Hot box Project From Old Pioneer Speaker boxes**DONE PICS**

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Let me try this again.
I'm building a hot box from a couple of old Pioneer speaker boxes that have been sitting on a bench in my garage. I've been meaning to clean this bench off for awhile now to make room for more space needed for wood working and bow making. I share the garage space with my dad who likes to do wood working, so it was time to clean house. The stereo that went with these speakers has been long gone for years and the speakers themselves shot craps a long time ago.
Rather than throw them away I could see something useful here and a hot box would be an easy transition. Most of the work is already done and just a few minor alterations to turn it into something useful.
My motto is recylcle rather than put it in the ground whenever possible.    

When put end to end they are a full 71" long on the outside, and I could see getting at least a 68-70" stave to fit inside the boxes. The stave laying on top is 68" long for comparison.
I think this is probably a couple hours on a Saturday at the most. I'll keep this post updated as the weekend progresses.

 

 

 

[Art B]

Green Osage is one wood that needs to be dried very slow IMO. Even seasoned wood that's been kept outside but has a higher MC. Best way is to rough a green or season bow out, seal the whole thing (for green wood) and keep indoors under monitored conditions.......Art

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Thanks Art, but the project is already underway. Lots of guys use hot boxes without any problem.
Thanks for the input, and I changed the post to a hot box build rather than a question about the moisture inside the box itself.

[KellyG]

will that should work. I am torn between keeping the holes and just taking that off and adding a piece of wood there alone that side to connect the two togather. cant wait to see what you do.

[Art B]

Nothing wrong with using hot boxs if you monitor temp/humidtiy. What I was getting at, you can accomplish the same thing inside your house. Because the conditions inside the house will be about what you'll need inside the hot box for Osage.

To me, the ONLY reason to quick dry wood is to speed up the seasoning process. Just dry, quick built bows, don't exactly make your best performing bows.......Art

[SEMO_HUNTER]

I don't have room in the house and the lady of the house won't allow it, so it has to be outside in the garage. It's not going to be super hot, just something to help them along.
I'm about half way done and some more pics to upload, be back in a few.

[ranger 3]

How long does it take to dry green Osage in a stave form bark off in the basement?

[eflanders]

Semo,

I think I understand what you are trying to do and it mostly has to do with the temperature and humidity inside your garage.  Given that it is going in a garage, I would make it pretty sturdy as it is likely going to get moved a lot.  A single 60 - 75 watt lightbulb inside your closed box should be enough to maintain a fairly constant temperature and humidity without excessive heat and drying going on.  If you are going to use the same box as a curing oven, just use more lights when doing so.  If you line the inside of the box with foil type insulation, it will be safer and more efficient.  I would also put a couple of small vent holes in there to allow the air to move through it while drying your staves.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Rather than try to explain it, I'll just post some pics, let you all mull over them and get back here tomorrow.
Here they are and my progress so far.

Ends cut off and ready to work on.

 

First a little Tite Bond II, man I love this stuff!
 

Stitched together with the ? boards they were made with. I'm using these to stitch the middle togther.
 

All done with the stitching together, now the lid.
[
But first before I go, I need to show you something, no project is really a project until some blood is shed. LOL
 

If you don't lose some skin, then it just wasn't worth it.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Originally posted by eflanders:
Semo,

I think I understand what you are trying to do and it mostly has to do with the temperature and humidity inside your garage.  Given that it is going in a garage, I would make it pretty sturdy as it is likely going to get moved a lot.  A single 60 - 75 watt lightbulb inside your closed box should be enough to maintain a fairly constant temperature and humidity without excessive heat and drying going on.  If you are going to use the same box as a curing oven, just use more lights when doing so.  If you line the inside of the box with foil type insulation, it will be safer and more efficient.  I would also put a couple of small vent holes in there to allow the air to move through it while drying your staves.

Yeah that's kinda what I was thinking also. I found some caster wheels in a bucket of just under my work bench and I'm going to use those to make it moveable. Like you said it's probably going to get moved around fairly often.

I'm thinking maybe 2-40w or 60w bulbs, one on each end should do it and spread the warmth out a bit more evenly. If it's too warm I can always take one out.

[JamesV]

I don't know much about drying wood but I can tell you what I did when I built my curing box. I used 8- 100 watt bulbs. My shop is unheated so in the winter I need the extra heat and I have a heat range 0- 250. These bulbs are on a dimmer switch so I can regulate the heat. I was getting a lot of moisture (condensation) in my box until I installed a small vent fan (cabinet fan) on a dimmer switch. Can control the heat range and the air flow independently.

James................

[SEMO_HUNTER]

I finally got my hot box done and it turned out rather nice if I do say so myself.
Some busted knuckles, a bit of blood lost, and a cracked rib later and it's finally done. Should have been a weekend project or less until I slipped on the damn ice while carrying a 2x4 from the shed out back and up to the garage. I landed squarely on top of the 2x4 right under my left armpit. I knew I hit hard and it hurt like hell all over my body, but I didn't realize how hurt I was till the next morning. Evidently I stiffened up overnight and could barely move the next day, it hurt to breath and even hurt to walk.
I'm getting better now, but still sore and at least I can breath a little easier.
The ice is gone now too and it's been up to 70+ deg. the past 2 days and feels like spring time is here.

Here's some finished pics for you all and I thought about painting it, but not sure if it really needs it or not?
Total investment in materials I had to buy was less than $5 bucks for the 2 ceramic light fixtures, all the rest of the stuff I already had.

Ooooops.....I forgot the pics.    

 

 

 

 

[Pat B]

Sorry to hear about your ribs. That can be very painful with each breath.
  Just think, if you had all the energy that was cranked through those boxes during their original life you wouldn't need electricity to heat it up. d;^)

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Yes that is true Pat, back in their day the rocked the house many times. I could rattle the windows at half volume, and sadly that was also their demise.  

[Savage]

So I'm guessing this is like a mini Kiln? If so you may want to move your fan to one end and make an intake on the other so that it pulls the air across the whole board. You might look online at kilns and see how they are made, looks pretty simple to do. Looks like it turned out really nice!

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Yes, the fan is toward the upper end and there's 2 holes in the lower portion on each end of the box. I've got it plugged in now without the fan running to see what temp it will reach, then I'll plug the fan in and see what temp it will hold. I'll probably need to play around with the wattage of the bulbs to keep it warm, but not smoking hot. I don't want to scorch my staves or dry them out too fast. I'm just looking for a little something to help them along. If I ever get into laminating my own bows then I could change bulbs to get the heat up where I need it for curing.

BTW- The little fan I used came out of an old computer, it seemed to be the perfect size and the power supply is an old 12v charger I had that met the amp requirements for the fan. I'll probably still need to line the inside with foil also.

[Savage]

That should do the trick.