Drying Booth

[Hudson Carpentry]

The room I do my finishing in is very cold and is very hard to heat quickly. As a result things are taking longer to dry and I can't afford the extra weight or the risk to finish them in the other rooms due to dust.

Now then I have an idea on how to make a drying booth to where I can hang or lay the stuff I need to dry and it more naturally dry the items faster then in the rest of the cold room.

My question is, have any of you made, used or brought similar? If so any advise or tips that would make mine as error free as it can be?

 

[DeanN]

I've the same problem with drying times this time year, but my answer is to bring the item into the house. Annoys the wife, but works a treat. We are currently sharing our dining table with a meter cupboard! Be interesting to see the solutions employed by others.

 

[Lord Kitchener]

I have a large, unheated unit on a farm. I make it usable in the winter by constructing a large "box" within it, made from a framework of wood and with panels of Celotex. It's 2.4M high, by 4.8M by 3.6M. Most of my work is done within this room, which I heat with an electric blower heater. Sometimes I use a dehumidifier as well, though that is rarely necessary except when I am painting with water based paint (I have a hygrometer with which I check the relative humidity level).

It cost a bit in time and money, but is worth every minute and pound I spent on it, as it would not be possible to produce satisfactory work without it, in the winter.

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

House isn't suitable for me unless its 11pm on wards. 4 kids, 2 that touch everything, a large dog and a partner thats about as tidy as pigs who also is clumsy. I really need to hang most stuff aswell.

My idea was to use 100mm "celotex" type stuff with a small fan to keep the air moving and a heater to provide a bit of heat within the box. (one open side)

Last year I heated the whole building but after a bill of £1200+ in electric just for winter I ain't doing that this winter.

 

[Lord Kitchener]

My idea was to use 100mm "celotex" type

My box uses 25mm Celotex, and works fine, but is closed on four sides.

 

[Chrispy]

I'm not sure but I think that the industrial version of what you are proposing uses infra red heating, an electic heat lamp perhaps?

 

[tomatwark]

I use a 26 x 12 static caravan with the interior ripped out for a finishing room.

It is cold in the winter but a small fan heater works just fine as long as I don't leave stuff in there over night as the frost will craved the water based lacquer I use. ( which I stupidly did at the weekend #-o #-o )

The heat has a thermostat on it and does not run very much once it is up to temp.

It only has 2" polystyrene in the walls..

So a box with 2" insulation should be fine.

Tom

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

I say 100mm as I have a sheet doing nothing plus off cuts of another. I have some 45mm stuff but not enough so may use this as the floor

Electric lamps sound a good idea! My snake has one of them UV bulbs (emits no light but heats the viv and gives him the UV he needs) but there £50 a pop. Would you say a 60w incandescent do the trick for a box thats say HxWxD 1.5x1.5x0.60m with an open side? I reckon one with closed sides would.

 

[No skills]

If you need a small amount of back ground heat have a look at electric tube heaters, not a huge amount of heat but fair on electric - we use them in clothes drying units and toilet blocks. We have also used them in a small room made of osb and celotex for warm storage of lino, worked well - for instant sauna we added a 2kw fan convector for 5 mins.

 

[No skills]

forgot to mention, only celotex on the roof (50mm) and the room lived in a large metal hanger - so nearenough outside.

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

Thanks Skills! Temp booth with tube heater may well be the one!

I have just had a brain wave that may do a 2 for 1 thing. The room is a long room 26' foot and currently its used for storage, finishing and as a he cinema. The cinema isn't used much now as its so hard to heat. I have plans for the room that will require most of the 26' so dividing it isn't an option. However, if I made 2 sets of 2 bi-folding doors thats full of insulation, not only will the cinema be easy to heat its also the space I finish in (mainly) and when more space is required a quick opening of the bi-folds. Come to think of it, its a 3 for 1 as it also means the rear sound will be far better.

Nothing special required. Just framed doors cladded with Hardboard and wool installation (have a spare bail thats in my way).

 

[No skills]

As they say in my part of the world.. 'sorted'

I'm assuming that the 26' of multi purpose entertainment space has insulation in the ceiling already (?), with the units we build its the roof insulation that has the biggest single impact on heat retention.

Sorry if I'm showing the sucking of eggs!

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

Well according to the previous, when they had the unit built they had it all insulated and its really good at retaining heat. I don't believe it myself. The ceiling in this room is low and its a flat roof (its an add-on to the bit they had built first). I may have to poke a hole or 3. The workshop (the first unit they had built) does retain heat to a degree.

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

Temp booth done

Thought I would post just encase it helps anyone.

Its every basic.

I have just driven 6 steaks through the top made from dowel and 2 from the back into the sides. Did it this way so I can quickly dismantle when needed. The floor is just off cuts. I didn't have as much 45mm as I thought but the 25mm does the job.

Old computer to higher the rack. The rack is one I use clamped to my desk that I hand loads of little things from when oiling. With the weight of what I need to put on it will topple so a smoke machine and one of my Halloween machines on top of the feet.

It seems the lamp holder I was going to use is broken so I nicked a lamp from the house . I also nicked the snakes thermometer, he has a digital one also plus its all controlled via electronics.

A bunge to help take some of the weight of the items as the rack really isn't rated for that kind of weight.

Ran of insulation foam so its semi open front. Temp was reading 10deg c at first and didn't raise after 45min so I blocked the gap up with some MDF so it fully closed. It read 13deg c when I left so it was doing something.

 

[Lord Kitchener]

I'll make a couple of observations-

A fan heater with a thermostat is a good choice of heating device because it will quickly warm all parts of the area when the 'stat turns it on, and it provides air circulation too.

With water based paints/varnishes it's important to get the relative humidity as low as possible for rapid drying, and it's therefore important to know what the relative humidity is, and to have a way of reducing it when necessary. Maplin do a digital thermometer/hygrometer with min/max functions for about £30, and B&Q do a dehumidifier for £100 (£85 ish if you have one of their trade cards )

Drying times will also depend of the dryness of the timber itself, this time of the year drying will be slower due to a higher moisture content if the timber is kept in an unheated workshop.

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

The thermometer I borrowed from the snake has a humidity dial. I will never run a fan heater over night, with or without a thermostat. It takes a good 2 days to raise the temp in that room without having to use a very powerful heat source. The booth is doing a good job currently, its raising the temp by 6degc which is just enough to get the oil dry over night. I plan to put a reptile heat bulb in there for now just intill I build the doors.

The issue I was having was a little more then slower. what normally takes 2 hours hadn't dried after 12hours+.

Cheers Karl will bear that in mind.