Drying boxes

[Badger]

I didn't know they had that Allen, I will check it out.

[DC]

I got a full sized dehumidifier on clearance for $125, thought I did well. I wish I'd seen these things. There's one that does 333 cubic feet for $15. I could have bought eight of them.

[BowEd]

I had to buy another here for my basement.It does 2500 sq.feet.It does do the job.Cost around 180.00 dollars though.Costs around 5 to 10 dollars a month to run with electricity too.It keeps things in the range of 50% humidity.I probably have 4 or 5 analog humidity gauges around the house.I don't own a moisture meter.I did for a while once till I broke the points off in a piece of wood.I can see their practical use though.

[FilipT]

Can this hot box remove humidity in a matter of days?

[Eric Krewson]

20 years ago I made bows in a 5'X7' corner of the garage by the water heater, space was limited, I needed a drying box I could hang high on the wall and out of the way. I made a 12"X12" box with three light bulbs on a bar, vents at the top and bottom and a dimmer switch to control the temp. With the dimmer switch the light bulbs last forever. I can barely turn the lights on to a mild glow and get 100 degrees in the box, cranked up half way I get 120 degrees.  I put a shelf in my box to sepperate the light bulbs from the drying wood.

I don't feel a fan is necessary because of the natural draft front the air heating in the box.

The first shot is one of the two top vents on my box, there is one large on in the center of the box on the bottom.

The box worked so well I took it to my new shop.

The third shot is my dimmer switch to control temperature.

[BowEd]

Pretty good Eric.Nice pictures showing things.

[Badger]

  I like that Eric! I really like the idea of a dimmer switch. My basic plan is almost identical to yours except I was afraid to have a wooden shelf over the light bulbs and planned to use aluminum as it also tends to spread the heat out. .

[DC]

Badger, one of my early tries I had a 300 Watt bulb in a six inch square tube made of 1/8" ply. I lined it with tin foil and the outside of the tube barely got warm. I didn't leave it on when I wasn't in the shop though

[Eric Krewson]

I turned up the light for the picture, the wood shelf is far enough away from the bulb to not get hot with my normal running temperature. I start out at about 90 degrees and bump it up over time, never over 110. The stringers on the shelf are to keep the wood off the shelf for even heating with no hot spots.

I have found that wood at 20% and over may check if you don't have it really sealed. I also found that you can dry full bore if the MC is at 16% or less. I don't usually move wood to the box until it gets to 16%. If I do, I put it in for a few hours and take it out to stabilize over night then back in the box for a few hours and so forth.

[Badger]

    I noticed that my wood drops down to 11 or 12% in about 2 weeks or less just sitting in the house. It seems to slow down a lt at about 10%. This is where I plan to start cooking it, under 12%.

[BowEd]

That would be the reason I would make a hot box.A faster way anytime of year and at an appropriate less dangerous moisture content to prevent any checking.The only way I get the wood down to 8 or 9 per cent moisture without a hot box is to put my enviornment down to 35 per cent[winter time] and still will take 2 weeks more as you stated to get that last percent or so.That's doing it with the mass weighing method.
I've read where 1 percent means 6 per cent performance.So from 12 to 7 or 8 percent could mean 25 to 35 percent difference.That's a fair amount as I'm sure you realize yourself.

[Badger]

    Ed, I know with hickory it really makes a difference in performance. Osage does well at 6% also but doesn't fall off as bad at about 8 %.

[Mounter]

Foam boxes work well. I use one for my g-bows

[willie]

Steve, I have had good luck with an old  4 foot flourescent shop fixture upside down in the bottom. T12 I think is the older style about 40 watts even heat per bulb, doesn't get too hot either.