Cerakote Paint Oven for Firearms.

[joehatz]

Decided I wanted to refinish some firearms with the Cerakote Heat Treated Paint.
I had done a few smaller parts in a Toaster Oven but now wanted to do some Rifles and Barrels.
Brownells want in the Range of $2500.00 for an Oven so with ideas and information from others on the web built my own.
Purchased an inexpensive Gun Cabinet at TSC store on sale for $99.00
Put wheels on bottom to make it easy to move around Princess Auto $10.00
Purchased 350 degree F Foil Faced 2" insulation from McMaster Carr $33.00
Purchased 500 Degree F Silicone Fireplace sealer from Canadian Tire to adhere insulation to cabinet $15.00
Used Aluminum Heating tape to seal seams and around door.$20.00
Bought a thermal control from e-bay which comes complete with Control Temp Probe and Sold State Relay (Digital PID Temperature Controller) $50.00
From Home Depot electrical wire, plastic conduit, box to house controller and a timer. $100.00
Installed some threaded rods at the top of the cabinet to hang parts from.$10.00
I used the heating elements from the Toaster Oven I already had. I took all the components out of the case and installed them in the bottom of the
cabinet with an air space of roughfly 6" below to allow the wiring to come in. I moved the top 2 elements from the oven down and put reflectors above all four to direct the heat downward and then reflected it back up which gave me more even heating throughout the cabinet.
I can reach a Maximum temperature of 375 degrees F which is well above what is needed. It takes a very short time to get up to working temperature (250 degrees)
and the controller will keep the temperature + or - 0.5 degrees. the outside of the cabinet stays very cool except for the door where there is some heat leakage.
All in all very satisfied with the build and for a fraction of the cost. My total outlay was roughly $300.00 plus my time.
Sample paint job of pistol and pictures of project.
If anyone wants more info or pictures let me know.

 

[metalmole]

Nice cabinet joehatz....I made one about the same size, used 1.5 duct board for insulation and put a 110 hot plate in the bottom, it just gets to 250 on high but takes a little time to get there.....Could you tell me the model of toaster oven you took your elements from, what wattage are they and do you have any pictures of the elements in your cabinet.....thanks

 

[macvrlamm]

Now that is a very nice idea, i have an old oven from a tare down that is 36 x24 x30 inside that I use works good but like your set up as well

 

[joehatz]

I have attached some pictures of the heating elements. There are 4 in all 250W each.
The Toaster Oven was a GE if I remember correctly but any toaster Oven that can get around 400F-450F should work.
Also updated pictures of the controller and timer. This is the second controller I used the first one (Chinese) was hard to program
and while messing around with it shorted it and burnt it up.
After some research I purchased an Auber controller made in Japan much simpler to program and works perfectly.
It was about $10.00 more than the other one but well worth it.
So I suppose my total cost would be closer to $350.00 than $300.00. still a lot less than a commercial unit.
The timer also makes it more convenient as I no longer have to sit around waiting for the parts to cure so I can turn the
oven off. (didn't like to leave the oven unattended for to long a period )

 

[metalmole]

hey thanks for the extra pictures....couple questions...are you saying you positioned the elements 6" from the bottom ?, and did you drill holes in the element shields or were they like that out of the oven ?? I had to put a SS mixing bowl that I cut holes in the side of over my hot plate to keep the radiant heat from rising too fast. The hot plate works ok, but I like your idea better, especially the timer.....

 

[joehatz]

Yes I sat the heating elements 6" off the floor of the cabinet so that the wiring could go under the elements and keep from getting hot.
I put the aluminum shields over the elements and drilled holes in them. This reflected most of the heat to the bottom and then reflected it back up into the cabinet
this way I kept the heat pretty even through out the cabinet.
There was a difference of about 2-3f degrees top to bottom.
Hope this helps.

 

[plangan71]

Thank you for all the pictures and the great idea. I was going to convert an old oven but was afraid I would have issue with longer barrels and such. Your design eliminates this.
Thank you.