Force drying twice turned bowls

[wndopdlr]

I twice turn most of my bowls and am well set up with an old commercial double freezer that is heated and controlled with a thermostat. I have improved my drying process so that I get very few cracks.

My question is this: What is the maximum temperature that you use to equalize the moisture in your bowls? Currently I am drying to 110* and continue the process until they quit losing weight. I have never seen any bugs when drying to this temp, but I wonder if I could drive more moisture out at higher temps.
Typically, my bowls will gain weight (moisture) between removing from my kiln and final turning as they equalize to their environment.

What are you guys doing?

 

[blackhawk]

I make twice turned bowls, but I just let them dry naturally without forced heating. I do have a lumber kiln. The higher the heat, the more moisture that can be held by the air in the kiln. I normally dry at 120F but if you are at 110F there is not going to be a huge difference. The main thing is that you need a way to remove the moisture from your old freezer. It would be hard to put a dehumidifier in a freezer but you could add a vent with maybe a small computer fan. You can put a Bluetooth temp and humidity sensor in there to monitor the conditions. I use a Govee. When you see the humidity level getting high, you can open the vent and/or turn on the fan to allow that moist air out assuming your room air has less humidity. I use a psychrometric chart to convert temperature and humidity to get the EMC of the kiln.

For true bug kill, the minimum standard is for the core of the wood to reach 133F and be held there for 30 minutes.

 

[wndopdlr]

Thanks Brad. I do monitor the humidity and adjust upper and lower vents accordingly. When I built my freezer, I cut a 4" hole low on one side and high on the opposite side. Usually natural convection is enough, but sometime I employ a computer fan at the lower vent.