Kiln Drying Lumber

Our two kilns hold around 20,000 board feet of hardwood lumber. We heat them with natural gas from the oil wells located on our property. Natural gas is one of the cleanest burning and most efficient types of fuel available. It typically takes two to three weeks to kiln-dry hardwood lumber.

The lumber can be dried as soon as it is sawed in the mill, but it performs best and looks the nicest if it has been air-dried for at least a couple of months in our solar kiln. Air drying removes most of the free cell moisture in the boards, but hardwood cannot get below 20 percent moisture content without the use of heat and forced air. While this level of moisture is suitable for exterior uses like siding or fencing, interior use requires lumber with around 7 percent moisture content to avoid warping or shrinking in the drier air inside a heated house.

To ensure proper air circulation, we place 3/4” kiln spacer sticks between each layer of hardwood lumber. These spacer sticks need to be dry themselves to avoid “sticker stain” on the finished lumber.

Making quality natural hardwood lumber caskets is a long and methodical process, taking at least six months from woodlot to your home. Click here to shop our line of sustainably-made caskets.