Gunsmithing homemade paint oven (more pics added)

[m1k3]

After seeing everybody's work in here and really not liking my SS barrel and receiver, I decided to build my own oven and pick a gun coating.

I bought a small gun cabinet from Academy. Coated the inside with rigid duct board (PITA to track down around here). I went to a thrift store and bought a toaster oven with a melted plug for $5. I need to do some re-wiring and put a real thermostat on it but so far it works great. I tested it first without the insulation and could only get the inside to about 190 degrees. With the insulation I could easily get to 400+ degrees. I sealed the insulation with high temp gasket sealant. Thermometer is from wal-mart. I'd like to get a couple grill thermometers and place them in the door but haven't found any that were cheap yet. A couple of hooks for now to hang stuff from and I'm in business.

Let me know what you guys think.
Here are some pics of my oven:

Here are some Savage bolt knobs I'm testing on. Left one is painted with Krylon Ultra Flat Black. Middle is original Savage black from my first 10fp, right is Flat Black KG Gunkote. My first attempt and painting with the Gunkote. I got it a little thin on the end of the knob. I should have held the part a little higher and had more light on it when I painted it.

You can see in this pic where I took the Gunkote'd knob and hit the Krylon knob a few times. The Krylon just chipped right off but the Gunkote looks untouched. Also noticed the Gunkote is a little thin on the end of the knob with the SS slightly visible in bright light. Still, much flatter black then the other two. Also, the order is reversed here, Gunkote - Original Savage - Krylon.

 

[Pat M]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Very nice, wish you lived in my town.

 

[flatlander]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Good job on the oven

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Thanks!
Its working better than I thought it would. I was going to put some duct work in to circulate air from the top to the bottom but having placed thermometers at several locations it seems to be pretty evenly distribute the heat. The 4 elements from the toaster oven fit the bottom perfectly.

I still need to make some changes to the oven so its more user friendly. I re-insulated the door with one piece and covered that brace up the middle. With that brace un-covered, the door would get hot right down the middle. The same goes for the edge of the door frame. Any exposed cabinet heats up quickly. The top edge of the door frame will get to 215 degrees in about 15 minutes. The sides only reach 100 degrees even after sitting for an hour. Here's a picture with my hand on the side while the oven is around 350 degrees.

Right now the elements are sitting on bricks but I want to make something a little more permanent but haven't figured it out yet. I still might use bricks but I may cut them to length so they fit just right and maybe fill the bottom with them. Plus I need to had some horizontal bars at the top so I can hang more than just two pieces. So far I have about 9 guns lined up to coat once I get everything worked out. I haven't even started yet and I'm already behind!

Any other suggestions or ideas?

Thanks
Mike

 

[djw442]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Very cool. What kind of range to you have in the temperature control?

 

[pale horse]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

very nice oven same way up here you got to build it your self if you want one I would give some cerakote a try NIC corp sells it I had the same problem when spraying I need plenty of light for my old eyes I did a ar-15 bolt in a engine piston coating sort of a poly moly it got thin in some places due to so many angles of the spray good luck and try many coatings to find the one that works out for you

 

[Hooper]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Nice project.
Do the doors leak bad? If they do, try and find some of that seal matierial that high temp safes use. It looks like small fire hose.

You did a great job on this. Reminds me of the other member who made one from an old oven. Had the old dials and everything on top of the cabinet he made.

Great idea with the old toaster oven. Wish I had not tossed my old one a few months back.

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

djw442 -
right now I can dial it down and keep around 120 and all the way up it goes around 450. (I forgot to check on it and it ran for about 30 min full throttle).

pale horse -
I really needed more light on the bolt knob. I still have pretty good vision and I used to paint T-shirts and models a while back so I'm decent with an air brush. The main problem is that my garage only has one outlet in the entire 25'x35' space! So for light, I just the garage door lights and the one 100w hung in the middle of the garage. It sucks! Once I get some crap moved out of the garage and space for my lathe I'm re-wiring it with new service.

