On Sat, 15 Sep 2007 06:01:22 -0700, marc
wrote:

Thanks for all the good advice. I've now blanked up the pieces,
sealed the end with 3 coats of exterior grade paint, and put them in
a
brown paper bag and covered them all with wood shavings. I'll check
on them in a couple months and see how they have made out. Old
guy...my friends name is Chris. Also...one reply made mention of
using a microwave to speed up the drying process. Is there any truth
to this?? Is there a temperature and time frame that I could put the
blanks into a regular oven, and use it as a makeshift kiln?? I am
not
sure what temp and time goes into a commercial kiln to dry lumber??

This should help:

http://owic.oregonstate.edu/solarkiln/plans.htm

I'd be more inclined to go with that than using the microwave or oven,
personally.