Home made powder coat oven

[michel]

My son Mathieu and I have been talking about building a powder coat oven for a while using steel studs.

He's a drywall and metal studs installer and was an easy task for him.
As soon he got home, he started to build the frame for the oven out of the 2 by 4 steel studs.



didnt take him too long and the box was finished







So basic frame is done and I'll start installing the rest of the mecanics, insulation, outer and inner skin and later build a door for it.

Going to be 32 in wide by 48 in high ans 24 in deep.

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

Very interested....

 

[jmlcolorado]

Nice!
What are your plans for the electronics for it?

 

[signcrafter]

Are those aluminum or galvanized?

Looking forward to seeing the insulation and heating elements.

 

[michel]

Are those aluminum or galvanized?
Looking forward to seeing the insulation and heating elements.

Steel studs for walls construction.
Bought at Home depot
Bat of Roxul rock insulation again from Home depot will be used , I think it's almost 3 inc thick.

Nice!
What are your plans for the electronics for it?

I will gut an old household oven I used as as donnor.

 

[PCO6]

That's looking good and it's a nice size.

Have you decided what you're using for the inner and outer skins and for the door seal?

 

[bullnerd]

No offense, but if you dont know that those studs are not aluminum, should you really be building something like this?

 

[michel]

No offense, but if you dont know that those studs are not aluminum, should you really be building something like this?

what? do you want the molecular composition of the metal????

I dont care if it's alu, steel studs or whatever else you call it...as long it does the job I want it to do.

These homemade ovens have been built like this before and work very well for what I'll do with it.
And thats all I need to know.

Oh and I corrected my mistake, thanks for bringing it up.

 

[RivennHewn]

Watching with interest.

Don't pay attention to those with nothing better to do than bring up points that don't matter.

 

[michel]

Thanks for the interest, and I dont care about those things LOL

 

[bullnerd]

Watching with interest.

Don't pay attention to those with nothing better to do than bring up points that don't matter.

LOL...thanks for proving my point.

Carry on Michel, I didnt mean to upset anyone.

 

[michel]

LOL...thanks for proving my point.

Carry on Michel, I didnt mean to upset anyone.

Not sure what I've proven but thanks for giving permission to carry on.

Ok ok I'm just plying around.

 

[buildmyown]

Looks familiar i built my about 7 years ago 4'X4'x6'. Used the same studs you are 16 or 18ga for the inner and outer skins and mineral wool insulation. For heat i have a 150,000 btu propane heater stuck in a hole in the back wall always planned to switch to electric but the gas works so well i never bothered. Any questions feel free to ask.

 

[Toxicscrew]

I built my 5 x 5 x 8 several years ago, used a controller from Ted's: http://www.tccoatings.com/

Your plan to reuse a whole oven looks solid, just giving some backup info.

 

[raddksn]

How hot does this need to get and how long does it need to maintane temp, just asking because I'd like give this a try someday.

 

[signcrafter]

Looks familiar i built my about 7 years ago 4'X4'x6'. Used the same studs you are 16 or 18ga for the inner and outer skins and mineral wool insulation. For heat i have a 150,000 btu propane heater stuck in a hole in the back wall always planned to switch to electric but the gas works so well i never bothered. Any questions feel free to ask.

The propane heater doesn't affect the powder coating from curing at all? I thought I had read somewhere that propane heaters weren't good for powder coating or painting. Something about the fumes the heater produces mixing with the paint and powder coating. But I don't know for sure.

 

[michel]

Today, I had a little time to play so I decided to dismantle the old oven.

The more I took out parts the more I tought that the inner steel from the old oven would fit nicely in the new frame.



A little test revealed that I wasnt too far off about the fit.


So since the old oven was dirty, I gave it a good scrub with a degreaser


Then, all cleaned up and time to cut it appart.


I will also use the front facia of the old oven,



then, will get some metal weld the 2 halves together and I think this will be good enough for the inner box.

Here the fascia was cut and it will fit just fine after a little surgery.


I like it because this will give me brackets for the wire shelving plus I'll be able to reconnect the heating elements, temp probe and the inside light

 

[BFBOB]

Never heard of aluminum studs, but if there were such a thing, it's just barely conceivable that they might melt. My dad once melted the bottom out of an aluminum teapot letting it boil dry on an electric stove. Of course, that was in direct contact with the heating elements ...

 

[michel]

Never heard of aluminum studs, but if there were such a thing, it's just barely conceivable that they might melt. My dad once melted the bottom out of an aluminum teapot letting it boil dry on an electric stove. Of course, that was in direct contact with the heating elements ...

Geez by the pics dont you know what I was talking about???

OK I got it, I made a huge mistake by calling the ******** things ''aluminium studs'' instead of ''metal studs''

Thanks for the info on the melted tea pot I'm sure this will help me with the construction of the oven.
From now on, no empty tea pot near the powder coat oven.

 

[michel]

How hot does this need to get and how long does it need to maintane temp, just asking because I'd like give this a try someday.

Around 400 deg and about 20 minutes depending on powder used.

