Author Topic: wood drying kiln for bowstaves  (Read 13014 times)

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Offline animus_divinus

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wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« on: February 07, 2011, 05:17:55 pm »
im thinking of building a small, simple apparatus for drying out bowstaves rather than waiting two years... this way i can go select tree limbs of a variety of hardwoods for making my bows...

wood drying kilns generate something around 150-180 degrees of heat... too much and its just a charcoal machine

my idea was to take something like a 7 foot length of tube steel of adequate diameter with an inexpensive heating element running the length of it, a strip of steel mesh could be cut and places inside for the stave to sit on so its not in contact with the element.. and a simple electric themostat can be used to regulate heat... open up one end, slide a stave in, close it, and dehydrate it for a few days

another option would be to lay the tube upright... and inside the cap you could install an electric stove burner element to generate the heat

to make this work, youd need some means for removing the humidity and moisture that evaporates from the log itself... and what size pipe would be neccessary?

Offline aznboi3644

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Re: wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2011, 05:55:43 pm »
so basically like a hot box?

use a few incandescent light bulbs in a small insulated enclosure and you should get there pretty easily.

Offline George Tsoukalas

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Re: wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2011, 06:35:17 pm »
Think about making board bows until your wood is dry. Rough out the stave and floor tiller bending the limbs an inch or so. Place it near a heat source. It will be ready in about a month. Leave the handle full width and the nocks an inch wide for adjustments later. You young'uns sure are in a hurry. :) Jawge
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If you ain't breakin' you ain't makin!

Offline animus_divinus

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Re: wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« Reply #3 on: February 08, 2011, 05:10:44 am »
yeah.. good idea.. ill get like an 8x4 sheet of plywood, cut it into strips, and make a 1x1x8 foot box i can set some bow staves into.. power it with a couple 100w bulbs set up with a potentiometer so i can tune down the voltage, and regulate tempature to the heat i need

i should install hinges and a latch for the top piece... and who knows, maybe when im not drying out bowstaves i could use this to make jerkey in large quantities
« Last Edit: February 08, 2011, 05:29:04 am by animus_divinus »

Offline animus_divinus

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Re: wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« Reply #4 on: February 08, 2011, 05:31:46 am »
hey... i bet i could line this box with foil... get a couple LED grow lights to go with it and tune the temperature to use it as a hydroponic box for starting seeds for this years garden :-D... i can easily justify the costs now

Offline Timo

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Re: wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« Reply #5 on: February 08, 2011, 09:04:41 am »
Mines a plywood box,with the inside lined with "low-e" foil backed insulation. Three light sockets spaced evenly. wired in hot water thermostat,and thermometer/hydrometer.

Very simple.

Offline animus_divinus

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Re: wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« Reply #6 on: February 08, 2011, 09:29:16 am »
what is the temperature range your hot water thermostat allows you to set the box for?.. and your lights, are those 100w or 60?

Offline RidgeRunner

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Re: wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« Reply #7 on: February 08, 2011, 09:39:01 am »
A small fan to move the air around will also speed up the drying process.

David
David Key / N.W. Alabama

Offline Sidewinder

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Re: wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« Reply #8 on: February 08, 2011, 09:58:56 am »
Here is one like  I built back when i first got started 4yrs ago. It worked pretty well and adding a fan really helped with moving the air. I have enough in the shed thats cured now so I don't need to speed it up anymore but if I did it would get the job done.

http://poorfolkbows.com/hotbox.htm

Hope this helps.   Danny
"You know a tree by the fruit it bears"   God

Offline animus_divinus

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Re: wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« Reply #9 on: February 08, 2011, 10:39:51 am »
ill get quarter inch plywood.. cut out 1x1x7 foot piece.. with two 1 foot pieces for the ends... get a single board of insulation, cut and glue them to the inside of the plywood (the plywood makes it a lot more durable so it wont chip or break if it gets hit)... get those cheap $1 light sockets and mount 3 in the top section.. which will be attached to the box with hinges, use a 110-170 degree hot water thermostat turned all the way up

then when im not drying wood i could use a home heating thermostat with LED grow lights and use the box to start my plants for the year too

i have relatives with land that will let me select a few branches that i could use to dry out and make bows... my goal is to make my bows with just a tomahawk to do the shaping, planing, and scraping into shape

Offline Pat B

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Re: wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« Reply #10 on: February 08, 2011, 11:26:53 am »
I made my hot box from Bingham instructions to build an unsuccessful glass bow. It has 4 light bulb sockets and a thermostat that maxsout at 168 deg(F). I rarely get it over 100 to 110 deg for drying wood. I controll the temp by unscrewing light bulbs when it gets too hot.  I also have a small fan inside which speeds up drying. I put a 1" hole at the top of one end and another at the bottom of the other end for fresh air circulation and a place for any moisture to escape.
 A few sheets of foil backed foam board and a roll of duct tape will make a fine hot box...and cheap!
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline animus_divinus

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Re: wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« Reply #11 on: February 08, 2011, 12:23:16 pm »
why do you need to unscrew bulbs if it gets too hot? isnt that the purpose of a thermostat?.. or did you mean a thermometer?

Offline Pat B

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Re: wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« Reply #12 on: February 08, 2011, 12:51:31 pm »
My thermostat cuts it off at 168deg. That is way to hot for drying wood. Generally 2, 100w bulbs is plenty to get it to 100degs or so. That's all the heat it needs. The fan, circulating the air, probably does as much as the heat.
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline animus_divinus

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Re: wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« Reply #13 on: February 08, 2011, 04:29:00 pm »
aah.. so you dont have an adjustable thermostat then.. all the thermostats i was looking at were adjustable from about 110-170 degrees

Offline Bevan R.

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Re: wood drying kiln for bowstaves
« Reply #14 on: February 08, 2011, 04:34:29 pm »
aah.. so you dont have an adjustable thermostat then.. all the thermostats i was looking at were adjustable from about 110-170 degrees

Mind letting me know where you are looking at the adjustable thermostates? I think I would be interested in one of those myself.
Bowmakers are a little bent, but knappers are just plain flaky.