Hot box

[gerryrig]

Hey Guys,

I have been a lurker here for quite some time and have built two pair of skis. I have gleaned a lot of usefull information form this fourm which made for a relativily painless building experience.

I used west systems resin for these skis and they turned out great, but it is expensive. I ordered some Resin Research for my next build.

On their website it recomends curing the ski for about six or seven hours at room temp and then increasing the temp to around 110* and then to 180* for final cure. So my question is, do I need to keep the skis in the press for this whole process or can I take them out of the press and put them in a hot box.

My idea is to build a hot box and heat it with light bulbs. This is all SWAG but I think a box with six 100 watt bulbs would be sufficient to do the job and inexpensive. I can control the heat with a dimmer.

Thanks in advance,

Gerry

[sammer]

After 6-7 hr cure you can pull them then post cure in your easybake oven.
Should work fine.
Post some pics, no pics= it never happened

sam

[gerryrig]

Thanks for the input.
I was afraid the skis might warp or loose camber.
I'll probably start building the hot box tomorrow and test it out sometime next week.

[skidesmond]

Not a bad idea. I usually will wait 4-5 days after I pull the skis and let them cure at room temp. But this would speed it up. Yea post pics and let me know how the epoxy works from Research Resin, there prices looked very reasonable.

[gerryrig]

Anyone have a source for a high temp thermostat?

[artski]

I wonder if a tempstat from an old oven would work, I bet it would.

[NinetyFour]

A thermal shutdown switch might be something to add to this thing incase it somehow "runs away" thats my only real input. Sounds like a good idea though! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

[gerryrig]

I built the box today. Dimensions are 18"W x 16"T x 78"L.
I put four 100 watt bulbs in it, turned it on and watched it for aboout three hours. It held steady at 120*. I'm going to put two more 100 watt bulbs in it and see what happens. If that isn't enough I'll go to 150 watt bulbs.
I'm pretty sure I can get a high temp line voltage thermostst at an electrical supply house. I'll go look this week.

[MadRussian]

I built the box today. Dimensions are 18"W x 16"T x 78"L.
I put four 100 watt bulbs in it, turned it on and watched it for aboout three hours. It held steady at 120*. I'm going to put two more 100 watt bulbs in it and see what happens. If that isn't enough I'll go to 150 watt bulbs.
I'm pretty sure I can get a high temp line voltage thermostst at an electrical supply house. I'll go look this week.

here one I found
http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewt ... 7&start=15

using light bulbs as a source of heat you most likely going to get different temperatures of air inside the box and surface temperature of the skis. Also if light bulbs located directly above the skis you might get hotspots or uneven heat distribution

[gerryrig]

I found one of the Ranco ETC111000 temp controlers for $50 on line.
I put six 200 watt bulbs in the box tonight and the temp went up to 190* in about thirty minutes. The bulbs are spaced evenly down the bottom center of the box so temps should be fairly even throughout, but a small fan might be a good way to assure even temps. I also plan to put a small deflector over each bulb to eliminate the possibility of blistering the skis.

[troublemaker]

You could also buy a regular PID controller and SSR off of Ebay for around $34 shipped that would work great.

[gerryrig]

Just ordered the Ranco controler.

[troublemaker]

Looks like that will work great!

[petemorgan(pmoskico)]

monitor those heat lamps otherwise you might burn your house down and then the neighbors will probably think that you were cooking meth.

and on the same note about burning your house down. everyone be careful if you use any flammable resin systems, and with excessive saw dust! some guy i met on mount raineer said he used to build skis until his shop burnt down. he said you watched his entire shop burn to the ground.

[gerryrig]

Yea posible fire has been on my mind. The bad thing is I build these in my brothers shop which is under his house. The good thing is it's not my house.
The box should not get over 180* since I'll have a T stat controling it. The part that worries me is having to leave it on at 180* overnight. Maybe what I'll do is bring the box up to my house and put it in the garage. I have a fire sprinkler system in the house. At least if it caught on fire it would be my house on fire and not his. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to his family and it was my doing.