Hooper -
The door doesn't leak as bad as I thought it would. It seems that any where there is bare cabinet exposed to the heat it gets hot there. I am planning on ordering some fireplace rope in 1/8" diameter but just haven't done it yet. I'm heading to Dallas next weekend, I can probably pick some up there. I do plan on building and attaching some controls to the outside as well as a couple of lights to signal power and to show when the burners are active. I got the idea from wnroscoe's thread a while back where he used a gun cabinet. His cabinet was larger and he used a 220v burner but I figured if I could get a smaller cabinet, say half the volume, I should be able to get away with 120v for now.

O.K., here are the updates and an interesting pic:

I rebuilt the bottom burner area using some left over roofing flashing. It turned out great! I placed a spare piece of ceramic tile under it and the screws proved a little air gap between the metal and the ceramic tile. Worked great!

So this morning I figured I would try the rest of the bolt. It was painted in Krylon so I had to strip it first. Then I cleaned the hell out of it with soap and water. Then dried with air compressor, then baked to remove any oils before blasting.

While baking I decided to sneak a peak after it reached 300 degrees. Check out the oil coming off the front baffle! It actually dripped! None of the other parts showed any visible signs of oil but that one piece had already dripped maybe twice and had a good drop forming on it again! It is more porous that then the other pieces but wow! That is why you bring them up to temp first before coating! I'm sure that would have caused all kinds of problems with the finish! I may try the rest of the gun later today if I have time. It's covered in about 4 layers of Krylon so it may be a while before its ready for blasting or baking.

Let me ask you guys something that may have done this before or do it professionally, What do you do with the barrel bore? Do you clean it first? Do you just leave it as is? Or do you go the full process - bake it so any oil is gone, plug it, blast, paint, then remove plugs, and bake? I hate cleaning my guns mainly because they shoot way better dirty and it takes quite a few shots before this rifle's stock Savage barrel is fouled enough to shoot great.

Thanks
Mike

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Just as a matter of course, I'd consider ruggedly mounting some kind of expanded metal grill above the elements, simply to prevent exposure to falling objects.

Greg

 

[beanland]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

I clean the whole barreled action and other parts to be coated with brake cleaner (spray) wearing latex gloves. I spray inside action and barrel and scrub inside of the action as well as i can with a brush. I then use compressed air to blow of excess. I plug the chamber and the muzzle with rubber plugs that i got here http://www.shercon.com/storefront/defaultpagewithlinks.aspx

They make an assorted kit that has all sizes that you will need in it. I then go strait to the blast cabinet without touching metal parts with bare hands. Blast all parts with 120 grit aluminum oxide. I then put a fresh latex glove on to handle the parts with. I blow off with compressed air after blasting and hang in the paint room to be coated. Then coat and bake @ 250 degrees for 2 hours. I have had excellent results doing this. I usually open the oven and look at the barreled action where the barrel screws into the action after it has baked for about 30 minutes. Some people get carried away with the grease or anti-sieze when they install a barrel. If i see oil trying to ooz out of the front base screw or around the barrel, i wipe off then with acetone and a rag. I have noticed that if you allow the oil to run down on the cerakote, sometimes it will stain the finish.

 

[Hooper]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Greg Langelius *</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Just as a matter of course, I'd consider ruggedly mounting some kind of expanded metal grill above the elements, simply to prevent exposure to falling objects.

Greg </div></div>

I like this thread

Yes, that is a great idea Greg. Some expanded metal will do the trick.

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Good idea on covering the elements! Before I got back to this thread I was in there working and nearly dropped the Savage Bolt but caught it mid way down. The elements them selves are pretty tuff but the ceramic ends are very very fragile. One is already damaged from a drop while taking them out of the toaster oven.

I was thinking about what to put there and some expanded metal would work but I was also thinking about a tray. But then I thought that a tray would block the heat and keep it from filling the cabinet. But what about a tray that was tilted? That would provide protection (anything that fell would bounce/slide to one side of the cabinet). It would also guide the heated air up one side creating perhaps creating a little flow within the cabinet. What do you guys think about that one?

Here are some more pics of my first finished action. I was getting ready to blast the barrel when my compressor of 10 years finally broke. I've got a new one now but haven't had a chance to finish the barrel. Maybe tonight. Any ways, here's the action and Krylon Tan stock.

