Hey guys, I picked up what was a “cold storage” box. All stainless, 4’ x 4’ x 2’ and plan to make it an oven. I believe it has foam inside the walls, and my initial plan was to install foil faced foam on the inside. However, now I’m starting to think that’s unnecessary. What do you guys think? Would the stainless steel interior with foam behind it serve the same purpose as lining it with foil faced foam?
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Gunsmithing Cerakote Oven Question
- Thread starter B W E
- Start date
That's a hell of a deal for the size of it.
As for the cerakote oven suitability, it depends on the insulation. If it's fiberglass I think it should be ok, if it is a foam, be careful.
Whatever you find, check to see what the operating temperature of the material is and you should know that some materials degrade over time when operating in the high end of their range.
As for the cerakote oven suitability, it depends on the insulation. If it's fiberglass I think it should be ok, if it is a foam, be careful.
Whatever you find, check to see what the operating temperature of the material is and you should know that some materials degrade over time when operating in the high end of their range.
I am willing to bet it is insulated with styrofoam slabs. I doubt they would use fiberglass . I would also worry about the door gaskets. I doubt they are silicone in a cooler. You got a deal for a cooler. Before I spent money rigging it out as an oven I would drill the door for an oven thermometer and a hole for a power cord. Put a $20 walmart hot plate in, close the door and give it a whirl. Do it outside. Burning styrene makes some pretty nasty smoke.
Thanks for the info guys. I’m gonna go with R-Tech foil-faced foam on the inside with a layer of double sided bubble heat barrier on top of that. A PID temp controller and a 240v oven element on the bottom, as well as fire-caulk along all seams and the rope style oven door gasket along the doors. Should work pretty nicely. I’m pretty sure it’s foam on the inside of the walls as that seems to make more sense for keeping things cold imo.
When I built my (vertical) oven out of 10" and 12" fireplace/stove pipe, I lined the interior with f-glass insulation. I used a Hotplate I bought at Target. I also mounted a 3/8" steel plate on top of the heating element to help reduce the wild temperature swings and most specifically, increase the heating element life. It's about 10 years old and still going strong. I have a single loop/setpoint controller, thermocouple and all the other parts and pieces needed to implement PID. Just too lazy to do it. It works fine the way it is. Would I like to have PID ? Sure. Am I willing to put the work into putting it all together ? Not yet.
Anyway, I would suggest that you figure out a way to put a steel plate on top of the element to help extend it's life.
I bought a Homak gun cabinet on sale years a long time ago and removed the locking latches. I lined the interior with AC duct board that I purchased at a local HVAC store. I lined the pieces up like a puzzle so the sides supported the top and kept the bottom in place. I used silver colored AC Duct tape to keep the pieces lined up. I then used fiberglass insulation over the AC board and taped everything up so the interior was silver.
The door has a Brownells thermometer for temperature readings and I use a simple latch to keep the door closed. The door is sealed with fireplace gasket liner. The heating element is a single 110 volt burner at the bottom supported by a piece cinder block. The temperature control is a simple on-off unit from an appliance store. I get over 400 degrees to powder coat by I usually keep it around 250-300 to Cerakote. I had under $150 into it back around 1999-2000. It still runs like Snoop Dogg at a Klan Rally.
The door has a Brownells thermometer for temperature readings and I use a simple latch to keep the door closed. The door is sealed with fireplace gasket liner. The heating element is a single 110 volt burner at the bottom supported by a piece cinder block. The temperature control is a simple on-off unit from an appliance store. I get over 400 degrees to powder coat by I usually keep it around 250-300 to Cerakote. I had under $150 into it back around 1999-2000. It still runs like Snoop Dogg at a Klan Rally.
Damn I missed out on cooler just like that a few months ago. We started out with a gun locker insulated with the fiberboard and the parts from a toaster oven.
It worked great but it took too long to heat up once warm it held heat fine. We ended up buying a used factory built oven and what a difference and the timer is nice.
With the room you have you will want some good heat or it might take a while to heat up.
It worked great but it took too long to heat up once warm it held heat fine. We ended up buying a used factory built oven and what a difference and the timer is nice.
With the room you have you will want some good heat or it might take a while to heat up.
I haven’t actually seen the thing yet (I work on the north slope in Alaska on 3/3 rotations...wife picked it up for me) but I would imagine the foam insulation inside the walls is there to stay. I’m sure the steel walls are welded together.
I’ve seen dozens of builds where the insulation inside results in cool to the touch metal outside, so I don’t believe the foam insulation inside the walls will be a problem.
Hmmm i have built a few ovens for cerakote. And have pretty much built them from an old closet with shitty insulation and foil backed tape to a full blown powder coat style oven. If you need any help feel free to pm me ur number and i can snap a few pics for ideas for ya.
When I built mine, I used a full sized wall locker, installed a regulated smoker heating element in the bottom, a thermostat in the door and insulated the whole thing. Heats fast and works great!
Thats how i built my first one also. Worked great from what i knew until you build it with fans and keep parts at certain height.
Just a quick update... I got some wheels on this beast and found out who the manufacturer is so I was able to get ahold of their tech support people to find out about how it was insulated. Fortunately, it’s 1” fiberglass batt insulation on all walls and doors, so I’m good to go!! Just need to order my heating elements and controls! In the meantime, the smoker I converted to a curing oven, while too small for rifles, does a fine job with handguns!
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