How to make a vacuum drying chamber for wood. Making a dryer for lumber with your own hands. Wood drying methods

Vacuum drying– this is processing various materials, which has now become very popular in many directions. This type of processing is used in food, industrial and similar industries that require equipment to carry out such processes.

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If we talk about the industry where vacuum drying has become an integral part, then, of course, this is the furniture industry, where without carrying out such a process, creation cannot take place. quality furniture. This type of processing is used in the furniture industry during primary wood processing. After going through the process of vacuum drying, the tree finds its characteristic properties. Firstly, it becomes of higher quality, secondly, more practical, and most importantly, furniture made from such wood looks simply incredibly beautiful. In other industries, vacuum drying has a completely different operating principle. Apart from the furniture industry, this process is also very popular in Food Industry, but the operating principle there is completely different. Vacuum drying is a labor-intensive process that has a huge number of nuances that should never be forgotten:

The first point is the presence of a large number quality equipment, which is an integral part of such a process.
The second point is high equipment performance, without which achieving high efficiency results will be quite problematic.
The third point is the place where the vacuum drying process will take place. In order for everything to happen efficiently, you need to have a place that will meet the standards of humidity, air, light and similar criteria that play a huge role in this matter.

The cost of vacuum drying is a rather controversial issue, and giving an exact answer to it is very problematic. The price of such a process directly depends on many factors, ranging from the material that will be processed and ending with the vacuum equipment in which this process will take place. No less important aspect also the time it takes you to complete the vacuum drying process. All this plays a certain role, which is why the price of such a process can be completely different. All these aspects play a big role, which means that they must be taken into account in any case if you want to get a specific answer to what the result of vacuum drying will subsequently be.

Vacuum drying technology

Vacuum drying technology also boasts big amount interesting moments. Now we will try to analyze the principle of operation of vacuum drying, taking wood processing as an example, since it is this material that most often lends itself to vacuum drying.

We have already said earlier that before creating furniture, the wood must undergo a vacuum drying process, which will allow all excess liquid to be extracted from it and the wood to be significantly reduced in size. Main processes of vacuum drying:

Removal excess liquid from wood, by evaporation method
Circulation of water through wood

First, circulation occurs in the system, since this process takes much longer. The speed of processing wood using the vacuum drying method directly depends on the speed of water circulation in the wood. The main part of the vacuum drying process is the complete drying of the wood, and this is done so that the wood loses its extra dimensions and has only its own mass, which will later be used in the creation of furniture. It's no secret that in this industry there is a rule that states that before creating wood products, its surface must be completely free of wood. Since only in this case will it be possible to extract moisture from the core of the tree, which will come out through circulation. But it is worth noting that in addition to vacuum drying of wood, this technology is also actively used in other areas, which we will now tell you about:

Vacuum drying of meat
Vacuum drying of cheese
Vacuum drying of powders
Vacuum drying of liquid-viscous products
Vacuum drying of milk

This is only part of the list of areas where the vacuum drying process is actively used. This technology has already gained enormous popularity, which is only growing every day. This technology is truly unique, which is why it began to be used in many enterprises that now simply cannot function fully without this process. This means that there is a possibility of further spread of vacuum drying. It is possible that this process will soon be applied in all areas without exception, giving the opportunity to increase productivity for many enterprises.

Vacuum drying chambers

Vacuum drying chambers are mechanisms that are designed to carry out a huge number of labor-intensive tasks. We have previously talked about how beneficial the vacuum drying process is. As for chambers for vacuum drying, this is something without which such a process simply cannot be carried out. Vacuum drying chambers play a huge role in this regard, and without them, you can completely forget about some performance indicators.

The price segment of vacuum drying chambers is currently far from the lowest. If you wish, you can find already supported installations that will be quite average in terms of price. But it is best to buy new installations, since only they can provide you with all possible quality guarantees. On modern market You can see a huge number of types of chambers for vacuum drying, which can have completely different purposes. All these cameras have their own functional features, since they are used in a certain industry. Now we will look at the main types of drying chambers:

Vacuum drying oven
Vacuum chamber for drying fruits
Drying chamber for drying food
Drying chamber for wood

The operating principle of each camera is individual, as it is designed to work in a specific industry. But in any case, we can say that such equipment at the moment is really very effective.