 

[rkevins]

would the oven door fit for your purpose? would look neet

 

[michel]

would the oven door fit for your purpose? would look neet

Yes I think so, It will require some surgery but I'll give it a try

 

[srmofo]

If I'm not mistaken I think those studs are galvanized. If so I would look up the temps at which that stuff starts to burn off and probably run a few heat cycles outside to be safe. 400 is hot but its not really that hot so it may not burn at all. I dunno, just something to keep in mind

Either way I've seen them used before so I'm sure they work just fine.

How rigid is the frame? I've only handled a few steel studs but 1 thing I noticed how flimsy they are.

 

[mooseye]

metal studs are flimsy, but not when properly assembled as these are.
Great looking frame and I love the way it (accidentally) wound up fitting the size of the old oven parts.
Nice job!
And galvalume will not burn off at 400 degrees.

 

[CudaChick1968]

Around 400 deg and about 20 minutes depending on powder used.

Cure time doesn't start until the part is at the proper temp, not the oven!!!

 

[03protege]

very nice, I made up plans to build one of these using a propane heater but lost interest in powder coating the parts for the time being.

Looks like a fun project.

 

[michel]

Cure time doesn't start until the part is at the proper temp, not the oven!!!

Ok thanks for clearing that up.
I'm no expert at this and this will be done as an amateur, I dont plan to make a business out of this.

How hot should the oven be set?

 

[superspec]

following along for this one!

 

[buildmyown]

Ok thanks for clearing that up.
I'm no expert at this and this will be done as an amateur, I dont plan to make a business out of this.

How hot should the oven be set?

The oven should be set at whatever the powder calls for most are 400 there are some that are lower. Shoot the part and hang it in the oven doesnt matter if the oven is pre heated or not. You will need an IR thermometer to monitor part temp. Once the part reaches 400 thats when you start the timer for whatever the powder calls for. Something thin like a beer can will get to temp quick while something like and intake manifold will take a lot longer. If i load my big oven cold with 4 aluminum wheels its takes about an hour for them to cook.

Some good sights to check out for forums and supplies. Powder365.com and powderbuythepound.com

 

[michel]

The oven should be set at whatever the powder calls for most are 400 there are some that are lower. Shoot the part and hang it in the oven doesnt matter if the oven is pre heated or not. You will need an IR thermometer to monitor part temp. Once the part reaches 400 thats when you start the timer for whatever the powder calls for. Something thin like a beer can will get to temp quick while something like and intake manifold will take a lot longer. If i load my big oven cold with 4 aluminum wheels its takes about an hour for them to cook.

Some good sights to check out for forums and supplies. Powder365.com and powderbuythepound.com

Well this answers raddksn's question, he asked :
''How hot does this need to get and how long does it need to maintane temp, just asking because I'd like give this a try someday.''


Thanks for the input.

 

[michel]

Ok here we go again.

I cut the outer frame of the old oven and extended it so it would fit in the opening of the new frame

Started with this.


And it will go there.


I then made some extension using old parts from the oven.
I cut the parts to size and tacked them into place.



Checked to see how this fits with the two tubs halves.


Next, I'll extend the inner box to size and probably tacked it to the frame I just made.
This will make the whole thing a bit more sturdy.



Ok ok the welds arnt pretty and I dont care.

 

[Antique Engine]

The galvanizing will be fine. My big oven is made of galvanized sheet over steel structure. I've used it for years for powdercoating, including ceramic coating exhaust parts at over 500 degrees.

 

[CudaChick1968]

The galvanizing will be fine. My big oven is made of galvanized sheet over steel structure. I've used it for years for powdercoating, including ceramic coating exhaust parts at over 500 degrees.

Same here!

 

[clintonroy]

Subscribed. Looks like a good start.

 

[neonnblack]

Galv burns off in the 750 degree range i think it was. I used galv hardware in my smoker. Cool project, dont really have a need for a PC oven though, kinda wish i did.

 

[buening]

I'll be watching this one for ideas. Excellent construction with the metal studs. Your son has some talent there. Better drink that Corona, its getting warm!

 

[michel]

The galvanizing will be fine. My big oven is made of galvanized sheet over steel structure. I've used it for years for powdercoating, including ceramic coating exhaust parts at over 500 degrees.

Same here!

Galv burns off in the 750 degree range i think it was. I used galv hardware in my smoker. Cool project, dont really have a need for a PC oven though, kinda wish i did.

I'm not worried about heating the galvanized stuff, Like I said, these oven have been built this way from DIYer for a while.
never heard any problems with galvanizing.

Subscribed. Looks like a good start.

I'll be watching this one for ideas. Excellent construction with the metal studs. Your son has some talent there. Better drink that Corona, its getting warm!

Thanks, thats what he does for a living, took him about 3/4 hour to whip up this thing, took ME more time to explain what I wanted, he's not used to buils those kind of things, he 's more into walls and structure LOL

and dont worry, beer never has time to get warm LOL

 

[70C-10]

Michel how's your oven coming along?

 

[RivennHewn]

Time for an update?

Also, can you powder coat galvanized material?

I need to finish a frame that I made out of heavier gauge studs/track that are galvy.

Would like to powder coat it as opposed to paint.

Thanks

 

[FunkyfullWidth]

Interested in seeing how this turns out.... What are you going to build to hang the parts in there? also would like to see how you finish out the door.