This pic of the bolt is after cycling it 100 times to see where it would wear. Would you guys that know say that is normal wear for GunKote? I was really thinking it would last longer but the bolt on my Savage 10fp has a lot of shine on it but it has aroung 1000 shots fired through it.

And there is a little wear on the action too, but not much. The bolt was a little more glossy because I covered it with oil for the cycling. So far, the GunKote has held up great to chemicals and oil. The marks on the top and sides of the action are fingerprints and dirt from laying the action down, not blemishes in the paint.

Thanks for the ideas guys, keep them coming!

Mike

 

[AXEMAN]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

the parts that are showing wear under the baffle is where i polished my action to bare shiny metal and it made my action feel smoother than when it was blacked out. there is a write up on it, but its right where the baffle rotates on the bolt body. i just point this out for reference. when i get my bolt handle done, i will ask for the spots to be left uncoated. nice job on the oven and the new hobby

link for reference
http://www.steyrscout.org/savscout.htm

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Axeman, thanks. I looked at that site a long time ago and polished all those points on my wife's 243 but this action with the GunKote didn't feel too bad after it was oiled a little. At first it was a little rough but like I said, a little oiled helped a lot. Also, this action and barrel are all done with 70 grit AO. Its all I could find locally. I'm getting some 120 grit from Dallas this weekend. I'll do my shotgun next as a test with the 120 grit. It should be a little smoother finish.

Mike

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Update, I picked up some 120 grit Aluminum Oxide while in Dallas and did another test Savage knob blasted with 120 and Gunkoted in Flat Dark Earth. The 120 grit made a smoother surface and creates a little nicer finish after painting. I can completely understand the recommendation for using 120 grit.

First I had to do a lot of filing/sanding to get rid of the casting marks but it looks good!

Aftercleaning and light sanding to show casting marks:

After some work:

Blasted with 120grit:

Dark Earth!

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Quick update of my Gunkoted (flat black) 308 Savage in the stock. All metal was done with 80 grit AO so its a little flatter black than I had hoped. Its close to black oxidized Aluminum (matches the DNZ scope I have perfectly).

 

[WCW308]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

great info & thanks for sharing your ideas & techniques. Your rifle looks fantastic!
what did you do to protect your bbl inside when spraying?

Well done. Good pix. Thanx.

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Thanks WCW308! The rifle really turned out great. It was my first Savage and has been the test bed for everything!

So far I'm using a fired shell in the chamber and a foam ear plug at the muzzle. I'm still looking and reading for the best methods though. I baked it by threading a thin aluminum wire down the barrel and through the fired shell in the chamber. I think I'm going to make a something that will thread onto the barrel threads and hang from the threads vs a wire down the barrel. I don't think the aluminum wire would hurt the inside of the barrel but I'd rather not risk damage on the barrel, especially on a barrel that's not mine.

Threading on a cap that would protect the threads through sand blasting, painting, and baking would solve the problems of any of that media getting into the chamber. The ear plug works well and makes a nice tight seal. It also seems to hold up to sand blasting.

I'm working on a rifle and shotgun this weekend for a friend so I'll post some pics of those when I can. We decided on Satin Black for the shotgun and Sating Grey for the rifle.

Mike

 

[WCW308]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

great ideas. You sprayed the stock with Krylon, right? Did you consider doing the stock with heat paint? I ask because I am considering doing something along the lines of your project & have a fiberglass stock stock I'd like to paint-I am assuming the oven cure is tougher-m1k3, any idea if the rubber butt pad will stand up to heat
of 200 deg.? What about the existing bedding (devcon) taking the heat in the oven?

axeman, I can't concentrate on reading your posts. Not sure why...?

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

The stock is Krylon and I must admit, it seems to be getting tough as time goes on. It doesn't feel as sticky from just holding it. I may leave it.

I did some reading a while back on the stocks with oven curing paint and most say that its a bad idea. I think even McMillian warned against it. Something to do with the internal foam braking down, not the external fiberglass/carbon fiber shell.

I have thought about doing the stocks in the Air Cure paint from KG Coatings. I have a few plastic Savage stocks I could test durability on so the next order I place with them will probably be some air cure paint or try some Polane (Duracoat).

