HT w/toaster oven

KenH said:
Well, it's a very simple affair, but I did take a pic this morning for you.

View attachment 51383

As you can see it's just a simple toaster oven (I think the wife paid $5 for it at Good Will) with a firebrick laying inside. I'd think any brick to add mass would work just fine. The PID controller is an Auber, looking at rear panel of oven you can see the TC probe mounted. As I said, it holds a more steady temperature at 400ºF than does the everheat I've got. The TC probe tip being located right at the blade is one thing that helps the blade hold a much more accurate temperature, while in the Everheat the TC probe tip is well above the blade.

Why don't you ride over some day and take a look at it, watch it work and hold it's temperature and how long it takes to stabilize - you're not that far away. Calvin also has a toaster oven he rigged up like this for tempering blades. for tempering SS backsprings I use the Everheat since over 1,000ºF is required for backsprings.

Ken H>
Click to expand...

Ken I had to laugh when I clicked the thumbnail for the larger view, and see the plastic tub you converted to run the thing. But hey whatever works is what I say. I have been to every yard sale over the weekend and have yet to find a toaster oven. I did pick up a B&D workmate to use as a table for $10.00 bucks. I an not sure it has ever been used and he had it for $20.00 as cold as it was there wasn't a lot of people out and about so I figured he'd sell for $10.00 and he did!

Thanks for the pic I have some of this very same fire brick I cut slots in to do multiple knives at a time. I may have to take you up on the drop by one weekend!
 
Hey, you did get a good price on the workmate - those are handy. The wife says there are usually several toaster ovens in Good Will here - they have a Good Will in P'cola also, not sure how good it is. The one up next to Harbor Freight doesn't seem too good. The wife goes there sometimes when I do harbor freight.

If you can't find a toaster oven in P'cola, I'll get the wife to look around here, just let me know anytime you wish to ride over - there's always iced tea or coffee...

Ken H.
 
i just bought a medium sized toaster oven from walmart for tempering. to take care of temperature swings, i also bought a large loaf pan, 11 1/2" x 9" x 5" and a bag of play sand. fill the pan with sand, heat to temp, bury the knife in the sand and start timing. the thermal mass of that much sand keeps the temperature constant even as the oven cycles.
 
Scott - I'll bet that would work good. Have you tried a temperature probe in the sand to monitor how much it does change with the normal swings of a toaster oven?

Ken H>
 
Well....I guess I'll throw a monkey wrench in things...

I bought mine for $6 at the thrift store. Yup-some old toaster oven for $6 has done my last 10 blades now. I take that back-11. But that other one went horribly awry. I decided to give this a try after getting temp swings I wasn't happy with in my kitchen oven.

I started off marking the face with the actual temp with sharpie when I got it using a digital thermometer with a probe. That proved to be a waste of time. The temp in my house is different than my garage and makes where the dial needs to be different...shocker. I ended up using a "broken" oven thermometer after my digital one died. I found out that I'd actually tempered one blade way too high. I now run 2 digital thermometers with probes on either side of the interior.

I also put several pieces of steel (within reason) in the oven on the tray. The cut pieces for Damascus fit the bill well. I let those heat up with the oven when I turn it on and make sure the temp equalizes. I can see/hear the element click on and off and watch to ensure the temp is holding where I want. Doing things this way, I've had great luck. And that could be it-I got lucky with the old one I picked up. I think for some reason, the smaller interior with the steel for the heat sink has allowed me to have a much more steady and consistent temperature. At least much better than my big oven with steel in it.

Jeremy
 
Ken, your toaster oven looks like the one my neighbor had that I now use for kydex. Ht in toaster oven? Hmmmm my list of needs and wants for this hobby may have gotten smaller.
 
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