Vacuum freeze drying

Freeze drying is a process that is based on the constant sublimation of ice crystals of frozen products. This process, in a short period of time, produces high-quality dehydration of products, and does it with truly high quality.

The important point is that dehydration does not in any way affect Chemical properties products that remain just as useful in the future. In addition, vitamin activity also remains in the same form, chemical composition And anatomical structure. Vacuum freeze drying consists of three key steps:

Primary freezing of the product
Sublimation of ice without heat inside the system
Final drying in special heated chamber

Based on this, we can conclude that the efficiency of freeze drying is at high level and the process is truly worth the investment.

Vacuum drying of wood

IN previous sections we took this type of drying as an example. As a result, we came to the conclusion that this type of processing is very effective, but also has a certain number of nuances that are also worth paying attention to.

The vacuum drying process can only be effective if the environment in which it occurs fully complies with all standards of humidity, temperature, light and similar aspects. The cost of vacuum drying currently fluctuates within the middle price segment. If you wish, you can find a place where such a process will cost you just a few pennies, but in this case, you will not receive any guarantees of quality. It is best to overpay a little, but in the end get a high-quality result of work, which can be used in the future in the production of reliable and beautiful furniture.

Drying is a mandatory stage in preparing wood before processing. To prevent logs from becoming deformed, they are dried in certain conditions, which are created in drying chambers. For your home workshop, you can make a wood dryer with your own hands.

The importance of drying

Since ancient times, wood that was cut down several years ago was used to make wood products. Furniture made from damp or improperly dried boards will warp or dry out and crack. When drying, the material shrinks, raw wooden beams will begin to move over time, and cracks the width of a palm will appear in the walls of the log house. Mold grows in damp wood. But overdried boards are also bad - the material begins to absorb moisture and swells.

Drying is carried out with hot air or steam, the process is long and expensive, but it gives the wood additional strength, prevents changes in shape and size, and the lumber is stored longer.

Drying modes

There are several modes of drying lumber. In self-made chambers, the temperature increases in stages, removing moisture from the raw materials. Drying technology is selected taking into account:

wood species;
dimensions of lumber;
final and starting humidity;
dryer features;
raw material quality categories.

The drying process can be high temperature or low temperature. In the second case, primary processing is carried out at a temperature not reaching 100 degrees.

Low temperature regimes are divided into categories:

soft - during the drying process, lumber retains all its properties, strength and color do not change;
normal - color changes slightly, strength decreases slightly;
forced - when chipped and split, brittleness is possible, the color darkens.

The change in ambient temperature in low-temperature conditions occurs in three stages. The transition to the next stage is possible when the wood reaches the specified moisture content.

High-temperature treatment is carried out in two stages. The second stage occurs when the moisture content of the raw material decreases to 20%. This technology is used when preparing wood for the construction of secondary structures, allowing for color changes and a decrease in strength.

Types of drying chambers

Drying wood in industrial scale produced in special chambers. Moisture is removed from the lumber by heated air and carried outside. Happens in the device full cycle drying wood. The room can be:

prefabricated metal;
constructed from building materials.

The latter are installed directly in carpentry shops or as free-standing buildings. The walls are made of reinforced concrete or brick. At large enterprises, several cameras are installed, combined into a module with common system control and communications. Air circulates in the dryer horizontally or vertically-transversely. Wood can be transported to industrial dryers on rails on carts or laid out using forklifts.

Heat sources in the dryer:

hot steam;
radiant heat from special devices;
heated shelves;
electric current that passes well through wet logs;
high frequency electromagnetic field.

The camera is equipped with a main and additional equipment. The main consists of systems:

supply and exhaust ventilation;
heat supply;
hydration.

Additional equipment includes insulation of walls and doors, trolleys for laying material, psychometric equipment, and electric drive.