I doubt the rubber pad would hold up and it would be just easier to remove it than worry about if its going to melt or deform in the heat. A little heat makes the original pad removal easy on the HS stocks. Not sure about other stock brands.

Devcon has a high heat rating but I honestly wouldn't test a high dollar stock in the oven. Also, GunKote needs to be baked at 300+ degrees. I might dry the duracoat type paint and bake the stock at say 150 for a while but even that would make me nervous since I haven't seen a final answer on baking synthetic stocks.

Good luck and let us know how your gun turns out!
Mike

 

[WCW308]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Thanks, seems like air cure is a good way to go. Or Krylon. Your posts are helpful & the advice is appreciated.

 

[tpowers]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

Let me ask you guys something that may have done this before or do it professionally, What do you do with the barrel bore? Do you clean it first? Do you just leave it as is? Or do you go the full process - bake it so any oil is gone, plug it, blast, paint, then remove plugs, and bake? I hate cleaning my guns mainly because they shoot way better dirty and it takes quite a few shots before this rifle's stock Savage barrel is fouled enough to shoot great.

Thanks
Mike </div></div>
For starters I recommend that the barrel bore is at the very least cleaned a little bit. Regardless of how the barrel is received the barrel and bore are submerged in Brakleen to remove all oils. This does not remove all carbon build up though. It is then plugged, sandblasted, coated, and then put in the oven. I don't worry about removing the plugs because there is no need. The muzzle end plug will harmlessly extract itself due to the increased air pressure in the heated bore. The carbon foiling is still easily removed with conventional cleaning methods, but it may be a little harder since it has now been baked.

 

[blboyd]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

If the excessive heat is a problem I would look into Alumahyde II.

It can air cure but that takes forever. If baking it only takes 90 degrees for 24hrs. I've used it on numerous stocks with GREAT success.

Brandon

 

[mexicanmatch]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Outstanding job you have done. Thanks for sharing with us. MM

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Thanks MM,

Here's the shotgun I finished this weekend. Learned a lot about what I'm not going to do, that for sure. This 870 Wingmaster was in bad shape. Rust, pitting, bare metal, etc. I wound up painting it twice, sand blasting three times, cleaning . . . seems like 400 times. The final result looked good, not great. It was a major improvement but I wouldn't call it restored.

Original Condition:

After sandblasting, cleaning, and first Gunkote of Sating Black . It basically just made every imperfection easier to see:

A close up of the metal after I hand sanded the GunKote off which highlight the pits.

Read that JB Weld could be used to fill pits so I sand blasted it again to remove all of the previous GunKote, then cleaned it once more, then applied JB Weld with a razor blade. I'm keeping a journal of all this stuff as well so I can go back and catch things I should have done like degrease the razor blade first!

Final result was much much better. There will still imperfections but not nearly as many or as bad. The finish was smooth and had an even shine to it. This last pic really doesn't do it justice but I was in a hurry getting ready for work that morning.

I've decided to buy a couple of old beat-to-hell guns from the local pawn shops to practice on but I will likely not offer to do that kind of work on somebody's gun.

I'll post some pics of the Savage I did as well. Turned out great!

Mike

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

This is an older Savage 110 in .243. Note, I did not setup the rings on here, that's just how it came and how my buddy wanted them. I suggested getting a solid base and some new rings.

Everything was done in GunKote Satin Grey. This was an easy gun to do. It was pretty clean and had a fairly smooth finish. The action was a flat blued while the barrel looked like the poorer finish of a Stevens barrel. Anyways, here are some before and after pics.

original:

This shows the oil seeping out if the lug and barrel nut area, I had to clean and warm it up three times before I painted it:

And after:

The Satin grey turned out nice. I wasn't sure about it when I placed the order but after seeing it in the stock, it was a good choice.

Mike

 

[fcordrey]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

The satin grey was a good choice . That rifle looks alot like my Kimber Longmaster .

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Thanks Frank. The Satin Grey really turned out great. I've added it to the list for colors I might paint my favorite rifle. I was going to go simple and use Flat Black but now I'm debating between Flat Dark Earth, Satin Black, Flat Black, and the Grey. Too many choices!!!

