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Author Topic: Advice for hotbox  (Read 2026 times)

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Offline zinger

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Advice for hotbox
« on: November 05, 2012, 10:22:59 am »
Having started seriously in bowmaking less than a year ago (after years of off and on dawdling with it) I am now seeing a hotbox as more and more of a necessity. I am asking for advice from those of you who are experienced with working with hotboxes as to what the best designs are, whether to use heat lamps or some other form of heat generation, etc. Keep in mind that I don't have alot of space to deal with, so hot box designs that are 1&1/2 times the size of large chest freezer are out of the question. This would be more for drying glue joints and and backings than it would be for seasoning wood.

I am suprised that more drying set ups do not include fans of some sort. Nothing seems to dry things up so quickly as air moving over them.
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blackhawk

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Re: Advice for hotbox
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2012, 10:43:29 am »
I went to the big box store and bought some 1" inch thick blue board foam insulation n made a rectangle cube with it with duct tape. Cut some small holes to run a cord for my clamp lights and presto..cheapo quick hot box. I've also just thrown staves in a heating duct to..even easier n no cost at all.
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blackhawk

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Re: Advice for hotbox
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2012, 10:46:57 am »
Oh..and you do realize you don't need a hotbox for some glues like urac,titebond,smooth on...just keep em in above 70 degrees and they'll cure just fine. It'll just take longer is all. Always adhere to the glue manufactures directions tho.
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Offline Carson (CMB)

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Re: Advice for hotbox
« Reply #3 on: November 05, 2012, 12:36:40 pm »
Quote from: blackhawk on November 05, 2012, 10:46:57 am
Always adhere to the glue manufactures directions tho.
   ;D

I just made a hotbox on the cheap.  I had the particle board given to me, and looking at the pre-chalked lines on it...it had a nice heatbox layout.  I spent about $5 on 1x1" and light fixtures at the local habitat for humanity. 3 40 wat bulbs keeps it right at 85-90 F.   The 2x4 pictured in inside it, is not the best baffle, I need to find a 1x6.
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"The bow is the old first lyre,
the mono chord, the initial rune of fine art
The humanities grew out from archery as a flower from a seed
No sooner did the soft, sweet note of the bow-string charm the ear of genius than music was born, and from music came poetry and painting and..." Maurice Thompso

Offline Carson (CMB)

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Re: Advice for hotbox
« Reply #4 on: November 05, 2012, 12:38:47 pm »
The pics



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"The bow is the old first lyre,
the mono chord, the initial rune of fine art
The humanities grew out from archery as a flower from a seed
No sooner did the soft, sweet note of the bow-string charm the ear of genius than music was born, and from music came poetry and painting and..." Maurice Thompso

Offline tom sawyer

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Re: Advice for hotbox
« Reply #5 on: November 05, 2012, 01:51:55 pm »
I bought a 6' piece of 6" diameter aluminum ducting, the cheap kind with a wire wound in it.  I put a small electric heater near one end and blow warm ari through it.  I put a cover over it and a Frisbee loosely covering the other end.  I flip bows every few days since I think the near end gets a little warmer.

For a true hotbox you really don't need a fan, just set it up so convection moves the warm air up and over the wood.
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Lennie
Hannibal, MO
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