Industrial dryers are controlled automatically, small homemade dryers are controlled manually. Humidity adjustable supply and exhaust ventilation and humidifiers. To measure the humidity in a room, a moisture meter is installed that collects data simultaneously in several places.

The following energy sources can be used to heat air: electricity, wood processing waste, liquid and solid fuel.

Types of dryers

According to the method of air movement, chambers are divided into:

with natural;
with forced air exchange.

Cameras with natural air exchange are inefficient and the process in them cannot be controlled. Therefore, they are used less and less.

According to the principle of action, the following are distinguished:

convective;
condensation dryers.

In convection chambers, the wood is blown with streams of hot air, and heat is transferred by convection. They can be deep tunnel or chamber. Logs are loaded into tunnel chambers from one end and unloaded from the other, moving through the chamber, the material is gradually dried. The cycle duration ranges from 4 to 12 hours. Such cameras are installed in large sawmills. Chamber dryers are more compact; a single microclimate is maintained throughout the entire volume. Allows you to prepare any type of wood to the required condition. Therefore, most industrial dryers are chamber type.

Using condensation drying technology, moisture released from the material is deposited on coolers, accumulates in containers and is drained outside. The efficiency of such a device is very high, but the process is long and accompanied by high heat losses. The technology is good for preparing hard lumber in small batches. The price of equipment and the cost of condensation drying are lower than convective drying.

Setting up a homemade dryer

In order to make a dryer with your own hands, you can do without drawings. It is necessary to provide:

camera room;
insulation;
heat source;
fan.

The area of a dryer built by yourself usually does not exceed 9 square meters. meters. In room square shape it is easier to ensure optimal movement of warm air. It is advisable that one wall of the chamber be made of concrete slabs, others are made of wood. All walls are insulated from the inside in two layers: polystyrene foam and foil board. An excellent and free insulation material is wood shavings. And the foil can be replaced with penofol, which perfectly reflects heat.

You can build a separate drying room with your own hands from aluminum; such a structure will last a long time. The frame is made from a profile, it is sheathed sheet metal, which is insulated from the outside. The thickness of the insulation is at least 15 cm. The floor is covered with roofing felt, and a thick layer of shavings is poured on top as thermal insulation.

Care must be taken to thoroughly seal the front door!

The heat emitter can be made in the form of pipes or heating radiators. The water temperature should be 65-95 degrees. It is heated by an electric boiler, wood stove, gas boiler. For a small chamber, even a two-burner electric stove is sufficient. If the stove is located directly in the room, you need to line it with bricks. The brick will accumulate heat and gradually radiate it into the dryer. It’s easy to equip a convection chamber with your own hands by installing a fan heater as a heat source.

When setting up a dryer for your home woodworking workshop with your own hands, it is important to follow the precautions fire safety. There should always be a fire extinguisher near the building.

Constant circulation is important warm water, which is provided by the pump. To ensure that heat is evenly distributed throughout the room, a fan is installed. Workroom Equipped with a wet and dry thermometer.

To make it easier to load the board into the chamber, you can use a trolley on rails. And to increase usable area Shelves are lined up on the walls.

The step-by-step instructions are as follows:

We are building the foundation.
We are building the frame.
We cover the frame with sheets of metal.
Installation of thermal insulation.
Cover the floor with film and sawdust.
Installation of supports from bars.
Installation of heaters and fans.

The design of a homemade chamber for drying lumber in the video:

The problem of maintaining optimal moisture content in lumber is relevant both among builders and among those who like to make something in their own carpentry workshop. Drying wood at home allows you to save a lot on its purchase, because dry raw materials are always more expensive than wet ones.

By the way, if you don’t have time for construction works, then you can dry wood at home or in the country even under atmospheric conditions.

Some owners adapt ready-made haylofts, sheds or other suitable buildings for these purposes. This is the way out of the situation that one of our forum members found.

Timakval member FORUMHOUSE

I used the yard attic (former hayloft) size 10*5 m for drying. I laid it out, as it should, through spacers in each row. Total 3.5 cubes of boards of different categories. The advantages of this drying place are always shade, a finished roof and good ventilation. Took it last May different sizes boards, bars and beams - blanks for small construction. The boards were too heavy to lift due to moisture. During the time they were lying in the hayloft (1.5-2 months) they dried to fluff, they did not curl or bend.