I've gone around all my equipment and stuff I can find to compare colors and I can tell you that the flat black is a 100% perfect match to what the Atlas Bipod looks like. It really looks like the were painted in the same booth! Its lighter black than my DNZ scope mount and Warne Mounts. The Satin black matches my Vortex scope but is darker/blacker than the DNZ mounts. Very close to the Warne mounts. The Satin Grey matches the interior of my Titan truck perfectly. The owner of the Savage mentioned it while I was pulling it out of the truck.

I want to try the Satin Black on a smooth piece of metal first so I'll probably paint some test strips of steel this weekend and make my own color chips. That should help a few of my buddies decided too. Just need to collect more colors from KG. I thought about giving Ceracoat a try too.

Just not enough time.

Mike

 

[m1k3]

two more rifles done

Here are a couple more of my rifles I painted. The first is my wife's .243. The action was from a 10FP in Savage Flat Black and the barrel was a used gloss blued .243 bought from the classifieds.

Before:

Finished in AK Black.

She's quite happy! And so is the stupid cat!

Next is my Savage 7mm-08 Target Action.

 

[m1k3]

Re: two more rifles done

Savage Target action repeater, Douglas Barrel with SSS brake.

Before:

After coated in flat black:

The top savage is in AK black while the other two are flat black. Its hard to tell in the pics but the AK black is a little blacker than the flat but still has a flat shine to it.

And I'm pretty sure my wife put cat-nip in my leather bag:

Mike

 

[gamma]

Re: two more rifles done

Very nice, whats the make of that stock thats even cooler.

 

[m1k3]

Re: two more rifles done

Blue Grey is called Sky-Blue by Boyds. It bought unfinished. I hand sanded it a lot! Coated in a lot of poly! I think it was around 10-12 coats? I honestly lost count. Fumes might have got to me.

The tan stock is an HS painted in Krylon Tan Ultra Flat.

The black stock is HS as well and is not painted yet. I'll probably texture it this week or next and paint it. Just haven't decided what kind of paint and what color. I'm thinking tan but just haven't decided.

Mike

 

[Burleson1974]

Re: two more rifles done

This has given me some great ideas.

 

[nashlaw]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

tag

 

[Sailormilan]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

KG Coatings Brushed Stainless Steel is a nice looking finish too. Not real reflective, and hard and slick. Their hardest finish.
Here is a 35 Whelen in Bake on Stainless Steel finish.

 

[msahlm]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Hey folks, I realize this is an older post but I hope key players are still seeing it. I love your oven and am working on building a similar (but slightly smaller) one using a metal filing cabinet as a shell. Love the idea of using toaster oven elements as they are pretty well contained compared to the elements of my ceramic kilns but most importantly get the job done well with 120Volts from any standard 3-prong outlet.

I've looked at several options to insulate my oven but am going with your plan (the duct board) since it seems so easy and affordable. That duct board is only rated at 250F, have you not had any problems with it baking at 300-350F? Makes me a little nervous, but I don't expect to bake more than an hour at a time and I'll plan on baking out in the driveway so I can jettison any meltdown.

How is the oven holding up? does the (red high temp)sealant hold up? Did you get to the point of sealing the door with the stoverope?

Anyway,One of your posts asked for suggestions and the point I had was to share this link to a similar oven a guy built for powder coating (around 700F) using elements from a 220V electric oven.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74527

This guy used a digital temperature controller, along with a Solid State relay and thermocoupler- all of which can be purchased on Ebay for less than $70. For those that are as electronically challanged as I am, it basically makes your (oversized toaster) oven digitally progammable to maintain an exact temperature for a certain time.

Anyway, just thought I'd add my two cents to this very helpful thread. I found this thread while searching for info on building a Gun Kote oven so If there is any continued interest, I'm happy to post my oven build here.

 

[gunnergirl81]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

Too funny! Our primary oven is the same design/idea. Homak cabinet but with a two round burner HF hotplate. We had to build a "hillbilly" style tube oven while this was in storage. Works great doesn't it? +1 on some protection for the heating elements. Really easy to destroy a part by having it fall on a burner and heat red hot for an hour.

