Heat Box

[glockanator]

Good Morning-

Need some help with a heat box/Dry box. I have been told to just get a convection oven and others have said to make one. I cant find any plans for one on the net. It will be used mostly for holster and small items. Can some one point me in the right direction?

thanks

[DuaneS]

Hmmm... How about your typical Ice Cooler with a 100W bulb in it?

You'd be amazed at how much heat they'll hold! Might be worth a shot and you may not even need a 100W bulb, smaller may work just as well

-dhs

[katsass]

Good Morning-

Need some help with a heat box/Dry box. I have been told to just get a convection oven and others have said to make one. I cant find any plans for one on the net. It will be used mostly for holster and small items. Can some one point me in the right direction?

thanks

Well, I don't know what part of the country you reside in but for me, in the desert, I let old Ma Nature take care of the warming/drying most of the year. That said however, in this time of the year I take a fair sized cardboard box, lay it on it's side and (after placing my damp holster on a smaller box to keep it off the floor) direct a small electric space heater into the open side. I set the heater on 'LOW' and open a hole or two in the backside of the upended box (to allow air flow). The idea is to warm the leather to around 130 degrees or so (NEVER more than 150 degrees), AND remove the moisture as quickly as possible. You can easily make a permanent box utilizing an old hair dryer. The biggest ideas are just not to allow the leather to get too hot, and allow ventilation to remove the moisture. Mike

[pabloz]

I just put the stuff in the water/heater closet (both are gas) and whamo...dry by the time I get back to it afetr working on something else.

[Steven Kelley]

I recently made a drying box using a plastic storage bin, digital meat thermometer, and a fan forced utility heater (aka - small space heater with a fan). The storage bin is one of the larger ones at home depot. Using one with a hinged lid would be even better. That's my next change. Basically what you do is cut a hole in the end of the bin about the same size as the heater. The heater will sit outside the bin and blow warm air inside. Drill holes in the sides of the bin for wooden dowels. The wooden dowels will pass through both sides of the bin so items can hang inside the box. A digital meat thermometer, the kind with a wire running from the thermocouple to the digital display box, can be used to tell you how warm it is inside. I run my heater on low, with the thermostat turned to max so it doesn't cycle on and off. It maintains a constant temperature of 120° - 122° inside the box. The moving air also helps dry things more quickly.

Originally I was a little worried about the heater sitting so close to the plastic bin, but the plastic doesn't even get hot. It's just warm. The bin was $10, the heater $20, and I already had the thermometer. I've been using this setup for about a month and it works great.

[Big O]

I just use a cardboard box about twice the size of a shoebox in every dimension. I use a wooden or plastic ruler through the belt slots/loops of my holsters, and prop the work up at an angle inside the box. Then I put an ordinary handheld hair dryer about 1.5 feet in front of the box, turn it on "high", and let it go for 30 minutes.

Then check on the progress. Sometimes it needs another 15 minutes.

[Rayban]

Great minds think alike Steven.....I've used this about a year now and It works great. Comes in very handy in the winter months.

The space heater was $12 at Lowes, plastic bin was the wife's....dish tray was too....I still don't think she's missing that yet.

Thermostat, what that? When it's dry, it's dry.

Edited February 4, 2012 by Rayban

[leggo ma eggo]

Good Morning-

Need some help with a heat box/Dry box. I have been told to just get a convection oven and others have said to make one. I cant find any plans for one on the net. It will be used mostly for holster and small items. Can some one point me in the right direction?

thanks

I'm new to Leatherworker.net, so, hello....

This will probably make a few of you laugh, but with the few holsters that I have made, I found that setting the holster on top of a lampshade of a lit lamp for several hours after I finish wet molding them does a pretty decent job of drying them out and stiffening up the leather.

Funny thing, I also found out that water that is too hot(boiling) will shrink leather instantly and make it as hard as a rawhide chew toy for your dog.

I leave the pistol in the holster inside the wet holster for about half or a little more of the time on top of the lampshade then remove it for the final drying.

[mattsh]

I utilize a cardboard box. I set it on its side. Its about 15x15x20. I prop up the holster using a large C clamp. I clamp a magazine if using a real gun or I clamp the grip of the dummy gun. So I have the gun or the dummy in the holster while it dries. I place a hair dryer on high heat and on low fan speed just outside the opening of the box and angle it so that the hot air is blown in a circulating pattern thru the box.