Drying under atmospheric conditions is a rather lengthy process, and since we have decided to take a comprehensive approach to this issue, let’s look at the sequence of building a home dryer with our own hands, which allows us to more effectively achieve the required humidity levels. We suggest you choose a building as a suitable premises required size, and after that you can start working. The room can have dimensions of 2*3 m or 4*3 m (more is possible). It all depends on your needs and the scope of your activity. But when choosing a building, you should remember that there should not be much free space left in the dryer. After all, drafts and chaotic air movement negatively affect the quality of wood.

DIY wood dryer

The room chosen for arranging a homemade dryer must be heated by a stove or a specially installed fireplace. It is good if a heater is pre-installed in the room. If there is none, then be sure to leave room for it.

This is the project for making a home dryer suggested by a member of our forum.

Nikolay Valen member of FORUMHOUSE

There is a large garage with water heating; a potbelly stove using wood and waste is installed as a boiler. There is a pipe with a diameter of 800 mm and a length of 2.2 meters (former ventilation duct With industrial enterprise). The idea is as follows: install sealed covers on both ends of the pipe, leave fittings with a diameter of 150-200 mm for the supply and removal of hot air. The air is heated by a radiator (this can be a car heater). Air supply - table fan. 0.3-0.5 cubic meters of lumber are loaded into the pipe, the stove is heated (the coolant temperature reaches 90 degrees, I think that the supplied air can actually be heated to 50-60 degrees).

If you have chosen a room too large sizes, then the space planned to be used for homemade dryer, should be made insulated and sealed. For these purposes they are made wooden partitions, you can use insulation, brick and other materials that allow you to create your own microclimate in the dryer. Do not forget that it is necessary to leave a window in the chamber for ventilation and front door. After all, we shouldn’t end up with a hut without windows and doors.

Fans installed in the drying chamber will help create forced air flow and make the drying process more efficient.

mfcn FORUMHOUSE member,
Moscow.

It is advisable to place fans on the floor to the side of the stack so that the blowing is parallel to the spacers. Remember that when drying wood, you need to evaporate about several hundred liters of water from each cubic meter of wood.

To place lumber in the dryer, special shelves or flooring should be installed. These products can be made of metal so that the structure can withstand relatively large loads. Wood should be dried to levels corresponding to 8–12% humidity. Its measurements are carried out using a special moisture meter.

Drying wood is necessary following certain rules. Otherwise, the material will be hopelessly damaged and cannot be used in construction. To do this, the wood must be stacked. And between each new layer, spacers made of boards of the same thickness should be placed. Wood of any species, stacked in neat stacks, will never suffer from fungal infections and will retain its integrity and excellent consumer qualities.

Lao Czy member FORUMHOUSE

The spacers need to be made higher for better air ventilation between the boards. They will dry out better. You can place your cut 25*30 or 25*40 cubes on edge. The reason for limiting the height of the stack is to prevent the boards from being driven by a “helicopter blade”, secure the topmost layers of boards in the stack with self-tapping screws. I have been storing my boards using this method for the 3rd year at my dacha in the Moscow region. They are in excellent condition!

Gaps should also be left between boards located in the same row. This will ensure unhindered air movement inside the stack and improve drying quality.

Wood drying chamber project

Wood can be dried quickly and efficiently in well-equipped and free-standing drying chambers. Construction of such a chamber on the scale of a dacha or suburban area is not always advisable. After all, this type of construction will be very expensive, and its construction will take a lot of time.

The construction of such a premises can well be called the implementation of a full-scale construction project. You cannot avoid labor-intensive operations associated with pouring the foundation, erecting walls and installing complex equipment.

How to make drying for wood can be understood from the diagram.

DIY chamber drying

Such a mini-wood dryer requires the placement of not only basic equipment (heating and ventilation), but also additional automatic control systems.

