Food Dehydrators & Paint Dryers

[bobss396]

Mine took a dump on me a few years back. It is a Magic Chef, my brother found them at Walmart at the time. We did mine up first, got into the base and wired in a light switch type dimmer switch to control the heat. I just ran across the "schematic" I drew up for it back them. I know I can get a base on eBay.

My brother made his shallower than mine, he used a piece of plastic scrounged from work and is about 6" deep. Mine I used 10" chimney flashing, pop-riveted at the seam and to the bottom tray. 

Lousy picture but you can see where I have the thermometer and the dimmer switch at the bottom left.

Edited October 3, 2023 by bobss396

[bobss396]

This is the one from Ollie's. I used a plastic sign from Ace Hardware and made it 8" deep. Candy thermometer from the supermarket. 

It works well and the dial is accurate enough. Set it and forget it. I have been using it for putty, glue and paint. 

[Beans]

On 1/13/2024 at 1:13 PM, bobss396 said:

This is the one from Ollie's. I used a plastic sign from Ace Hardware and made it 8" deep. Candy thermometer from the supermarket. 

It works well and the dial is accurate enough. Set it and forget it. I have been using it for putty, glue and paint. 

 

Goes to show that any problem can be solved with a bottle of Sambuca and a bunch of AA batteries. 🤣

[bobss396]

16 hours ago, Beans said:

Goes to show that any problem can be solved with a bottle of Sambuca and a bunch of AA batteries. 🤣

The batteries are dead. I used to dispose of them at work easily. I have to find another place to drop them off. Sambuca is good stuff especially in coffee in the evenings. I have a pretty well stocked bar at all times. Mainly gin, vodka, Jim Beam, tequila, no wine.

[Super28]

I just bought this one. Anybody use one before?

[Scott Eriksen]

1 hour ago, Super28 said:

I just bought this one. Anybody use one before?

I have a similar one ,,works good,,I usually go 8hrs and 95-104 degrees

[bobss396]

18 hours ago, Super28 said:

I just bought this one. Anybody use one before?

A front loader, might be a good idea. My surround that is plastic is deforming a little. I may have to go with some chimney flashing. I have a 10" roll here, I would have to go 8" or 6" when I replace it. The 10" depth is hard to reach down and place something with wet paint on it.

[NOBLNG]

1 hour ago, bobss396 said:

A front loader, might be a good idea. My surround that is plastic is deforming a little. I may have to go with some chimney flashing. I have a 10" roll here, I would have to go 8" or 6" when I replace it. The 10" depth is hard to reach down and place something with wet paint on it.

Can you attach the surround to the lid so you don’t have to reach down inside?

[bobss396]

22 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Can you attach the surround to the lid so you don’t have to reach down inside?

I had thought about that, then I have to lift the whole thing straight up. Then get it down straight down again. The lid as it exists takes a little fiddling to get it back on. The surround is not 100% round. I did better with my aluminum one. I'll see if I have some 8" flashing around. 

Back when I worked and we has a sheetmetal shop, I would have had someone make me a surround from .040" or .062" aluminum with a door in the side. Those guys could make anything.

Edited March 1 by bobss396

[TexasRoadWarrior]

Wow! Now I know I have been away too long from the hobby. I always have and probably always will use either a hair dryer or a heat gun to dry the paints. I never had any warpage at all on any of those. I'm trying to see how to make a drying booth out of commonly used components.

How does using a dehydrator compare to using a hair dryer or heat gun from 8-10 inches away on a rotating turntable? Although I am not ever in a hurry when I build, but since I love multiple coats on the model, a hair dryer always has been a help to me.

Thanks for any information!

[bobss396]

On 5/7/2024 at 6:49 PM, TexasRoadWarrior said:

Wow! Now I know I have been away too long from the hobby. I always have and probably always will use either a hair dryer or a heat gun to dry the paints. I never had any warpage at all on any of those. I'm trying to see how to make a drying booth out of commonly used components.

