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Drying time in home oven for oil figures?

Discussion in 'Tools of the Trade/Accessories' started by arkangelo, Jun 29, 2019.

  1. arkangelo Active Member

    Hello everyone, I have built a homemade oven to dry the figures painted in oil, so that they are matte, before drying it in conventional oven.
    And I wanted to ask the one who uses this homemade oven, how long should I let the figure dry?
    I currently have a 100W incandescent bulb.
    If you use a light bulb of less watts, which one do you use and how long do you leave the figure inside for drying?

    Greetings and thanks in advance

    Ark

    [IMG]
    [IMG]
    Dolf likes this.
  2. Tecumsea PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    England
    I leave mine in for 4-6 hours but with a 60w bulb and with the door slightly open. Also position the figure as far away from the bulb as you can. My figures are mainly white metal but with resin I use the same.

    Keith
    DaddyO likes this.
  3. arkangelo Active Member

    Ok Keith thank you very much for the recommendation greetings

    Ark
  4. yellowcat A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    I use a 40w light bulb and leave my figure overnight. Mine is 16L x 16W x 25H inches and has a vent hole on the top left corner. 1oow is too hot. It may soften resin or weaken epoxy glue joint. I once dry a styrene plastic figure in a cardboard box with a 60w light bulb. It got melted the next morning. I seldom use my oven these days, mainly for dust proof my figure.

    Felix

    lighbox1.jpg

    lightbox3c.jpg
    arkangelo likes this.
  5. arkangelo Active Member

    Thank you Felix for your recommendation a greeting


    Ark
  6. Dolf Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Portugal
    Hi Ark,

    IMHO your drying box is far too small for a 100W bulb (don't know the exact dimensions, but this is based on the size of the bulb) .

    Another thing, it doesn't have no openings at all, so I really don't know for how long you can have a resin or white metal figure or bust drying inside, but as Keith says, if you put some inside for helping the oils dry faster, you should put your pieces as far away from that bulb as possible (the problem is that given the fact that your box is way too small you can't put them that much far away...) .

    If you're gonna use it, then I'd suggest you to change the bulb for a 40W one, and keep that door not fully close. I'd recommend you to do a couple of tests, during the day (or whenever you can be closely watching it) and see how it goes.


    "before drying it in conventional oven."

    With a good drying box I don't think you'll need to use a conventional oven... You'd probably end up "cooking" (melting them!) your figures or busts! :D



    On my own drying box, I do have a 100W bulb. But, in my case the bulb is far away from whatever I put inside. It's also on a separate part of the box, on a upper level so the heat only reaches the lower level with the help of a small fan (those used for cooling computers) through a hole between the two levels.

    Actually my drying box (see pics below) was made as a maternity for baby birds/chicks some years ago when I used to breed some Psittacidae species (Parrots family), so obviously I just wanted them just to be warm, as if they were in a nest with their parents, certainly not cooking them :p
    When it was used for its initial purpose I also had a couple of small recipients with water on the upper level for controlling the humidity, which I'm not using now as I don't think it would be needed for this new purpose I'm using it now.
    There is a transformer that controls both the bulb and the fan, and there's a thermostat and a temperature controller, so I can select the temperature I want it to reach, and when it reaches it, it automatically turns it off. Currently I have it on 30ºC, so it oscillates between 28.xºC up to 29.xºC, and it never goes higher than that.
    This means that I can leave my figures and busts dry a whole night if needed, but I usually turn it off before I go to bed, so no accidents would happen (we never know, sh*it happens as the popular saying goes, so better prevent it ;) ) . As I usually work until late in the night, most of the time my figures or busts will be there for a few hours, with the system turned on, and then will remain in there even after I turn it off, until the next day (it's also useful just to protect the pieces from dust while not fully dry) .