Operating modes of the drying chamber

A chamber dryer does not require high heat during normal operation. And the full cycle of work associated with drying one batch of wood can be divided into several stages.

The first stage lasts from 15 to 20 hours. During this period, the air in the chamber warms up to 45С. The ventilation does not turn on, and condensation forms on the walls of the room.

The second stage lasts about 48 hours. It involves connecting ventilation and heating the air in the chamber dryer to 50°C.

The third stage lasts until the required final moisture level is reached in the internal structure of the wood (8...12%). At this time, the air temperature rises to 55 C, the exhaust dampers open completely, and the fans operate at full power.

Once the humidity reaches the required levels, the heat supply should be stopped. The fans should remain on for another 24 hours. As a result of this heat treatment, you will receive dry wood, completely ready for use during carpentry or construction work.

Get acquainted with the practical developments of our forum members regarding correct construction stacks, you can in the "" section. Those who want to learn more about the technology of drying lumber can visit the “” section. For those who want to see a master class on wood aging technology, we recommend watching the corresponding video.

All photos from the article

A do-it-yourself board dryer is made if there is a need to process a large volume of unprepared wood. Of course, you can immediately purchase blanks from optimal humidity, but in this case the costs of purchasing the material will be very high. So the construction special device may turn out to be quite effective from an economic point of view.

In our article we will tell you. How to dry wood, and we provide recommendations for independent arrangement drying chamber.

Theoretical aspects

Moisture in wood

Before we start designing a dryer, we need to understand why it is needed. As the name suggests, such devices are designed to remove excess liquid from wood, and here it is worth paying attention to the theory.

All moisture in wood is divided into two groups:

free - found in cell cavities and intercellular spaces. The free moisture content is primarily determined by the conditions in which the tree grew, as well as the storage conditions of the sawn pieces. When drying, free moisture leaves the wood quite quickly;
bound (structural) – a liquid that is part of the cell walls. Each type of wood normally has its own level of moisture content in the structure. In this case, the removal of bound liquid occurs very slowly, therefore, under natural conditions, drying can take from several months to several years.

As a rule, the limit of wood saturation with moisture is at the level of 30%. Wood with higher humidity is considered damp and is almost never used for work.

Humidity indicators for different materials differ:

Why is drying necessary?

So, we’ve dealt with moisture itself, now let’s analyze why we need to reduce it.

When removing moisture naturally the configuration of the wood fibers changes, due to which the size of the board decreases - it “dries out”.
In this case, the workpiece loses moisture unevenly, so deformation can also occur in different planes at different rates.
Due to this, stress lines are formed inside the wood, which subsequently give rise to cracks.

Note!
As a rule, the board cracks along the grain, starting from the end.
This is due to the least strong bonds between the longitudinal fibers.

In addition to cracking, transverse deformation of the board is also possible: the part either bends in an arc, or due to uneven lifting of the edges, a so-called “propeller” is formed. This behavior is explained simply: not all fibers dry at the same time, which means their length also decreases in different ways.

As you can see, if used to build structures or craft various designs wood with a high moisture content, over time individual parts may become unusable. There is one way to avoid this - before starting work, prepare the raw materials by drying them in one way or another.

Drying modes

The use of drying chambers can significantly reduce the time required to prepare lumber for work. At the same time, by controlling the dehydration regime, we can control the performance properties of the resulting material.
Today, experts distinguish three drying modes:

Mode	Peculiarities
Soft	The temperature in the chamber rises gradually, due to which not only the natural strength of the wood is preserved, but also its color. At the same time, the rate of dehydration of raw materials is slightly reduced.
Standard	It is used to bring the material to its final moisture content while maintaining almost complete strength. In this case, a slight change in shade is possible.
Forced	Forced drying is used for maximum quick preparation lumber for work. After high-temperature treatment, the bending, compressive and tensile strength is maintained, but the splitting strength may be slightly reduced. It is also possible that the wood may darken and a characteristic odor may appear.

Creating a drying chamber

Ready premises

So, we have argued the thesis that lumber must be prepared for use by drying. Now let's figure out how to make a board dryer with your own hands.

