Some thoughts - probably redundant but in one place.

Seems, as I thought, that 99.8% of drying research is for commercial
operations. A couple of the sites I want to revisit to contact the professor
for details on small operations.

Existent processes appear complex and require frequent monitoring using
equipment unavailable to the normal woodturner. It is notable that these
specific procedural details have appreciable affect on the quality of the
end product including even chatoyance. The development of software to
control this is relatively new. There appeared some left to do on the
sensing devices. There would be some individuals who could downsize all this
I would think. Maybe not cost-effective enough to ever resell but sufficient
for their personal resources including time and money. Keep in mind Bill
Rubenstein's negative experience with a Woodmizer kiln. More on that could
be relative. Possibly the rate of drying was the culprit since that is what
all the software is essentially about. Further, it could have been designed
for softwoods or require pre-drying to perform at its best. Tennessee is
notable for trying to specifically handle red oak problems.

The qualified exceptions are solar and air drying. Solar being a little more
detailed than air. This is not woodpile air drying though there was a site
that addressed that specifically that I want to revisit.

The amount of info available was beyond the time available. Some isn't worth
additional time, others have real potential for ideas. Note the application
of weight or hydraulic pressure on drying stacks to prevent damage to the
upper layers. The principle being to lock the material into the shape you
want while drying. The diagrams noting location of the sample within the
cross-section of the log and its affect on movement types are interesting.

As Charlie, Arch, and many others have noted there are definite differences
in specific woods, even what region the wood comes from, etc. Leading to the
conclusion that even with an overall idea/plan/setup there will have to be
individual experience applied eventually. There were specific gravity tables
by type, etc. George has done much in that regard with FPL but there's other
sources to compare any differences in conclusions. I usually prefer private
enterprise to government for conclusions unless there's an axe to grind.

There appears to be some substantiation of some of the ideas posted on RCW.
Vacuum, heat, dehumidifiers, displacers, solar, and maybe something I've
missed thinking of. There are among us some who could assimilate this data
and do a better than job than me with conclusions so I have no ego stamp on
any of this. I just started trying to bring a lot of the available info to
one spot for review. It has been enlightening and even encouraging.

Bottom line: We're where we were with the exception that there's a list of
links available in one spot for anyone who'd like to form their own opinion
or get ideas. Then if there were a similar list of woodturner's ideas you'd
have the best of the rest to chew on.

Just remember that more deer are killed with a 30-30 lever action rifle than
any other (ballistically inferior to almost anything but the most USED deer
gun). At least, that was the case back in my reloading days.

Bye
TomNie

Having been in the sporting goods business for a lot of years in the
Pac. NW I can tell you that we sold more 30-06 ammo there than 30-30.
Depends on where you are I guess.

"Tom Nie" wrote in message
...

Existent processes appear complex and require frequent monitoring using
equipment unavailable to the normal woodturner.

Humidity gage and personal attention would do.

As Charlie, Arch, and many others have noted there are definite
differences in specific woods, even what region the wood comes from, etc.
Leading to the conclusion that even with an overall idea/plan/setup there
will have to be individual experience applied eventually. There were
specific gravity tables by type, etc. George has done much in that regard
with FPL but there's other sources to compare any differences in
conclusions. I usually prefer private enterprise to government for
conclusions unless there's an axe to grind.

You need to learn to evaluate the data, not disparage the source.
Otherwise, you'll have to luck into a reinvention of the wheel. Here's a
key piece of data for you - wood loses water ten or more times faster
through end grain than through face, and quarter grain is even slower.
That's why "an inch per year" is bunk when applied to a roughed turning.
That's all you need to know to evaluate some of the alleged rapid drying
methods. You're not doing boards, so only the principles apply, not the
specifics.

Tom:

We established a VERY conservative schedule for drying in the Woodmizer.
It just was not able to squeeze water out of exotics. We'd go for
days with nothing more than a few drops.

We did build a semi-traditional kiln for exotics. I designed it, built
it (even welded the lumber carts and the air handler framework),
designed and built the computer controls, designed the drying algorithm,
and wrote the code to implement it. That was some ten years ago or so
and it is still running. For a discussion, see
http://hibdonhardwood.com/kilndrying.asp. I put this page together
attempting to explain the logic.

Note, this is for 4/4, 6/4 and 8/4 exotic lumber. Anything thicker was
not even considered so it does not apply to turning stock, except for
spindle blanks.

Bill

Tom Nie wrote:
Some thoughts - probably redundant but in one place.
....
Keep in mind Bill
Rubenstein's negative experience with a Woodmizer kiln. More on that could
be relative. Possibly the rate of drying was the culprit since that is what
all the software is essentially about. Further, it could have been designed
for softwoods or require pre-drying to perform at its best. Tennessee is
notable for trying to specifically handle red oak problems.
....

"Wally" wrote in message
oups.com...
Having been in the sporting goods business for a lot of years in the
Pac. NW I can tell you that we sold more 30-06 ammo there than 30-30.
Depends on where you are I guess.

Absolutely. You're dealing with a larger creature than a whitetail out
there. Plus, you aren't normally hunting in close quarters in the swamp.

Bill, that site visit was fun. The Rottweiler looks like mine but with gray.
The truck bed is cool and upscale as hell!
I'd hoped you had some pictures of the kiln. The info on the link was great
and I'll review when more time. Have a Godson party for now. Thanks for
contributing to the discussion.

TomNie