Toaster oven is toast - so I had another idea for this step

[mojotron]

My toaster oven is toast. So, I thought for the drying step in finishing Al boxes I would take a flood lamp, put it in a desk lamp and shine it right on the box (about 1/2" away from the top) and this seems to be just as good for doing one at a time.

I'm just about done with the first run of enclosures done this way - so far it's working great...

This is cost effective, as far as I can tell - and works great. Now I'm thinking that maybe what I should do is go with a few a heat lamps in a row to do more boxes at once instead of getting another toaster oven. What I'm thinking is that for about the same cost, I could do 1 - 10 (or more) 1590-BB boxes at once, just by adding lamps in a row.

Has anyone tried this method for heating painted enclosures?

I'm thinking that I a found a method that's going to work better for what I need, it's cheaper, smaller and - best of all - is scales to 1->n enclosures at once.   Thoughts?

[Gilles C]

That's what  they use(d...) for cars.

I also did that a long time ago...

I was using the same lamp to warm the etchant.

Surprising how the box can get hot...

Gilles

[KORGULL]

If you feel the need for hotter temperatures, you could use incandescent black light bulbs. They get extremely hot and the flood type can probably throw heat on a couple boxes at once. You won't need to keep the light as close to the box so you can cover a wider area. Use clip on light fixtures with the large metal reflector.
The higher price of those bulbs might be a drawback though.

[Paul Marossy]

desk lamp and shine it right on the box (about 1/2" away from the top)

This is what I have been doing lately. I keep it there for and hour or two and it works pretty well, actually.

[puretube]

anybody tried a microwave oven?

[guitarhacknoise]

Hey guys.
This might be a stupid statement but I hope that when you speak of floodlamps that you mean those smaller INDOOR floodlamps for track lighting and such.
Because those big ass outdoor type floodlamps get REAL HOT, almost (actually they are) TOO HOT for a regular old desk lamp with the crappy plastic socket.
I would hate to hear about someone here burning their shit down.
-matthias

[Samuel]

or hey they could take puretubes suggestion and make a nice light show

[mojotron]

Oh ya ... 65W bulb in desk lamp - you would want to go with something rated higher then that to use a higher wattage bulb - I think 65W is just right.

[Regan]

Anybody tried grow op lights? think of the mojo crap that could be spun out of that,,,,,, boxes hemp treated for that real mojo tone
Even better if you use bud boxes.
Regan

[zachary vex]

might want to put foil down on the table to reflect heat away from the surface.

monitor the wattage of the bases you are screwing bulbs into.  physically checking on how hot the lamps are getting would be a must... i'd use my nose and do a hand-check.

black light bulbs may get hot as hell, but that's not what gets the boxes warm.  just the opposite, infra-red reflector bulbs may direct more of the right kind of energy to the boxes themselves, or just visible light reflectors, which have lots of infra-red in them too.

all in all, i don't think i'd go to sleep with this system running in my house.  8^)

[Oliver]

Hi,

i always use my wifes oven to dryout the painted boxes  :lol:

Prepainted at about 80°C and colored paint and clear coates at about 50 to 60 °C

After that the Finish is very scratchresistant

bye
Oliver

[zachary vex]

but who wants fume-flavored pizza?  8^)

[Paul Marossy]

I guess I could have been more specific about what I have been doing. I use hanger wire to hold my boxes while painting them (I stick the ends in the screw holes and tension keeps the wires in place). Then after painting, I just stick the hanger in a vise and lower my lamp slightly to get it close to the box. After an hour or two under a 75 watt bulb, the paint is pretty well cured. I kind of stumbled on this by accident - I was trying to get something to cure faster so I had this thought...  :idea:  

[ryanscissorhands]

I'm not sure that a number of lamps would be more cost effective than some sort of oven, in the long run. It depends on your volume. But 10 lamps at a time = a lot of space = money. For the cost of 10 lamps, shielding, insurance in case you burn your house down, and the cost of constantly replacing bulbs... you could probably make it easier on yourself and get an old conventional oven, or a convection oven, and toast ten at a time with less chance of. . . accidents. Plus, less space--you could throw it in a garage or backyard. I would say that if you were investing, oven would be the way to go.

But, again, it depends on space, money, and volume that you expect to produce.

[zachary vex]

well, when it comes down to it, you have to figure out the cheapest way to do the safest, most effective thing.  jason (my painter) uses a couple of big consumer toaster ovens to bake out our boxes.  he ordered extra shelves from the manufacturer and they work great, handling about 60 at a time in each oven.  total cost, $200.  the bulb idea works well if you only have to bake out a few boxes here and there.

[Paul Marossy]

the bulb idea works well if you only have to bake out a few boxes here and there.

Works great for my one offs. Not exactly a method to use for high production...  :wink:

[Mark Hammer]

My toaster oven crapped out on me, so while I waited for one to show up on sale in the paper, I tried using my heat gun that is normally used for paint stripping.

First, note that unlike toaster ovens the heat is far more directional and less controllable in terms of intensity.  I adapt for this by moving the heat gun around and keeping it at a slight distance so the heat is diffused more.  The drawback is that it is obviously not a set-and-forget methid: you have to BE there.

Second, note that even if diffused, it is still directional.  A box on a rack in a toaster oven can be warmed omnidirectionally, which tends to flow the paint over the surface and produce a more even, smooth texture.  With the heat gun, I found that drying time *could* be sped up, but that the surface tended to dry faster than the underneath, leaving a slightly wrinkly "skin".  If one is capable of spraying multiple VERY light coats, that isn't an issue, but not all spray cans obey the user's every wish and command.  Certainly working in my garage in the winter, fine mists are extremely hard to produce.  It was worth a try, I suppose, but I think I'm gonna have to spring for another toaster over, or try and troubleshoot the one I have, and save the heat gun for other jobs.

[mojotron]

After getting pretty good results with just a 65W flood, the heat was nice and even - in spite of doing this in my garage at 45 degrees. When the time comes, if I don't want to buy the $70 Walmart 2 level toaster oven, I think I'm going get a couple of heat lamp bulbs and build a box (out of something heat/flame resistent) lined with Al foil for for doing more at a time.  :lol:

I'm guessing with about $30 of material I could build an oven that would be big enough to do 10 1590-BB enclosures at a time w/something like a one of those super hot halogens or heat lamps....  

But, then again, what would I tell the investigators when they ask me what that contraption was that started the fire  :oops:

[ryanscissorhands]

I agree with the last comment-- if you make a fire hazard yourself, your insurance company might (in case of an accident) screw you. Whereas if you buy some sort of oven that is certified by your National Electic Standards Council or whatever, you'll be okay, and maybe even get to sue them. How exciting!

If you're going to build it yourself, you could line a metal box with ceramic wool and then some sort of foil. I say this becaus ceramic wool is a great heat insulator (i know a guy who made a propane blacksmithing forge using an empty propane tank lined with ceramic wool).