DIY Heat treating oven help needed

[Natlek]

Length wise would mean that you would need to groove out the roof bricks so the coils and rods are in them like when they're in the walls) and they would need to be inserter in a piece at the front and lay on the back wall. Thought about it but that makes for some LONG rods in my case (38") and would need 4 of them.

I just followed @ design mostly and chamber recommendations from @Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith I believe for the 7 x 5. I'm probably going to build a size replica of this one when it's down but MUCH SIMPLER: one T.C. with normal PID from Auber for something with less bang (4200w 17.5 amps-ish) and to be used as a tempering oven for the long blades. Not sure if I'll go top coils again or sides. I might try the top again but less rods (2 per brick instead of 3 so 16 coils total instead of 23) and have them recessed in the top instead of completely IN the chamber.

Speaking of chamber, I've tried looking into this: can you put blades FLAT in the oven? do they HAVE to be edge up? I have about 4" and a bit of height clearance because of the coils which is fine for what I want to do but if I ever wanted to do something bigger or more curved, could I lay it down on a horizontal rack for the heat treat? I got 7' across which could fit most things outside of a buster sword. Is there a distance you want to keep from the coils with whatever you insert in them?

This would be nice oven I like that you add that ceramic fiber board for more insulation. The door , I would make it open upwards. I think there are several examples of how in the JTknives topic .
I see you haven't opened the passage for the end of the element yet ? Maybe both ends to go back? I mean on the longer end of element goes inside the oven like in the picture? It's somehow more elegant and safer than going from the outside ?
About tempering oven ...... If you're making it strictly just for that, I think it's better to use elements that go into kitchen ovens. They make them in different shapes, power and dimensions . It is much easier to install them and they last a long time . Their permitted temperature is around 750 degrees Celsius, which is more than enough. A fan inside is a must ...in tempering oven .
look in this thread to get idea

Building tempering Oven

Yes, the muffle is what protects the blades from direct exposure to the hot elements. The metal would replace what you had as glass.

www.bladeforums.com

 

[PandaRen]

Not the cleanest job sadly... hard to get those coils nice :| Are they going to work properly or is the stretch not enough? I could stretch them an extra inch per rod by sitting them in the grooves too...

Last one I had to return the wire to the other side for the end to be on the same side because there's one less rod

I can't really make a flip up door because of all the hardware on the side. I'm going for a normal swinging door. This build is getting complicated enough as is :|

I'm going to make a channel cap piece on the side that covers the elements and T.C. or some boxes kind of like JT did

Started on the wiring for parts I know work.. which is next to nothing -_- but also seeing where to put everything down in the box. Still waiting for the guys at Bartlett to get back to me. Ridiculous that I can't find anything about this controller when it's ont all the big Paragon KMT ovens. As of now it looks like this:

 

[A.McPherson]

This probably isn't necessary, but you might think about moving your components further apart on the bus bar in your electronics box. it'll make it easier to work on later, if you need to, and it will help with heat dissipation. You've got all that room, no need to make things crowded...

 

[PandaRen]

Finally got the information needed to connect everything! Had to fire it up to see even though it's not completely done

Redid some of it with and got some colored terminal blocks for easy visuals

Seems where the coils aren't spaced exactly the same they light up brighter.... I have extra in case this becomes a problem to remake them "properly"... But I don't think I can fit it anymore than this

Need to install the door & hinges, limit switch and some sort of capping for the wires sticking outside and this baby will be done!

 

[Ken H>]

Looks good - contrats you gonna have a HT oven before you know it. Do you think those hotspots are where the coils are spaced a bit more open? would it be possible to manually move the coils around so they are more evenly spaced? I'd be concerned those hotspots might burn out faster.

 

[lynx85]

I would say hotspots is nothing to worry about. When oven is operating at temperatures required for stainless steel, there are no hotspots. In my oven after soak time I can't tell difference between wall and coil - all is glowing yellow. Besides, coil is protected by oxide layer - by default it's operating temperatures is waaay over that dull red glow in the picture. Long story short - don't fix what isn't broken.