Free Plans for Building Your Own Wooden Tobacco Curing Kiln

How to build your own Wooden Kiln at Home

Presented by seedman.com and Joe Windham Enterprises

For those of you that would like toassemble your own wooden kiln athome, we have put together thefollowing instruction guide for youto use.The first thing you will need to do isdecide what type of wood you willuse. We recommend using inchcabinet plyboard such as oak, orwalnut, but others such as birch,cherry, etc. can be used. We areusing fir in the pictures shown.

Once you have decided on the typeof wood, it is time to cut it into thecorrect size pieces. ( Note thatmany lumber companies such asLowes will cut your board for youat a nominal fee, very handy if youdo not own a tablesaw or othermeans of making precise cuts ).You will need the following sizepieces of plyboard for constructinga kiln with inside dimensions of17x22 inches:

1 Ea. Top piece measuring 19inches x 23 1/8 inches.2 Ea. Side pieces measuring 18

inches x 22 inches.2 Ea. End pieces measuring 18 inches x 19 inches.1 Ea. Bottom piece measuring 18 inches x 22 inches.

Note, be sure to use wood glue on wood surfaces that join together, this is a must!Apply a thin bead to each surface as shown. After joints have been attached, some gluewill usually be squeezed out, wipe this off with a damp cloth before it dries, otherwise,it may affect the outside finish of the kiln if you decide to use a varnish or stain.

Plywood corners can be secured using a braid gun as shown, or withwood screw or finishing nails.

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After attaching the two end pieces and the two sides together, add thebottom piece.Now add the piano hinge to the top piece. Turn the top lid piece upsidedown and attach hinge to one side.

Now lay the top piece on top of the kiln and attach the piano hinge tothe back of the box as shown. ( you can pick it up at your localhardware store )

Notice how the hinge fits under the top lid piece and attaches to theback outside of the kiln.



Now that the lid is hinged to the kiln, attach the short chain thatprevents the lid from opening back too far. ( you can pick it up at yourlocal hardware store )

Now it's time to measure and cut out the 1 inch hole for the electricalplug. ( This type electrical plug is available at any Electrical Supplystore, we like the flush mount type for convenience ). Measure a mark 4inches down from the top and 4 inches over from the front.

Drill a 1 inch hole using a hole saw bit available at any hardwarestore. A cleanly drilled hole is important.

Now that the hole has been drilled, it is time to mount the ElectricalControl Assembly to the inside of the box.



The Electrical Control Assembly is the heart of the kiln, it contains a120 volt heating pad, an adjustable thermostat ( a hot water heaterthermostat available at most hardware stores ), ahygrometer/thermometer gauge and the 120 volt male electrical plugassembly.

Weve mounted all of this into a 4 inch square eletrical wall box foundat any hardware store, but you can use any configuration you like.

Notice that on the backside of the Electrical Control Assembly, you seethe 120 volt male electrical connector. The end of a standard electricalcord will easily plug into this. This connector is aligned directly in frontof the 1" hole you have drilled into the kiln.

Attach the Electrical Control Assembly to the insideof the kiln with wood screws through the pre-drilled aluminum angle brackets attached to theElectrical Control Assembly.



This is a photo of the Electrical Control Assemblyafter it has been installed. Notice the thermostatadjustment screw mentioned earlier.

This is a photo of the outside of the kiln showing the 120 volt maleplug.



Now attach the handles to each end of the kiln. ( you can pick these up at your localhardware store )

Now attach 1 inch x 1 inch aluminum angle to the top of the lid. You donot have to cut angles to 45 degrees as shown, a square cut will workjust fine. You will need to put angle on the front and both sides of thelid, but not the back as the piano hinge will provide enough strengththere.

You will also need to add the aluminum angle to each of the outsidecorners ( see finished photo below ).

The angle adds strength to the box and helps prevent warping due tothe high heat and moisture inside the box.

We recommend making a couple of inexpensive legs out of 2 inch x 2inch lumber and attaching to the bottom of the kiln to keep any heatfrom the kiln from making contact with finished surfaces.



Now attach the thumb clasp assembly to the front of the box. ( Availableat your local hardware store ) You will notice that we made a smallaluminum filler plate to make the clasp flush out with the front of thealuminum angle. This is for looks, the clasp will work fine without doingthis.

Drill a inch hole and install lock assembly. ( you can pick this up atyour local hardware store, we recommend it for those of you who havesmall children around )

Your box is now ready!

Insulation is an option, and one that we strongly recommend. The kilnwill work without insulation, but it is much more efficient withinsulation, plus it protects the wood from excessive moisture which willcause early rotting and warping.

We use 1" commercial air duct insulation ( same type material large airducts in homes and commercial buildings are made from ), as it is notaffected by moisture and heat. All corners are sealed with silver ducttape.

This insulation and tape can be purchased from commercial heating andcooling supply companies, but can be hard to locate in some areas.

This is a photo of a finished kiln that we have added a small sliding airvent to the lid. This really is not necessary, but you may want to do itfor looks and convenience.

Excess moisture ( over 75 percent ) can be removed simply by leaving



the lid cracked open slightly. Usually, the only time you have excessmoisture is when you initially begin curing the tobacco.

This leads up to the question of a humidifier for maintaining the 70-75% humidity required. Do you have to have one?No, you can actually control the moisture by placing a damp towel orsponge at the bottom of the kiln and adding distilled water as needed.But this requires daily attention, and it is rather awkward.You may want to buy one of the Oshkosh Humidors that hold 10 ouncesof distilled water and has an adjustable top to regulate moisture. Onceyou've used one, you will never want to try anything else.

