“Best Buy” Lumber Kiln

2022 - Volume #46, Issue #1, Page #13

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J.R. Manske, Stoddard, Wis.: “I bought a new iDry 2.0 Vacuum Kiln for my woodworking business. It was a lot more money than a dehumidifier kiln, but it was a good purchase and provides many advantages compared to traditional kilns.
  “By using vacuum, the boiling point of the water in the wood is lowered, enabling a lower heat to achieve the same level of dryness. That eliminates the high temperature reduces stress, checking and cracking. It also allows thicker lumber to be accommodated.
  “I bought a Woodmizer LT 40 sawmill 4 years ago to saw out lumber for my furniture building and custom work for other hobbyists and homeowners. It’s an awesome machine, and I was using it to saw out big live edge slabs. I was selling them green, but people didn’t know how to air dry them. When they used them in-house and had problems, it was giving me a bad name.
  “I started building my own dehumidifier kiln, but realized it wouldn’t dry anything over 1 1/2 in. in live edge. That’s when I went to the vacuum kiln. It’s the iDry Standard with a capacity of up to 2,000 board feet.
  “It creates a vacuum in the stainless steel chamber and then blows hot air across the wood, first 2 hours in one direction and then 2 hours in another. This cycle continues. Once a day the vacuum drops, fresh air returns and water drains out. Then it repeats.
  “It dries up to 10 times faster, retains color better and produces a better end product. iDry Wood advertises drying wood at a rate of 7 days per inch of thickness. It is slower than that, but each load is different, especially if drying mixed hardwood loads.
  “I installed it in my barn where I have my shop, as it has to be in a heated area to keep waterlines from freezing. In the winter it helps heat the shop. In the summer the shop goes to about 100 degrees, even with the air conditioner running.
  “The company has been good to work with. I bought it over the phone, and they shipped it with a 1-year warranty. I had some minor problems, but they’ve been with me every time. I can even link the kiln directly to them in Vermont for diagnostics via the internet.
  “I had an issue with a water valve, and they shipped a new one the next day. They did a recall on door clamps and sent me new ones, even though I hadn’t had a problem.
  “If the president of the company doesn’t answer the phone, someone else who knows the answer will. It’s not always the price, but the customer service you get that means the most.
  “It wasn’t cheap (current list price of $59,000). I paid $49,000 for it in 2018, but it does what it does well. Like the Woodmizer sawmill, just about every part is made in the U.S. When I spend as much money as I did on the sawmill and the vacuum kiln, I want to keep it in the U.S.”

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“Best Buy” Lumber Kiln J R Manske Stoddard Wis : “I bought a new iDry 2 0 Vacuum Kiln for my woodworking business It was a lot more money than a dehumidifier kiln but it was a good purchase and provides many advantages compared to traditional kilns “By using vacuum the boiling point of the water in the wood is lowered enabling a lower heat to achieve the same level of dryness That eliminates the high temperature reduces stress checking and cracking It also allows thicker lumber to be accommodated “I bought a Woodmizer LT 40 sawmill 4 years ago to saw out lumber for my furniture building and custom work for other hobbyists and homeowners It’s an awesome machine and I was using it to saw out big live edge slabs I was selling them green but people didn’t know how to air dry them When they used them in-house and had problems it was giving me a bad name “I started building my own dehumidifier kiln but realized it wouldn’t dry anything over 1 1/2 in in live edge That’s when I went to the vacuum kiln It’s the iDry Standard with a capacity of up to 2 000 board feet “It creates a vacuum in the stainless steel chamber and then blows hot air across the wood first 2 hours in one direction and then 2 hours in another This cycle continues Once a day the vacuum drops fresh air returns and water drains out Then it repeats “It dries up to 10 times faster retains color better and produces a better end product iDry Wood advertises drying wood at a rate of 7 days per inch of thickness It is slower than that but each load is different especially if drying mixed hardwood loads “I installed it in my barn where I have my shop as it has to be in a heated area to keep waterlines from freezing In the winter it helps heat the shop In the summer the shop goes to about 100 degrees even with the air conditioner running “The company has been good to work with I bought it over the phone and they shipped it with a 1-year warranty I had some minor problems but they’ve been with me every time I can even link the kiln directly to them in Vermont for diagnostics via the internet “I had an issue with a water valve and they shipped a new one the next day They did a recall on door clamps and sent me new ones even though I hadn’t had a problem “If the president of the company doesn’t answer the phone someone else who knows the answer will It’s not always the price but the customer service you get that means the most “It wasn’t cheap current list price of $59 000 I paid $49 000 for it in 2018 but it does what it does well Like the Woodmizer sawmill just about every part is made in the U S When I spend as much money as I did on the sawmill and the vacuum kiln I want to keep it in the U S ”

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