We also drilled vent holes in the short base sides, and through the floor. It makes for one heck of an oven and we've had a few try and buy it off of us.

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

The oven is holding up great! No problems at all. I did have a barrel fall on one of the elements before I finished a guard but that was my fault for not securing the barrel better. I was in a hurry and just didn't make a good solid loop in the wire and it slipped. It hit an element dead center!. I bent it back with some pliers while it was still hot and soft, still works. I would imaged the glass/ceramic elements would have shattered.

The red silicon is still holding up great, no problems there. I'm probably close to 110 cycles through this thing. Insulation is holding up well too. never did get around to insulating the door seems. So far, it hasn't been needed. I can maintain 300 degrees all day. From the outside it still looks new!

I'm still using 120v but may build a 220v version out of a large gun cabinet later when my shop is finished. Business from the locals has been steady and really all I can handle with the massive projects at my day job.

I'd like to get more technical with the next one and use a digital thermostat and a fan to circulate the air. I've done mostly gunkote and it seems to cure evenly without the fan. But the next oven will be more professional. Main focus now is the shop, getting my own tools, just purchased a used HF knee mill to convert over to CNC.

Too many projects!

Mike

 

[LRI]

Re: homemade paint oven (more pics added)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: m1k3</div><div class="ubbcode-body">After seeing everybody's work in here and really not liking my SS barrel and receiver, I decided to build my own oven and pick a gun coating.

I bought a small gun cabinet from Academy. Coated the inside with rigid duct board (PITA to track down around here). I went to a thrift store and bought a toaster oven with a melted plug for $5. I need to do some re-wiring and put a real thermostat on it but so far it works great. I tested it first without the insulation and could only get the inside to about 190 degrees. With the insulation I could easily get to 400+ degrees. I sealed the insulation with high temp gasket sealant. Thermometer is from wal-mart. I'd like to get a couple grill thermometers and place them in the door but haven't found any that were cheap yet. A couple of hooks for now to hang stuff from and I'm in business.

Let me know what you guys think.
Here are some pics of my oven:

Here are some Savage bolt knobs I'm testing on. Left one is painted with Krylon Ultra Flat Black. Middle is original Savage black from my first 10fp, right is Flat Black KG Gunkote. My first attempt and painting with the Gunkote. I got it a little thin on the end of the knob. I should have held the part a little higher and had more light on it when I painted it.

You can see in this pic where I took the Gunkote'd knob and hit the Krylon knob a few times. The Krylon just chipped right off but the Gunkote looks untouched. Also noticed the Gunkote is a little thin on the end of the knob with the SS slightly visible in bright light. Still, much flatter black then the other two. Also, the order is reversed here, Gunkote - Original Savage - Krylon.

</div></div>



To the OP:

Can you give a ballpark of what your total investment was for the oven?

It appears you did a very nice job on it. congrats and well done!

 

[msahlm]

Re: homemade paint oven and first test results

I hear you on the fan and temperature controls, I'm in exactly the same boat. I have (low-paying public-servent) dayjob issues too.

My plan is to buy and wire in a K-style thermocoupler (K-rating meaning that it has a temperature range from 0-2300F the proper one for an oven of this type-). These are cheap and allow me to retrofit the electronic controller later.

for now it's probable going to be a salvaged thermostat control from an electric oven or the knob from the toaster oven- guy at the local appliance salvage place is going to try and salvage a digital(LCD) oven timer/thermostat control and display from a salvaged oven for me- almost free. So far I have $16 invested in 2 used toaster ovens and a metal filing cabinet. I could have it cooking for under $100 but I have given it some thought and believe for around $300 I could have a pseudo-professional rig that will look and function like a factory made oven. We'll see. I'll post some pics here as I start building it- may be best to start my own thread-but if I found this thread- others will too so I'll put them here if it doesn't make me a hijacker.

(building an oven is as fun as building a rifle!!)

Thanks for responding,

badge 98

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven (more pics added)

Thank you sir.

The design came from several people here on the Hide and other forums. I just copied what others had done. Maybe through in a little change here and there.

