I made this “Oven” for thermoplastics with one of my good friends a few months ago and a few people showed interest in a how to of sorts. I’ll do my best to provide the necessary instructions but it’s a very simple build and a lot will depend on your needs (size, # of lamps, etc)
So heres what we’re aiming to build.
And the parts list as follows
Heat lamps (250w x4 is what I used)
10awg wire long enough to suit your needs
A power strip with enough sockets for each lamp for easy on/off
One, two prong socket ends for each lamp
Ceramic or porcelain lamp sockets (one for each lamp)
Large roll of Aluminum tape for the edges of the oven
Meat thermometer to stick through the foam so you can have a general idea of the temp inside, I also used a laser heat gun
Oven door seal long enough for your door
And finally enough thermal insulation foam for the size of box you want to make.
A few good tips and things I would have done differently.
The first few times you turn the oven on, the box will crackle and pop like rice crispies. That’s normal and eventually stops. But make sure to get the best stuff you can find, fireretardent aluminum laminated foam. Add an extra layer of aluminum with that aluminum tape roll.
I would have used one of those light dimming arrays to control the intensity of the heat because sometimes heating was too intense.
Make sure to make the box tall enough so that the beam from the lamp is properly focused otherwise uneven heating will be the main result. This is one of the most important parts.
If you have never hooked up lightbulbs before give that a quick look over. It’s not hard but I’d rather not give you info that might not be suited to your situation. Some loghtbulbs are susceptible to reverse polarity some not so do you best in this area. For me the positive and negative leads on the ceramic lamp sockets were labeled, so I stuck to that when I wired it all up.
The better your seal is on the oven door the more even heating will be inside. One opening can lead to warping of the material.
That’s all I can think of for now. Let me know if you have any questions.
