I have a 56" Alaskan Chainsaw Mill. I also have a friend with a saw mill and frankly I would rather have my lumber cut on the sawmill. Chainsaw mills waste a lot of wood. The real advantage of the chainsaw mill is you can cut trees up out in the woods and get it into manageable chunks to you can get it out of the woods. I dont have tractors to move logs but luckily I have neighbors that do. Plus the chainsaw mill is a real workout to saw a log or 10 and then but all those slabs in a trailer and drive home. Then usually you have to load and unload it a few more times before it can dry. If you have a chainsaw mill I am not telling you anything but you can get a lot of logs cut at a sawmill for the price of a big enough chainsaw to efficiently run a chainsaw mill. 
I totally agree with you on the waste. I hate seeing so much wood go into sawdust from the chainsaw. Finding this sawmill might prove invaluable. I do like the idea of running my logs on the bandsaw sawmill, because they can cut so much faster and with thin cuts at that, thus saving more lumber.
One of my neighbors cut down a huge tree that had a narly base. I only saw it when I was there to visit and he was slitting it with his hydraulic splitter. I was sick to my stomach seeing this tree being split up for firewood knowing it would have turned out some of the nicest slabs with the neatest grain pattern. Oh well, to ashes it goes now.
TOTALLY , that looks great
You did great!
Follow the sketch on setting up a drying station.
It’s something like 1year per inch of thickness on thin stock and 2 years over that thickness.
Man, if you could get a used container and turn it into a thermal/solar drying station, you could make money just by drying!
Looks like a good deal to me. Especially with various species in one bundle. Two cents from moi: In Canada - always seal ends to avoid warping of the wood. Not sure if that’s the norm where you are.
A used shipping container would be an awesome idea for a solar drying station. Just need to come up with the $2,000 for one and to get it shipped to my shop. Might be difficult because I will need to work on the trees hanging over the road that would effect the truck coming in. Plus, would need to get the gravel/dirt road fixed from all of the puddles and crap. Then have the driveway at the shop be fixed with a good load of gravel loaded on to stop all the mud and stuff. But would love to get there.
Still need to seal the ends so the boards don’t crack, split, chap, or warp on me as well. I’m heading over tomorrow to pick up another bundle. My parents wanted to pick up two bundles as well. The price is too good right now for this stuff.
I built that kiln…works great!
Just so you know…even if you seal the ends they will still check and warp to a point. The best method is to use a sealer shortly after the logs are cut. Most people use anchor seal and I have too but in my opinion it does not work any better than old latex paint. It just cost a lot more.
Freaking awesome. Please send a picture !
Do you monitor the wood moisture content often ?
I started reading on that and was a bit overwhelmed.
Comments on the above chain:
So looks like 3’ wide x 8’ long by 25 or so layers of 4/4 so about 500 board feet (roughly). $200 means 40 cents a board foot - that is CHEAP!!!
I built a mini solar kiln 4 years ago (4’ by 3’ x 3’) Va Tech design. It is awesome! 3/4" oak would dry in 6 weeks of sunny weather. I pull 1.5’ to 3’ logs from a local arborist/firewood guy or from neighbors cutting down trees. Cut a flat side with a chain saw. Slice on a band saw and dry. It’s not free wood - the firewood guy charges me $5 to $10 a log, bandsaw, jointer and planer blades cost $ and it takes time, but I get very unique wood with lots of character (and an occasional bullet) you can’t get in a lumber yard. Thicker pieces take a lot longer.
This works for me because I make a lot of small stuff (bowls, jewelry boxes, charcuterie boards, etc). I’m not in the furniture game
I gave up on moisture meters years ago. I use the weight method - I weigh boards every 2 to 3 weeks and when it stops losing weight - it’s dry.
Stopped painting/anchor seal ends years ago, I rarely have end checks. Not sure why - I have heard that turning the fan off on the solar kiln at night let’s the wood relax and won’t warp/crack as much. Or I am in Dallas, maybe that has something to do with it???
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Correction on the size of the bundle of wood I have. The pile is 4’ wide by 8’ long, which means I have roughly 800 board feet or less of lumber here.
If I can’t get a container in by the shop, then I will probably try to build a smaller kiln building, but will really have to think about where to do so exactly on the property. I want it not to be an eyesore, but still functionally close to the driveway of the shop so I can easily have access to it.
Sorry that you get charged for your logs. I have so much access to lumber that it is just sick, lol. I cut my own firewood, and many times, on many other people’s properties that are doing a lot of clearing, logging, storm drops, and such. It doesn’t cost me anything but the money invested in my chainsaws, fuel, and my time. I can cut whatever it is I want if I am looking for a particular wood, if it is available. I have hauled black walnut, red cedar, mulberry, sassafras, hickory, and oaks to the shop for log processing. I wish there was maple available here, but I rarely see any down that I can get to, or for that matter, I don’t see any growing here.
I just purchased another big bundle of this lumber yesterday. So I have, at this point, 1600 board feet of lumber that I paid $400 for. I have at least two more I will be purchasing to add another 1600 board feet to my totals, but not all of this will just be used in the shop for mill work. I do have siding repairs to do and some of this oak will be used for replacement pieces.
I monitor the kiln temp pretty regular. Depending on the lumber type and thickness I pretty much know when it is ready now. This was a pic right after I built it. I have 2 solar powered fans for air movement. In the summer around here I can get about 160 degrees in it…maybe a little warmer. That temp is kinda critical for killing insects. Another thing that I like about a solar kiln is that it cools down at night and you really dont have to worry about case hardening. The wood relaxes at night. There are better methods than a solar kiln but it is a cheap way to get it done.
It looks great. Suitable for the folks in a neighborhood.
Thanks !
Well, like I said, I would update everyone as progress of the lumber or the new bundles coming in. Purchased a second bungle and it looks like this bundle was even bigger then the first one.
These two stacks of lumber cost me $400 for all of this lumber. Still have another two or three bundles of lumber to buy. I have some awesome friends and they want to help as well by purchasing two bundles for me as well. I will have so much lumber that I may not know what to do with it all. Heeheehee.
I like this solar kiln as a viable option for drying my lumber.
The USDA has a plan on line for building a solar kiln.
I tried to upload the pdf but it was too big. Just search for “usda solar kiln plans” and you will find it.
Thanks for that info. I sure will look up the plans.
Here is the link for the USDA solar kiln
I went to your link here and looked over the design, and there are a few discrepancies with the measurements they have. The design is in mm. So, I was converting them to inches. Most of the design is pretty close to what seems about right. But I came across a couple areas that are off in the measurements. There is a page for the floor plan framing, and the studs are not 16" on center, which is a common stub location. Then they have the end of the framing off with the two side by side studs that form the framing for the other directions boards to butt up against to form the outside frame. 2190mm and 2230mm is not enough to allow two 2x4s to lay flat against the inner 2190mm and frame in to the 2230mm. 40mm is not enough for a dimension that is suppose to be 80mm.
I know this isn’t your fault, but if I bought material and started making cuts to the long board for these measurements and started putting them together, I would realize that I cut a few of my 2x4s short and would have to go buy more to replace the short ones. Looks like I can take the design and reconfigure it the proper way for the correct intended design.
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