Our iDRY vacuum kiln works by placing wood in a vacuum chamber, where the reduced pressure lowers the boiling point of water, allowing moisture to evaporate quickly and evenly at low temperatures. This process speeds up drying and effectively kills insects, larvae, and mold, ensuring that the wood is thoroughly sanitized and ready for use. Properly drying lumber in our iDRY kiln results in stable, high-quality lumber that is ideal for furniture and fine woodworking.
Kiln drying is priced per board foot (bd ft) and per day in the kiln. Typical kiln loads take around 21 days, though full loads (1800-2000bdft) can be longer or shorter dry times depending on customers' needs.
Cookies are measured in length and width perpendicular to each other across the piece, and thickness is the thickest part of the cookie.
You can… but I would typically advise against this practice. Patience and proper air drying beforehand are the absolute best practices to ensure minimum defects in material, such as cracks and warping. So, not only will you be taking chances with the quality of your material, but it will also cost more because it will need longer times spent in the kiln.
I recommend putting in the kiln from a fresh cut for cookies, crosscuts, rounds, or whatever else you want to call them. I have had better luck putting them directly into the kiln than trying to air-dry them outside. These pieces almost always crack (a lot), no matter how you dry them. I also recommend cutting these around 4-5” thick because it will help minimize cracking and help with the strength of the piece because short grain is easy to break.
Give us a call, email, or even text message, and tell us what you have that needs to be dried. Photos, dimensions, and the amount of slabs or lumber are very helpful information for us to give you pricing and other information. We will then give you a date on when we will have availability in future kiln loads and put you on the schedule if you would like.
This is a loaded question; typically, our thicker hardwoods at 2.5” thick take about 3 weeks after 9-12 months of air drying. We typically like to air dry no less than 1 year to ensure every bit of our slabs is fully dried to about 7-8% moisture content when we take them out of the kiln. Many hardwoods at 1” thick can be put into the kiln after only air drying for about 4 months and be fully dried after 3 weeks in the kiln. Softwoods can dry even faster! If you have any other questions about this, feel free to ask!
Yes, our iDRY vacuum kiln reaches temperatures that eliminate insects, larvae, and mold, ensuring clean, pest-free wood.
Unfortunately, we can not guarantee there will be no defects in the wood we are drying.
Some common factors include:
While we strive to minimize these issues, some level of movement or checking can happen due to the nature of the wood. We provide our best expertise and carefully monitor the process, but we can’t eliminate all risks.
We typically dry wood to 6-8% moisture content, ideal for furniture and indoor projects. If you need a different moisture level, let us know.
Phone: (856) 633-4401
Email: Jeff@LuckyNelsons.com
Address: 908 N Lenola Rd Moorestown, NJ 08057