You will need to make some type of tray for your kiln. The purpose ofthe tray is to keep the tobacco from touching the heating pad on thebottom and to allow an air space for heat and air circulation.

This is a photo of the tray setting in the bottom of the kiln, notice thatthe heating pad does not make contact with the wood. The center pieceis notched to prevent contact.

Components for Building your own Wooden Kiln at Home



#M20 Electric heating padA commercial grade heating pad identical to the one showed photos above. It has 2 18 long leads. Must be hooked to athermostat that you supply. ( a standard hot water heater thermostat will work fine, and can be found at almost anyhardware store ). 120 volt, 100 watt. Measures 6" x 10".

$49.95

G98 Digital Hygrometer/Thermometer

This Digital Hygrometer/Thermometer is the most precise instruments for monitoring temperature and humidity on themarket today. We think this is the best device for kilns, and can be removed and used in humidors as well. This neat andmodern Digital Thermo-Hygrometer provides precise readings on a large crystal display. Measures about 2 inches by 3inches, has a self adhesive strip or can simply be placed in the bottom of the kiln. Comes with extended life battery.

$49.95

M24 Oshkosh Humidifier

This one of a kind humidifier not only allows you to use distilled water ( a large 10ounce capacity not found in any of the other humidifiers we tested ), it also has anadjustable top that allows you to precisely control the humidity in your kiln. This isextremely important as slight adjustments to humidity may be required during differentstages of the curing process.The humidifier sits in the bottom of the kiln, below the stainless steel mesh tray, about

center.

We include a free 4 ounce bottle of glycolene with the kiln. This humectant/preservative is the same additive used to makethe special care solutions used in most cigar humidors. Simply add a half ounce of this to the distilled water ( about 9ounces ) in the humidifier to help prevent mold and encourage even humidification. Additional bottles of glycolene can bepurchased from us for $3.95 per bottle, but one bottle will last for several curing processes.

$50.00

F21 Large Cotton Gauze Bags with Drawstring

These large 13 x 17 inch virtually weightless, reusable cotton gauze bags are the perfect bag for use in our curing kilns.Very handy when cheesecloth and burlap are not available. Natural unbleached cotton.

Item # F21 13 x 17 Cotton Gauze Bag $3.95 Ea.

#G99 Glycolene

4 ounce replacement bottles of Glycolene

$3.95

What to expect from your Home Tobacco Kiln

With the Home Tobacco Kiln, anyone who has a garden can now process some of the finest tobacco possible. Home curedtobacco is free of the thousands of chemical additives included in commercial cigarettes and the delicious, full tobacco flavorcannot be compared with anything on the market today.

On average, you can expect to cure a little over 2 kilos ( about 5 pounds ) of tobacco at a time over a 3-4 week period.

Each commercial king size cigarette usually contains a little less than a gram of tobacco each. This means that you canexpect to cure enough tobacco for about 2,500 cigarettes each time.The kiln can be used continuously, meaning that you can start curing a fresh batch of tobacco the same day you remove acured batch. You can kiln cure tobacco that has been air drying for months. We mention this because you may wish to curetobacco for your neighbors or community and recover some of your cost for the kiln. If you do charge to do this, make sureyou abide by your local, state and federal laws.



How much does it cost to produce a carton of cigarettes better than store brands? We get asked this a lot, and here is ageneral answer:

1. In order to start processing your own tobacco, you will need the following equipment: A kiln, a cutting machine, and arolling machine .

2. Once you have these items and your first crop of tobacco, all you will need to purchase for cigarette production isflavoring, filters and papers. If you use a rolling machine that uses filters, the cost of filters and papers will run about $5.85a carton. Adding flavoring ( we strongly recommend this ) will add about a $1.00 to the cost or a total of just under sevendollars a carton for filter cigarettes, or just under five dollars a carton for non-filtered cigarettes.

3. We did not include the cost of the kiln, cutting machine and rolling machine as this should be absorbed over the length oftime you process your tobacco. If you currently pay $25.00 a carton for cigarettes, and smoke a carton a week, you wouldrealize a savings of about $936.00 a year ( probably more since you will not be paying you local and state taxes on this asyou do store bought cigarettes ).Of course this savings will only get larger each year, because prices are only going to go up on cigarettes, not down.

We must stress that the real savings is to your health, as you will not be consuming the thousands of additivesthat are added to commercial brands.

How to use the kiln for Herb Drying

Kiln drying is the fastest, most efficent way to dry herbs. You should never use a microwave oven to dry herbs, as this canruin the oils inside the herbs.

Herbs should be collected just before they bloom. Collect herb leaves in the afternoon after all dew has dissappeared.Make sure to shake herbs and remove any insects, dirt, etc.It is preferrable not to wash herbs, but if you must, lightly rinse herbs and spread leaves to dry until all visable moisturehas disappeared.

Place herb leaves lightly into cotton gauze bags or pillowcase and set on top of the mesh tray at the bottom of the kiln.Leave the top lid of the kiln blocked with something so that the lid will not completely close, but instead leaves about a oneinch gap at the front of the kiln when the lid is closed. This is for moisture release. Plug in the kiln and let set for 12 hours.Then remove the bag(s) of herbs, stir the leaves so the leaves that were in the center are now on the outside, and placeback into kiln.

Inspect and stir leaves every 12 hours until leaves are dry and crisp, they are now ready for use. Small herb leaves can dryin as little as 24 hours, larger leaves may take 2 days or longer.

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Free Plans for Building Your Own Wooden Tobacco Curing Kiln