Tempering oven find

[crowncrazy87]

Found this nice little oven at a yard sale yesterday for $10. It is actually a Labratory oven but will get up to about 410°F so it should be great for tempering. I am already familiar with these ovens as I use one just like this one daily in my regular job running a wastewater plant so I know they hold up well. Seems as though they can be had fairly cheap on the used market.

 

[Salem Straub]

Hmm. A lot of tempering, depending on the steel you use, will be up to 450f.

 

[Redmeadow Knives]

Great find for 10$ though, should come in handy for a lot of things.

 

[crowncrazy87]

I've read 390-425 for a lot of what I have been doing. Which is basically just plain 1095, or old files. It has worked well for me at these temps. Granted I have only done about 50 knives and I am still learning a lot.

 

[Drew Riley]

I would think that it'd be fairly easy to modify in order to get another 100F out of it if needed. You should really only be limited by the thermostat, which can be changed, or swapped for a PID.

 

[Ken H>]

For $10 - you did GREAT!!!!

 

[crowncrazy87]

Oh I'm sure I could get more heat out of it easily. What I like is its big... can fit several pieces in it at one time.

 

[tryppyr]

I never worry about gambling $10 on a yard sale find. Great buy!

 

[Salem Straub]

No doubt it beats the heck out of a toaster oven!

 

[javand]

Probably a great candidate for a PID controlled digital tempering oven modification also, at that point, I'm guessing you can take it a couple hundred degrees higher, without any risk to the elements or insulation. Otherwise, you can always replace the elements or even the insulation if necessary.

 

[crowncrazy87]

Well I used it last night on a couple of pieces I was working on and it seemed to do quite well. Definitely going to look into PID though.