Gun cabinet was probably $90 on sale?
Insulation was $45-$55 for the sheet.
The toaster oven was $5 at a local thrift store (had a melted plug where they had pushed the oven against the plug while running).
Maybe $5 for misc hardware.
$10 for the thermometer.

So about $165?

Its paid for itself several times over. I looked all over town for a used locker or metal cabinet but they were all high for what I was getting. It wasn't until last month I found the army surplus store selling lockers for $15. Go figure. Anyways, it was the first thing I could offer as a service and actually get some money back so its been a great investment. I've had several repeat customers and so far, no complaints.

mike

 

[nmmi9100]

Re: homemade paint oven (more pics added)

I wish the pictures of this worked still. Would like to get an idea in my head of what this looks like.

-David
Edgewood, NM

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven (more pics added)

The pics aren't showing up? Anyone else having trouble seeing the pics? I see them and I don't think I moved them on the SkyDrive share to private.

 

[msahlm]

Re: homemade paint oven (more pics added)

I can see pics fine..

David, we're neighbors. Small World. I'd like to ask you some questions about appleseed.

Mike Ahlm

[email protected]

 

[freedive10]

Re: homemade paint oven (more pics added)

Nice job on the oven!

 

[msahlm]

Re: homemade paint oven (more pics added)

had a chance to work on my oven build. lucked into a perfect shell- an old-school heavy duty filing cabinet 18"wide x 28" deep, and 51" tall

added some locking wheels, cabinet was sturdy enough that i didn't need reinforcement.

Filing cabinet is perfect because it already has some internal structure along the walls that facilitate a dead air space between the hardi-backer fiberglass/concrete liner and the metal walls. I built that into the ceiling and back wall as well. Hanging eyes,and wall brackets near the bottom are fastened to the hardi board, so that no heat will transfer from the inside of the oven to the outside shell.

Hardi backer liner in not insulation, but is very much fire/heat proof and makes a good substrate for the duct-board fiberglass insulation.

I got some oven glass from a salvage yard for a window in the door (which is totally unnecessary, but it's my project and I want to see what's going on in there). The glass was not entirely cheap ($20 for two identical pieces and the brackets to make a double paned window.

I did not find any real good solution for putting a light inside the oven. Have come to realize most oven lights are behind a glass shield and are not meant to withstand 400F heat. But I did buy almost every peice of Pyrex at my local thrift store for $5 and came up with a neat plan (we'll see if it works like I plan it to)

I left the bottom drawer of the 4-drawer cabinet as a housing for all of my wiring, my oven light, my thermostat, and a vent fan to keep all of the these other things cool.

Here's how I made a portal window in the bottom of the oven for a light. I cut out a hole in the floor to fit a Pyrex bowl and fastened it using a homemade galvonized wire harness, and used plenty of fireplace cement to seal it. There will be another piece of Pyrex glass on the top of the hardi-backer board, and yet another Pyrex bowl built into the 1 1/2 inch duct board insulation- I expect very little heat lost through the bottom light window- my main worry is if some fo the Pyrex shatters due to uneven heating.

I had to remember to put on the door hinges before I put in the hardi-back walls. My door will be designed with 3 inches of insulation that fits inside the oven- I'm hoping to seal the heat within the box, so that the door itself is not the heat seal- We'll see how that works!?

So that's where I'm at now- next stage will be the door- I've got 14 guage galvonized cut with a break to fit- one layer of hardi-back, a double window, and a double layer of duct board insulation over the top- should seal about 3-4 inches inside the oven.

Before I install the insulation inside, I'll have to get my toaster-oven elements pulled out and mounted somehow and my thermostat (which I don't have yet), thermocoupler wired and placed, etc.

Any help or suggestions are welcome- I've got several cans of silver metallic high temp paint, so it's going to look like a giant square preperation-H suppository. I'm wondering now what to name it. any thoughts?

I hope I'm not hijacking this thread- just trying to leave something helpful for the next guy who stumbles in here looking for ideas on building an oven.

 

[jnesto]

Re: homemade paint oven (more pics added)

Hello msahlm, thanks for sharing this info.