How does using a dehydrator compare to using a hair dryer or heat gun from 8-10 inches away on a rotating turntable? Although I am not ever in a hurry when I build, but since I love multiple coats on the model, a hair dryer always has been a help to me.

Thanks for any information!

I like to set it and forget it. You can't do that with a hair dryer. I use mine to dry glue, bondo, primer and of course paint. 

[peteski]

On 5/7/2024 at 6:49 PM, TexasRoadWarrior said:

Wow! Now I know I have been away too long from the hobby. I always have and probably always will use either a hair dryer or a heat gun to dry the paints. I never had any warpage at all on any of those. I'm trying to see how to make a drying booth out of commonly used components.

How long have you been away Larry?  To  put things in perspective, I had a food dehydrator dedicated to my hobbies (to speed up paint drying and resin setting) for over 30 years.  That was before Internet forums.  I most likely read about using a dehydrator for paint drying in the FineScale Magazine (that was the only model kit related magazine I was reading at the time and I was a lone-wold modeler at that time.

I've heard of modelers building their own "paint drying ovens" using a light bulb (usually 40W) in an enclosure with some vent openings for the air to circulate and to control the temperature.

That is basically how my dehydrator works.  It is a plastic unit 40W heating element in the bottom and bunch of vents with adjustable shutters on both top and bottom. I have small baking thermometer stuck through one of the vent holes in the top lid to monitor the temperature.

IMO, if you are interested in a dehydrator, you could probably just buy one of the basic ones (like mine) for some short money.  I never needed all the fancy features some more expensive dehydrators (or drying ovens for models) have.

[TexasRoadWarrior]

5 hours ago, peteski said:

How long have you been away Larry?  To  put things in perspective, I had a food dehydrator dedicated to my hobbies (to speed up paint drying and resin setting) for over 30 years.  That was before Internet forums.  I most likely read about using a dehydrator for paint drying in the FineScale Magazine (that was the only model kit related magazine I was reading at the time and I was a lone-wold modeler at that time.

20+ years, After I got divorced, I started taking up again my hobbies that the ex said was too "childish". So in addition to buying and building new model kits, I also went back to my HO scale model railroad system. So now, I spend mornings on one, and afternoons on the other. For the RR, I have done a lot of scratchbuilding of the scenery, including making the trees to scale as well as the buildings including my favorite one (so far) of Mickey Finn's Saloon, as well as laying the ballast all over the darn thing. Thanks to the One Above that I have grandkids who don't mind crawling over the baseboards and tacking down the track.

After I get the Belair done up, I will make a diorama for it, setup to be in front of my friend's (now closed) restaurant. I have plenty of pictures of the restaurant to work with, and I am aiming to have it done in time with everything by Turkey Day.

Thanks for the heads-up on using dehydrators, and I used to have one of those paint drying boxes with  a 40 W bulb. Only problem nowadays with something like that is that stores in the US are no longer carrying incandescent bulbs, only LED and Halogen. LED is too cool, and ain't no way I am using Halogen. Those little beasties get way too hot!

Larry

 

 

[peteski]

Larry,

You should still be able to find 40W incandescent bulbs in hardware stores.   According to the regulations (as shown in https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/01/business/incandescent-light-bulb-ban/index.html ) still available will be:

• Appliance lamps, including fridge and oven lights
• Black lights
• Bug lamps
• Colored lamps
• Infrared lamps
• Left-handed thread lamps
• Plant lights
• Flood lights
• Reflector lamps
• Showcase lamps
• Traffic signals
• Some other specialty lights, including marine lamps and some odd-sized bulbs

I also believe that standard 40W bulbs are also still being sold.  It is the 100W or higher standard incandescent bulbs which are no longer available.

 

[TexasRoadWarrior]

On 5/9/2024 at 12:22 PM, bobss396 said:

I like to set it and forget it. You can't do that with a hair dryer. I use mine to dry glue, bondo, primer and of course paint. 

