doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Do any of you use a stock drying cabinet?

As always, still fooling with stock finishes. Right now I'm trying a couple of different finishes, one an LO recipe posted that comes from the Brit trade and Pro Custom Oil. They are both coming along nicely, but I think a nice safe drying box would be a benefit to my shop. If you use one, how did you construct it and what did you uses to heat it? thanks for your input.
Steve

Steve,.. I've used my rusting cabinet as a drying box from time to time but only have a little circulating fan going,.. I would be carefull with heat as I had a couple of minor shrincage issues in the past when even light heat was involved

Best,

CJ

I use an old computer shipping box with double wall corrugated sides. A couple of hooks made from coat hangers were punched through the top for hanging things. A 25 watt light bulb for a bit of heat was added. I use a digital thermometer with a probe on a wire to monitor the temp, which usually tops out at about 100. Simple, primitive, cheap, and it works fine.

Steve

I made one out of 2x2's and plywood. I used enamel to paint the inside so I could wipe it with a wet sponge to get dust off of it easy. I used some hooks in the top and two thermometers (one at teh top and one at the bottom) to regulate the heat. In the winter months I use a 60 watt bulb and in the summer a 40. I hold the temperature at 100 for about an hour and leave the cover in place whrn I unplug the light bulb for another hour.

Regards Gordon (see you tuesday)

I agree with Claudio 100% re heat. When I built my cabinet I installed two light bulbs in the bottom as a heat source in order to speed drying. After a couple of instances of wood shrinkage, I quit using the bulbs. I do however have a small fan, from a computer CPU, in the bottom, in order to circulate air and speed the drying. I find that this helps and without any shrinkage. I fabricated a screen in front of the fan, which holds a coffee filter, in order to ensure that no dust is drawn into the box, God forbid!

I built one years ago with circulating warm, dessicated air. After awhile I concluded that humidity trumps everything.

I also experimented with a heated (up to 140 degrees F)low vacuum (25 mm Hg) oven and a dessicated nitrogen stream. Result: humidity trumps everything.

I've found that stock finishes dry much more quickly in the winter in my basement shop at 60 degrees F and 40% humidity than they do in late spring at 70 degrees F and 55% humidity. When I keep the humidity <50% (easily done with a standard dehumidifier in my closed 15x20 shop) normal temperature variation doesn't matter....I can apply finish as quickly as I want to, which is roughly once every 12 hours.

A drying finnish,oil ,varnish,poly is an oxidation process. You might try a sealed box with a light flow of oxygen in it. I would think that an oxygen rich atmosphere would help with drying(oxidation) along with some heat(90-100 deg).

When I remodeled my kitchen I built in a pantry that also houses the h2o heater (electric). I hang my stocks in the pantry above the heater, works great. And I do concur with mike campbell, humidity has a lot to do with the drying process.

Thanks for the input Gents.
Steve