Thinking of building a heat box

Don Stauffer has done one and posted some pics of it a while back, but I am damned if I can find it. I really must build one if for no other reason than to keep the dust off while drying.

Compressorman

Here is a link to one, not sure why the 'insert link' button is grayed out on me...

To insert a link, you must first select some text. Then you can click the 'insert link' button and enter the url. The text that you select will turn into a hyperlink. The text you select can be anything, it can even be the url itself, like this  http://ww1aircraftmodels.com/page27.html .

You should just be able to insert the link without doing anything else, as long as you are in rich formatting.

http://ww1aircraftmodels.com/page27.html

My box runs 105F, and seems to do a good job.  Not sure how high you can go before you risk warping plastic.  I suspect it could go a bit higher.  I built my box, which uses a 60W incandescent bulb for a heater, with a light dimmer, but that turned out to be unnecessary, as I run it wide open to get 105.

Thanks for the info Don. Does the box make enough of a difference to make building one worthwhile? I like building WW1 planes and these have a lot of woodgrain. I create the woodgrain with oil paints and they take forever to dry.

Chris

You can dry them in minutes with a hair drier.

Jay

Sure does make a difference- even 105 degrees.  Goes from several days to less than a day.

There are holes in the lid of the lower, particle board box, holes in the top of the top plastic box, and holes in the end, visible in the pic. I covered each set of holes with fabric filters used in furnace registers.  These are to allow heated air to flow through the system without picking up dust.

If it's just drying time of oils you're concerned about, get some Japan Drier. When I used to do oil painting, I'd use that stuff mixed with my oils and it REALLY cuts down on drying time, especially if you aren't layering paint on real thick (and with models, I suspect you are not). Just test it on a sample bit of plastic first, though, so I don't get accused of ruining your plane!

You don't even need to build one.  I simply turn on a small desk lamp w/ a 60W incandescent bulb in a Rubbermaid container similar to Don's.  The inside temperature stays around 100.  

Thanks for the tips guys,

Chris-k: wow, that's an easy way of solving my problem!

Chris

Hey, I found a new job for my paint drying box!  I was complaining in the aircraft forum about how much nose weight new kits need  (for trike gear planes).  Some of the posts convinced me to bite the bullet and cast pot metal from carved wood forms.  One casts a plaster female from the wood male patterns.  But, you need to dry/heat the plaster cast to eliminate any residual moisture in the plaster (pouring hot metal into anything with water in it can lead to disaster!).  I have a toaster oven in my shop to heat things, but the plaster must be reasonably dry even to heat it in an oven, which may take several days. I stuck the mold in my paint dryer yesterday afternoon. I hope to stick it in the oven today (heating that last bit should only take an hour or so).

Don Stauffer

Hey, I found a new job for my paint drying box!   

 ever the creative modler    Great idea, increases both  safety, but the decrease in drying time,   means more time for the model    

I would think it would be a fire hazard. Lampshades, for example,  are rated for a certain Wattage light bulb and the same hazards apply to a heatbox.

Yes, but 60 watts is not a lot of heat.  And I made sure in the design of my box that the surface of the bulb is a couple of inches away from any particle board, and I used a porcelin socket good for well over 100 watts.  And, my system has constant airflow through it- thermo-siphon air.

I doubt 100F is a dangerous temperature.