    Hope it helps (y)



    The upper level:


    IMG_1577 copy.jpg


    The whole thing. It's 60cm tall, and the upper level, where the bulb, transformer and fan are, is just 17cm tall. The figures and busts will sit on the very bottom of the box, on the lower level,so no overheat, even with a 100W bulb in this case. Btw, it has a piece of transparent acrylic as a "door", which I keep fully closed when having some piece drying inside, allowing me to keep an eye on it at every moment:


    IMG_1579 copy.jpg





    Cheers!

    Dolf
    arkangelo likes this.
  7. arkangelo Active Member

    Many thanks Dolf then I will change the size of the box, so I heal in health, the thermostat is a great idea and I also see that you've put a PC fan, then I must modify my box as you say, if it is small

    greetings
    Dolf likes this.
  8. Dolf Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Portugal
    Hi Ark,

    Glad it can be of some help (y)

    If you build another box I don't think you'll need a PC fan (mine has one because it was necessary for its initial purpose as a chicks maternity, now obviously I won't remove it, but if I had made it for this specific purpose I'm using it now I wouldn't need that fan), just make it bigger, and then depending on the size you'll pick the right bulb for that size.

    Yes, the thermostat is quite useful even for the current use, because I can have the temperature shown on the small device on the front, but the most important thing IMHO is to have a control (don't know how they call it in English... as a matter fact not even in Portuguese... lol... Will post a pic later) with which you can set the right temperature that you want it to be/reach. As I say, in my case I have it set for around 30ºC, which I think it's good enough, as higher than that could potentially be harmful for the pieces inside, and lower than that it would probably take much longer for the pieces to dry.


    Cheers!

    Dolf
    arkangelo likes this.
  9. arkangelo Active Member

    Perfect everything noted so I'll do it thank you very much for everything Dlf

    Ark
    Dolf likes this.
  10. Dolf Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Portugal
    Hi again Ark,


    "Will post a pic later"

    So here it is the pic showing that side of my box, where the ON-OFF switch is located, together with that control where I select the temperature I want this thing to reach, and not go higher than that:

    IMG_1990 copy.jpg


    The button is on 45ºC, but that's where it's supposed to be in order to have a inside box temperature of around 30ºC. No idea how this is called :confused:


    Hope it helps, buddy (y)


    Cheers!

    Dolf
    arkangelo likes this.
  11. arkangelo Active Member

    Ok Dolf thank you for the clarification
    Dolf likes this.
  12. arkangelo Active Member

    Hi Dolf sorry what kind of thermostat should I use?
    Dolf likes this.
  13. Dolf Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Portugal
    Hi Ark,


    I built this some 15 years ago, and for the electric parts I had help from people who know it far better than I do (I don't consider myself a DIY enthusiast :p Always need some kind of instructions manual, which I follow to the letter... even for assembling models... lol...), so I'm not sure about that .

    Anyway, giving it some thought, and checking how everything is connected inside, I think that that part I mentioned yesterday (post #10), is in fact the thermostat. It has 2 electric wires that come off that thing, one that connects to the bulb (and then there are other electric wires that connect to the transformer), and the other (this one in copper I believe) that goes down to the lower level of the box (at the end of this one there's a kind of probe that acts in fact as a thermometer, I believe), which is what tells the thermostat the temperature inside the box, and by consequence, turns the bulb ON or OFF.

    This is my best guess, buddy. I'm no longer in touch with the people who helped me do this back then so no way I can ask and confirm.

    How good are you with DIY electric stuff? If you're like me, and you want to build a similar box, most probably you'll need some help and/or advice from some experts on this area for doing it right :)

    Or you can opt for a more simple approach and build a simplified box, just bigger than the one you have, with just a ON-OFF switch, and use a lower intensity bulb (if I had to build a heating box now that's probably what I'd do) . Remember that mine was built for raising my baby chicks, that is why I had to do it as precise as possible and taking all precautions as there could be no accidents. Also, when there were chicks inside, it had to be working 24h a day, for as long as the chicks had to stay in there (sometimes a couple of months) .

    Hope this can help somehow (y)


    Cheers!

    Dolf
  14. arkangelo Active Member

    Ok understood thank you very much for your help, so I will do without thermostat a greeting

    Ark
    Dolf likes this.

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