What kind of temp. are people looking for out of a heat box?
I run mine at about 140, if it gets too hot i prop open lid or unscrew a bulb
do you mean an "oven" for cooking laminated bows? or a wood drying "hot box" for drying staves?? if your asking about an "oven" I have a 150 degree on and 180 degree OFF thermostat in my oven.. I have Four 100 watt bulbs in it and it only gets up to 165 degrees,I need to insulate it and try out some 75 watt bulbs. I have an insulated plywood "hot box" I built in 1994, I ran a 75 watt? or 100 watt? bulb in it with a small fan to keep heated air moving, I think I tried to keep temps arround 110 degrees???
My hot box will max out the thermostat at 168deg(F) but I rarely use it hotter than 110 to 120deg and generally 90 to 100deg for drying wood. I built it to build glass lam bows but after the first one I lost interest. Now I build selfbows and use the box to dry wood or maintain dry wood.
I have an idea for building 1 box to do both drying staves and cooking laminated bows ( of course not at the same time) thought about instaling radiant floor tubing in the box ran off my domestic hot water heater with a zone valve, small pump, and a check valve. Have to cheak with my design guy and see if it could handle 180
Sounds way more complicated than a few light bulbs. I built my box from Bingham's instructions and now only use it for drying staves and maintaining dry wood. Same box with the same light bulbs but I use it at the lower temps now.
Ah yes but I will never Have to wait for it to come up to temp, and with the threat of no more incondescent light bulbs out there,you all are going to have a hard time geting them warm enough if that were to happen( plus I have acess to all the parts and pcs seeing how Im in HVAC
I made mine out of 1/2" foil backed foam insulation screwed to a 3/4" X 3/4" wood frame so it would be lightweight. I can move it anywhere by myself.
I use four light bulbs, two 60W and two 100W, and run them through a dimmer. You can see the dimmer mounted on the end of the lid. The light sockets are mounted on scrap pieces of wood paneling to insulate them from the foil. With this set up I can have any heat range from 0*F to 160*F+.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v511/aeronut/DSC00243.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v511/aeronut/Lightmounts.jpg)
Dennis
Dennis, that has to be the coolest (pun intended) hot box ever!
I used 2 inch insulation skewers and Duct tape..
(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii45/heilakka/heatbox/DSCN2166.jpg)
(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii45/heilakka/heatbox/DSCN2167.jpg)
(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii45/heilakka/heatbox/DSCN2165.jpg)
I went with the insulation board and duct tape method as well. Easy to break down when not in use.
Simple methods are better at times :thumbsup:
It seems I may have overthunk this project,Ihave to remember to K.I.S.S.
a dimmer switch and three 100 watt bulbs lets me control my hot bow temp from nothing to 150 with no insulation on the coldest day in my garage it never dropped below 90
not a good pic of mine, I built it according to the Binghams plan. I put castor wheels under it and roll it under the bench when not in use. I just roll it out when cooking a bow. The next thing I think I'll do is add some good high temp insulation.. (http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt46/Robertfishes/2ndlongbowglueup.jpg)