 

[m1k3]

Re: homemade paint oven (more pics added)

Wow! Taking it to the next level there! I use a piece of hardi board to separate the heating element bracket I made for mine and the bottom layer of insulation. So far the hardiboard is holding up fine. Possibly more brittle than it used to be but I have a ton of the stuff since I re-sided my whole house with it.

Mike

 

[msahlm]

Re: homemade paint oven (more pics added)

Not sure if I'm taking it to the next level, or just using the successes and failures of others like yourself. I think that anyone who wants to have their own oven for curing gun finishes enjoys building things and doing it right- evidence by all of the incredible work you guys are showing in this forum.

I don't plan on any of the hardiboard being exposed to direct heat- every inch will be behind the rigid duct board insulation, so I expect it will hold up indefinately. Many powder coaters started using it for homemade ovens until they realized they needed a sealed surface to keep it from causing dust in their coating finishes. I'm more concerned with the 250F duct board for a 300-350F oven- but My guess is there is plenty of lee-way in the rating, and they probable kept it cooking for much longer than an hour or two.

tested out my oven light- it's going to work awesome, especially with the foil lined insulation!

Working on the door and pulling my heating elements-

I'm going to bite the bullet and buy the PID- Price is not really all that higher than a salvaged thermostat from an oven, and has no trouble using 120V instead of 220V (not sure what trouble that would give me-any electricians in the house?)

Should make this oven work like a champ! set to desired temp- let the microprocessor work to insure the temperature stays as close to exactly as physically possible- alarms for over temp- under temp, shuts down at programmed time- only $63 shipped- includes the thermocoupler, and the SSR (solid state relay) and a heat sink for the relay- basically everything you'd need.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120681061310&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Probably going to have to wait until some kind of paycheck arrives before pulling the trigger on this though- my $100 oven has already hit about $200 with hardware, latches, hinges, lights, electric cords, high temp wire, $18 galvonized door, extra sheet of hardi-backer (which I ended up needing), castor wheels, and 4 cans of high temp spraypaint- (and lots of etc.)the PID controller will make the total costs between $250-$300. I could have had a reliable oven for closer to $120, but my guess is that folks in this forum can relate to my hatred for doing the bare minimum on a project.

 

[msahlm]

Re: homemade paint oven (more pics added)

finished the door tonight,

the portal cut into the door is smaller than the glass window, creating a good overlap. A single sheet of hardibacker between the steel door and the window mount. I used pretty light galvonized for the door (I said 14 before, but I think it's 18 guage- pretty consistant with the rest of the cabinet). Otherwise it would have been too heavy. The hardibacker gives it rigidity, seals the oven a bit, allows for a lot of "fudging" to get things to fit, and does help insulate the steel a bit.

there are two panes of heat rated glass in a bracket that leaves a 1/4 gap between them. I filled the gap between the outside window and the hardiback with another piece of hardibacker that I wrapped up in foil tape- It creates a good seal, but not an airtight seal- my thought is you do not want to try and air-seal the windows- I had planned on sealing all the gaps with high temp silicone, but have realized there is just no need- I think it needs to be able to breath (vent), and the rigid duct insulation is going to seal over the entire window unit (minus a middle cutout the size of the outside portal) We'll see how it works- the bracket that came with the oven glass (and the lack of any sealant) guided me- If it's good enough for a commercial oven, better stick with it. Any guidance on this will be greatly appreciated.

Fits like a glove. I took one picture with the flash (it's dark outside, and then another with the light on and no flash- It's feeling like the light/window combo is going to work out great!

Next projects are building a housing for my heat elements, bolting latches and hinges on the door, and maybe going ahead and painting the shell. I'm waiting on high temperature wire, My PID heat controller, a 110v cooling fan for underneath (and a couple of louvered register covers)

Definately need to get all the elements and thermocouplers and thermomoter probes installed before I insulate- saving that until the very last so I can minimize the number and size of holes and screw-ups I put into the insulation.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
m1k3, did you use the high temp silicone to attach the duct board to your cabinet? I understand that your seals around the seams are still in good shape, but I'm wondering if I use silicone to attach the insulation to the walls and door, if it need any additional adhesion(screws or brackets) or if it will stick and STAY with just silicone.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX