$45 DIY oven for baking on "Engine Enamel" paint

Maybe someone has posted this before, or thought of this before.... but this is my mega cheap and effective oven for baking on "Engine enamel", could be used to speed/help cure any paint I suppose. With VHT or Dupli-color engine enamel you are required to Bake it on at roughly 200 degrees for about an hour. It is as simple as it looks, a 35 gallon steel trash can with a hole cut in the bottom, and a hairdryer crammed in and taped up to help seal it. Parts hang off eye bolt from the lid. With the hairdryer on high, and some of the air escaping etc, it somehow keeps a steady temperature between 175 and 190. Maybe a little less than ideal temp, I just leave parts in a little longer. I also have a bunch of duct tape around rim of can to help seal lid better and I use some cheap duct tape to tape around lid to seal air in while parts are baking.

A heat gun would probably be better and you could put a hole in the top that could be covered and uncovered easily to allow heat to escape to control the temps.

I like your thinking and make come in handy when I have some painting to do.

I did a few tests with a heat gun. It got TOO hot and was MUCH harder to regulate a constant temp. For some reason with the hair dryer it stays steady in a good heat range. So its nice to set it and forget it for an hour instead of constantly monitoring, adjusting, and worrying about temp.

not a bad idea!

just made me the same oven you showed us!it worked a treat....easy as cheese man!

do you bake other paints too except the motorparts with the vht or dupli supertherm on it?

sandman28 said:

I did a few tests with a heat gun. It got TOO hot and was MUCH harder to regulate a constant temp. For some reason with the hair dryer it stays steady in a good heat range. So its nice to set it and forget it for an hour instead of constantly monitoring, adjusting, and worrying about temp.

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What kind of temps were you seeing with the heat gun? I need to make a small oven but need to have the temps higher than the 189 degrees you show, probably 250-300.

HerrDeacon said:

What kind of temps were you seeing with the heat gun? I need to make a small oven but need to have the temps higher than the 189 degrees you show, probably 250-300.

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i used a hairdryer with 2000 watts,and it stuck to 200 fahrenheit pretty close all the time.
dunno how many watts a heatgun will put out.

Great idea, but I'm wondering how long a cheap hairdryer will last having it run constantly at max for 1-2 hours at a time.

Re: $45 DIY oven for baking on "Engine Enamel" paint

Jewbaca I paid $2 for mine and it's lasted since November . It's a gamble ... But still a cheaper and easier option.


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Re: $45 DIY oven for baking on "Engine Enamel" paint

I'm sure you could get at least 250 with a heat gun


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Re: $45 DIY oven for baking on "Engine Enamel" paint

my hairdryer is expensive my girlfriend is a priss

sandman28 said:

Jewbaca I paid $2 for mine and it's lasted since November . It's a gamble ... But still a cheaper and easier option.

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No doubt, just make sure you either have a GFCI or a fire extinguisher handy, haha.

Ryan Stecken said:

my hairdryer is expensive my girlfriend is a priss

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I feel your pain. My wife's hairdryer has more buttons and switches than my XTerra has.

Re: $45 DIY oven for baking on "Engine Enamel" paint

sandman28 said:

I'm sure you could get at least 250 with a heat gun


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Thanks.