Easy bake rod holding oven

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When it came time to open up my box of 7018AC electrodes, I didn't want to just leave the box open, nor did I have the time to make a proper rod holding oven.  So, I concocted a quick and dirty holding oven from some items I already had on hand: a five gallon metal paint can, a light bulb, some aluminum flashing, a grounded line cord, and a porcelain lamp holder. The line cord is connected through the bucket with a proper strain relief, but isn't visible in the pictures as it lives underneath a half inch of insulation covered by aluminum tape.  Although it is rated to 105C, I still wanted to shield it a bit from IR and ambient temperature of the unit. The aluminum flashing serves to buffer out the hot spot by the lamp, protect the lamp, and also serves as a convective circulator, helping to even out the temperature in the unit (there is about a one-inch gap at the bottom).With a 60 watt light bulb, the rods achieve a uniform 220F temperature, which, while less than the 250F recommended by Lincoln, is still better than letting them sit at the mercy of whatever the conditions inside my house are.  The outside is covered in standard house insulation, and small insulation "pillow" is placed over the lid to help insulate the unit.  At 60 watts, the unit will cost me about $3.00 a month in electricity. Eventually I may upgrade it with a thermistor/SCR controlled heating element from a toaster oven, but for now this works well enough.    Last edited by jonnycat; 09-16-2010 at 06:55 PM.
Reply:Most of the shops I worked at over the years used an old refrigerator as a rod oven for bulk rods. The refrigeration had been incapacitated or just no longer worked but the light bulb worked and kept the fridge humidity free. What you have designed will work well in a humid environment for the rod you're using at the time. Space would also be a problem with the old fridge in a home shop. Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.                                         -Cree Indian ProverbSA 200 LincolnVictor Torches
Reply:Nice.  If you want it hotter, use a larger bulb, like 75W.I've given up trying to use 7018AC with my buzz box (can't maintain an arc), or I'd be making something like that myself.
Reply:Let us know how long the bulbs last. I know when a bulb is subjected to a high level of trapped heat it will not last very long, found this out when people would call and complain their kitchen light fixtures would keep burning out bulbs every week or so. We would always find they were using 100 Watt bulbs in an enclosed fixture rated for 60 watts.Miller Challenger 172Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC 225/150Miller Maxstar 150 STLVictor 100CVictor JourneymanOxweld OAHarris O/ASmith O/A little torchNo, that's not my car.
Reply:Originally Posted by tkanzlerNice.  If you want it hotter, use a larger bulb, like 75W.I've given up trying to use 7018AC with my buzz box (can't maintain an arc), or I'd be making something like that myself.