First, we need to select the room in which the drying process will take place:

Since removing moisture from wood requires significant energy expenditure, the drying area must be selected based on the planned volumes of material.
The optimal room height is 2 – 2.5 m (so as not to bend over). The width should allow the placement of one or two stacks of boards of 1.8 - 2 m each with a passage between them.
The windows in the dryer must be covered with bricks.. We expand the doors so that we can easily load the material being processed.

Note!
For ventilation, either a small window or a vent is left, into which we will later lead the air duct.

If drying boards is planned in a fairly large room, then it is advisable to make a separate partition in it. We build partitions from brick or thick enough timber to provide thermal insulation.

Construction of a dryer

However, it is not always possible to find a suitable room (most often a garage or barn plays this role).

This is why it will be useful to learn how to make a drying board for boards from scratch:

We lay a tape or columnar foundation. Since the mass of the structure will be small, we make the base shallow.
After the foundation concrete has dried, we assemble a frame from an aluminum or galvanized steel profile. We connect the frame parts using bolts and special brackets.

Note!
Price aluminum structures significantly higher, but at the same time they are significantly more resistant to corrosion in warm and humid environments.
So the use of more expensive load-bearing elements is completely justified.

We sheathe the walls and roof steel sheets, which we fix to the frame with metal screws (with a drill). For maximum efficiency we perform double cladding, laying between metal sheets layer mineral wool insulation with a capacity of 100 – 150 mm.

We lay a dense layer on the floor waterproofing membrane, which we cover with a layer of sawdust.
We install doors that should close as tightly as possible. Can be reinforced for additional sealing door frame bars with rubber sheets attached.
As in the case of using a ready-made room, be sure to install ventilation ducts for air circulation.

After completing the work, we check the tightness of the room, if necessary, eliminating defects in the cladding. Now we just need to equip our drying chamber.

Note!
A closed dryer should not have any gaps that allow uncontrolled air flow.
This is due to the fact that the presence of the slightest draft can provoke uneven processing of the boards, causing them to crack or deform.

Equipment

Instructions for arranging a dryer can be very different, because the equipment of the chamber largely depends on both our requests and financial capabilities.

But still general scheme It’s quite possible to formulate:

First, we make supports on which the stack of boards will be installed. We fix it on the floor, allowing the material to be dried to be raised approximately 10-15 cm above the floor level to ensure circulation in the lower layer of air.

Instead of supports, you can use wall racks. At the same time, we attach metal brackets to the load-bearing surfaces, intended for laying stacks along the walls of the drying chamber.

Note!
This option is most often used when temporarily converting part of an outbuilding into a dryer.

Next, install the heating device. It could be a stove, fireplace, heat gun, fan heater, etc. – it all depends on your preferences. The key parameter will be the power of the device, which is calculated based on the volume of loaded wood: to dry 1 m3 of boards, at least 3 kW of thermal energy is required, respectively, the more raw materials we need, the more powerful the device we will need.
Together with heating devices, we install fans that will ensure air movement. Of course, you can save money on your purchase ventilation system and make do natural exhaust, but in this case, the time to prepare the boards for work will increase significantly, which means that the cost of heating the chamber will also increase.

Fans and heating devices arranged in such a way that warm air walked across the air flow. This installation allows you to significantly reduce aerodynamic drag system so that the dryer will work more efficiently.

Since our camera will require a large amount of electricity to operate, it is advisable to connect a separate power cable to it. In this case, we connect all used units to switchboard through an RCD with the corresponding power partners. Such a precaution will not be superfluous, since wood, even if not completely dried, can catch fire from the slightest spark that appears during a short circuit.

Advice!
It is also advisable to set automatic system temperature and ventilation control.
It is quite expensive, but its use allows you to control the parameters of the internal environment of the dryer, thereby ensuring maximum quality of wood processing.

Using the dryer

If the drying chamber was assembled according to all the rules, then using it will be quite simple. To do this, we stack the boards, placing bars up to 20 mm thick between the rows, and load the stack into the dryer.