That's a good idea, but how long does it take to dry say a 1:24 Chevy Belair Body? Also, since I also work in 1:16 I am not sure if it would fit in a dehydrator. I use the hairdryer or heat gun, since with acrylics (Mainly Createx), which is all I am using nowadays (I got cheap in my old age, and found I get more bang for the buck with acrylics than say Testor's enamels.) and it only takes about 5 minutes to get the paints to the re-coat stage. At least on my HO RR buildings that's all it took and I only used acrylics on those. I'll know better once I get ready to primer and mist coat the 57 Belair. Priming is one thing. I use Badger's  Stynlrez Primers for priming and it dries FAST.

[peteski]

On 5/10/2024 at 2:31 PM, TexasRoadWarrior said:

That's a good idea, but how long does it take to dry say a 1:24 Chevy Belair Body? Also, since I also work in 1:16 I am not sure if it would fit in a dehydrator. I use the hairdryer or heat gun, since with acrylics (Mainly Createx), which is all I am using nowadays (I got cheap in my old age, and found I get more bang for the buck with acrylics than say Testor's enamels.)

Well, that information puts a while new light on the situation.  The dehydrators are mostly used with the old-school stinky paints (enamels and lacquers). They are not really needed for the newer low-odor water-based paints that you use.  For those paints a hair dryer is quite sufficient (and often used by the people who do painting demonstrations, showing how quickly those paints dry).  Of course a dehydrator would work well with Createx, but it is not really needed.

[TransAmMike]

1 hour ago, peteski said:

Well, that information puts a while new light on the situation.  The dehydrators are mostly used with the old-school stinky paints (enamels and lacquers). They are not really needed for the newer low-odor water-based paints that you use.  For those paints a hair dryer is quite sufficient (and often used by the people who do painting demonstrations, showing how quickly those paints dry).  Of course a dehydrator would work well with Createx, but it is not really needed.

I'm with you on that Pete.  Hair dryer is my choice. I usually spray the paint on and within a few seconds hit it with hair dryer on warm low. I seems to level the paint too. Just my 2 cents.

[bobss396]

I don't bake out anything hand painted and for that I use Tamiya or Vallejo acrylics. 

Otherwise I use rattle cans only. A couple of lacquer-ish primers, car touch ups, Extreme Lacquers and Tamiya for the most part.

I started having issues with the primer bubbling (Mr. Hobby brand) so I let them gas out for 15 or so minutes then into the dehydrator. Now I do that with everything. After 2 hours for the primer, I can top coat over that. The rest of the paints I'll go 2-3 hours before doing another coat of color-sand between coats.

[Zippi]

I've got a question fellows.  I use the 2K Urethane Clear from Splash Paints.  I always let it dry for 3 days before handling it.  Their website says to let it set for 72 hrs or put in a Dehydrator for 1 hr at 140 degrees.  I would think that high of heat would start to warp the plastic.  Anyone use this high of a setting?

[peteski]

To me 140 deg. F seems a bit too hot for comfort.  I don't run mine for more than around 110-115 deg. Also, some formulations of polystyrene or ABS plastic (and urethane resins) can be more sensitive to temperature than others.

[NOBLNG]

As  a test I put a Polar Lights ‘64 GTO body in my dehydrator and cranked it up to the 160 degree maximum. It didn’t harm it, so I put a warped Monogram 1930 Packard boat tail speedster in it. I had the body fastened to a board with an opposite twist and again cranked it up to the max. It did take the twist out eventually and no damage. I didn’t measure the actual temperature so I don’t know how hot it really got. Disclaimer: All styrene is not the same so try it at your own risk.😬 I normally run it between 95 and 115 for drying paint and glue joints.

Edited August 27 by NOBLNG

[Zippi]

Thanks fellows.  Oh, I would never put anything of mine in at that high of a temperature.  I always set mine around 105° to 115°.  I was just curious as to why Plash Paints would put that on the website.