Well, I bought a length of guttering, put the end caps on, filled the
gaps at the end with gutter seal, and it holds the water just fine. It
also looks like it will do fine for boxes up to about a #8, 4 feet in
length and 5-6" in width.
I tried heating the water over a dual hot plate, and after about an
hour, the water was still only at about 150 degrees.
Any ideas on the best way to get the water to boil?
doesn't have to boil, just get to the "steaming" state. boiling breaks
down part of the wood and can weaken it. Our instructor last weekend
had a 2 burner hot plate under his stainless steel tank (18"x48"x 4"
deep) and that worked just fine, took about 30 miuntes to get the water
steaming but it never did boil. did you have a cover on it?
BRuce
GrayFox wrote:
> Well, I bought a length of guttering, put the end caps on, filled the
> gaps at the end with gutter seal, and it holds the water just fine. It
> also looks like it will do fine for boxes up to about a #8, 4 feet in
> length and 5-6" in width.
>
> I tried heating the water over a dual hot plate, and after about an
> hour, the water was still only at about 150 degrees.
>
> Any ideas on the best way to get the water to boil?
His tank was a gift from some former students. they had asked in class
what his ideal tank would be and had a sheet metal shop make 3, one for
each of the 2 students and the 3rd they sent to him.
Sheet metal shop or sheet metal fabricator.
BRuce
GrayFox wrote:
> In article <1064333186.696719@sj-nntpcache-5>, BRuce <BRuce> wrote:
>
>
>>doesn't have to boil, just get to the "steaming" state. boiling breaks
>>down part of the wood and can weaken it. Our instructor last weekend
>>had a 2 burner hot plate under his stainless steel tank (18"x48"x 4"
>>deep) and that worked just fine, took about 30 miuntes to get the water
>>steaming but it never did boil. did you have a cover on it?
>>
>>BRuce
>>
>>GrayFox wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Well, I bought a length of guttering, put the end caps on, filled the
>>>gaps at the end with gutter seal, and it holds the water just fine. It
>>>also looks like it will do fine for boxes up to about a #8, 4 feet in
>>>length and 5-6" in width.
>>>
>>>I tried heating the water over a dual hot plate, and after about an
>>>hour, the water was still only at about 150 degrees.
>>>
>>>Any ideas on the best way to get the water to boil?
>>
>
> I did not have a cover on it. Where do you find such a tank of those
> dimensions?
On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:53:13 GMT, GrayFox <[email protected]> wrote:
>Well, I bought a length of guttering, put the end caps on, filled the
>gaps at the end with gutter seal, and it holds the water just fine. It
>also looks like it will do fine for boxes up to about a #8, 4 feet in
>length and 5-6" in width.
>
>I tried heating the water over a dual hot plate, and after about an
>hour, the water was still only at about 150 degrees.
>
>Any ideas on the best way to get the water to boil?
I bought an old tea kettle for $1 at Goodwill and fit a metal pipe to
it and my steambox. I heat the tea kettle with a natural gas Fisher
burner (gets extremely hot), but I guess an electric burner will work
fine too. What you don't want is to run out of fuel in the middle of
the steaming process (like using a propane torch.)
Get yourself a pair of leather gloves. Steam burns hurt!
On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:53:13 GMT, GrayFox <[email protected]> wrote:
>Well, I bought a length of guttering, put the end caps on, filled the
>gaps at the end with gutter seal, and it holds the water just fine. It
>also looks like it will do fine for boxes up to about a #8, 4 feet in
>length and 5-6" in width.
>
>I tried heating the water over a dual hot plate, and after about an
>hour, the water was still only at about 150 degrees.
>
>Any ideas on the best way to get the water to boil?
You don't have to boil the water for Shaker boxes. You need to keep
the stock thin -- for the smallest boxes (with the tightest radii),
the stock must be thinner than a big box, like a #8. I use a Walmart
electric hotplate under a 40" x 7" copper tray, with about 3" of water
in it. One burner gets really hot, while the other is stuck on "low"
for warming only. It gets the water more than hot enough. I soak the
pieces for 15-20 minutes, and they bend like butter.
tt
In article <1064333186.696719@sj-nntpcache-5>, BRuce <BRuce> wrote:
> doesn't have to boil, just get to the "steaming" state. boiling breaks
> down part of the wood and can weaken it. Our instructor last weekend
> had a 2 burner hot plate under his stainless steel tank (18"x48"x 4"
> deep) and that worked just fine, took about 30 miuntes to get the water
> steaming but it never did boil. did you have a cover on it?
>
> BRuce
>
> GrayFox wrote:
>
> > Well, I bought a length of guttering, put the end caps on, filled the
> > gaps at the end with gutter seal, and it holds the water just fine. It
> > also looks like it will do fine for boxes up to about a #8, 4 feet in
> > length and 5-6" in width.
> >
> > I tried heating the water over a dual hot plate, and after about an
> > hour, the water was still only at about 150 degrees.
> >
> > Any ideas on the best way to get the water to boil?
>
I did not have a cover on it. Where do you find such a tank of those
dimensions?
On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:53:13 GMT, GrayFox <[email protected]> wrote:
>Well, I bought a length of guttering, put the end caps on, filled the
>gaps at the end with gutter seal, and it holds the water just fine. It
>also looks like it will do fine for boxes up to about a #8, 4 feet in
>length and 5-6" in width.
>
>I tried heating the water over a dual hot plate, and after about an
>hour, the water was still only at about 150 degrees.
>
>Any ideas on the best way to get the water to boil?
Another tip. Use less water (1/8" deep is fine) but don't let it boil
dry. Never leave the room.