that's right the motor is stuffed, that's how I got it had to replace it. Don't know if you guys have the same hassle we have, no parts available for that model. I'll have to put head in bits bin and see what I can find. There will be something, old bike, crank handle, whatever.

Yeah that's what I need, just drive off whichever wheel spins.

 

[Knucklehead]

I used a bathroom exhaust fan and used a fan control switch. Don’t use a dimmer switch made for lighting as that can be a fire hazard. Here is an example for $13 usd. You could salvage and use the switch you already have.

Bathroom exhaust fan

 

[Oldfella]

I used a bathroom exhaust fan and used a fan control switch. Don’t use a dimmer switch made for lighting as that can be a fire hazard. Here is an example for $13 usd. You could salvage and use the switch you already have.

Bathroom exhaust fan

Thanks mate I used to repair gas appliances at my shop. At one point I had 10 guys working for me. Not trying to be a smart-a##*, all input from you guys is most valuable. As we get older it seems to be that we forget more than we knew. Reminders are good. The s/w in the pic is a 3 speed fan controller with a toggle for a light that is often in some of the ceiling fans. The motor I have in the pic I'm not going to try and make it work. Just playing around at the moment. I am having a little trouble though. Do I suck from the bottom to the top or is the top to the bottom better? Any input from you guys on this one would be great. Thanks.
Gunna build a kiln.

 

[Knucklehead]

I think the main thing is that it circulates. My fan is just positioned to direct air around the perimeter to avoid blowing directly on the leaf. As long as there is circulation, the probe should be more accurate and the heavier air cannot pool at the bottom of the kiln, and the hot, humid air will be evenly distributed.

A photo showing the inside of my kiln.

Knuckleheads Wooden Box Kiln Build

... the miracle of siphoning work to automatically fill the crockpot. Then it will always be full, which I found to not be a good thing. Others have been satisfied with that approach. Bob

fairtradetobacco.com

 

[Oldfella]

I think the main thing is that it circulates. My fan is just positioned to direct air around the perimeter to avoid blowing directly on the leaf. As long as there is circulation, the probe should be more accurate and the heavier air cannot pool at the bottom of the kiln, and the hot, humid air will be evenly distributed.

A photo showing the inside of my kiln.

Knuckleheads Wooden Box Kiln Build

... the miracle of siphoning work to automatically fill the crockpot. Then it will always be full, which I found to not be a good thing. Others have been satisfied with that approach. Bob

fairtradetobacco.com

So if I can take the warm, moist air from the bottom, carry it to the top and sort of let spill back down as evenly as possible it should work. I haven't even got the box built yet. Every time I try to get that done it rains which can make playing with power tools fun, nevermind it will happen in due course. In the meantime I will have fun with fans and heaters and stuff. I'm sure I got an old pedistant fan somewhere, motor anyway. If I can do this right I won't have the electrics on the inside, we will see.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I pull air from the top, heat it, and blow it to the floor.

 

[Oldfella]

I pull air from the top, heat it, and blow it to the floor.

Sounds like a good plan. I'll try that when the time comes. That's sorta what I done on my old Rusty fridge kiln. Started out all right but 2 season's saw more water on the floor than anywhere, hence the need for a new one.

 

[Oldfella]

Gunna build a kiln.

Gunna be half the shed as kiln, the other half is the packing area. I'll try and get some Measurements tomorrow, that'll give me the size and then I can work out the leaf capacity, maybe.

 

[Oldfella]

Now, let's see. Got a shed, got it lined with builders paper to stop condensation. Sorting a fan, blower, blaster thingy.

Yep that'll work. Can plenty of air round it for cooling.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

That's pretty big, i think. How big is it? I don't think it can be too big if it's insulated well. Remind me how much tobacco you're growing? Eyeballing it, this looks like it will be a decent flue curing shed.

 

[Oldfella]

That's pretty big, i think. How big is it? I don't think it can be too big if it's insulated well. Remind me how much tobacco you're growing? Eyeballing it, this looks like it will be a decent flue curing shed.

I'm not sure how big is but I'm gonna measure it tomorrow, I was going to do that today but I was out most of the day and didn't get a chance. I normally grow around 100 plants and get two crops a season. It is quite big but after the fridge kiln I had I figured it was better too big than just too small. I'll post the dimensions tomorrow.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

better too big than just too small.

Absolutely!

 

[Oldfella]

Absolutely!

Kiln dimensions: L. 4' 3"
H. 4' 1"
D 2' 4"
Let's see if we can get the same cubic foot answer. I don't think it is too big, it will be a bit smaller when I get the insulation and lineing on. In theory about 2" all round.