After this, we begin to change the temperature, gradually increasing the heat.

There are many drying schemes, but novice craftsmen should use a low-temperature mode, as it ensures maximum quality with minimal risk of defects:

Heating - raise the temperature to 45 - 50 0C at a speed of 5 - 70 C per hour.
Exposure – keep at 50 0C for 5 hours.
Drying – reduce the humidity of the wood from 30 to 8%, gradually increasing the temperature to 60 0C. This stage takes about 48 hours. Supply and exhaust ventilation turns on at half power.
Air conditioning – maintain the temperature at 600C for another 12 hours. Ventilation must work actively.
Cooling down to temperature environment with heating and ventilation turned off.

As a result, we should get boards suitable for most types of carpentry and joinery work.

Conclusion

As you can see, making a board dryer with your own hands is quite simple (but I must admit, with certain financial costs). At the same time, the use of this device allows you to obtain a large amount of construction raw materials, which, if purchased from the manufacturer, would be much more expensive.

To learn more about the technology chamber drying We advise everyone who is interested in this topic to study the video in this article.

High-quality dried lumber has always been the key to quality, durability and reliability of any structure in which wood occupies a significant share. But it is difficult to obtain it under natural conditions without it spoiling. Drying time under normal atmospheric conditions can range from 6 to 12 months, depending on the temperature and humidity of the environment. During natural heat treatment, the material is subject to unwanted deformation, warping and cracking.

To improve the quality of drying lumber, many equipment options have been invented; people often try to make a vacuum drying chamber for wood with their own hands - because this technology is considered one of the most effective. But the problem is that it is quite difficult to make such a unit yourself. Still, there are craftsmen who make them from old tank bodies or thickened sheet steel. These are mainly mini cameras with a loading volume of 5-10 cubic meters.

What is vacuum drying of wood with your own hands?

Vacuum drying of wood with your own hands is quite possible if you have a shell from a rocket, tank, or any other similar type of product from which you can make a shell for the equipment.

Main design elements:

frame
Vacuum pump
heating elements (heaters, plates, steam generator, microwave emitters, etc.)
trolley for loading lumber
automation

You will need a pump to pump out air and create a vacuum. You can warm up lumber using any in a known way, which can be the contact method, air-gas and water vapor.

A do-it-yourself vacuum chamber is quite technically complicated, because it will be quite difficult to find many parts for its manufacture. And ordering them specifically is tantamount to ordering the camera itself. Therefore, before you start constructing vacuum drying chambers for wood with your own hands, you should consider whether it is advisable or whether it would be better to order it from a specialized company.

Do-it-yourself thermal chamber for wood - production of thermal wood

Thermal vacuum chamber technology has been around since the last century. The thermal dryer has much in common with a vacuum chamber for drying lumber.

To do vacuum chamber For thermowood, you need to take into account the technical features:

Wood processing occurs at high temperatures
The chamber body must withstand high pressure

These 2 points are important to consider for the safety of personnel.

An important task is the choice of agent: oil or steam. Also technical modes. If the conditions are incorrect, thermal drying takes place only on the surface of the wood, and the lumber may not acquire the desired properties:

full color change
fire resistance
increased resistance to rotting

Do homemade camera for thermowood as well as thermowood itself at home difficult task. It is unlikely that you will be able to find competent specialists ready to share their experience on forums, videos, or somewhere on the Internet. By existing issues You can contact the manufacturers.

Vacuum dryers for wood: do it yourself or from professionals?

Our company has been producing high-quality and highly efficient vacuum-type drying chambers for several years, so we are ready to offer a truly reliable and practical option.

But if you need a vacuum wood dryer small sizes for heat treatment small parts and you want to make it yourself, then you need a drawing. Drawings on this topic are quite a rare occurrence; of those that occur, it is unlikely that a camera capable of working in production conditions will be produced.

If you are still planning to purchase finished equipment, then effective option are chambers with contact technology for heating lumber along the entire length, the percentage of defects is less than 1, and the drying time to 6-8% moisture content of a 30 mm thick pine board will be only about 60 hours.