Hi,

I've recently moved (this winter) to Northwest Wisconsin where it gets quite cold, particularly in my basement. I am wanting to build a drying box to eliminate dust and to heat my finish after it is on the rod to a decent level to get a good finish. I would like to build the box myself. Any suggestions or know where I can get a set of plans for a do-it-yourself kit? Thanks in advance for your advice.

"A bad day of fishing is ALWAYS better than a good day at work."

Blessings,
Dave

Dave Guertin Wrote:
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> "A bad day of fishing is ALWAYS better than a good
> day at work."


Unless you're a guide.


Regards
Dave

Fishing is Life the rest is just Details

DAVE;

AS AN OLD ROLL FILM PHOTOGRAPHER, I'VE BUILT MORE THAN ONE VENTILATED (AS WELL AS HEATED) DARKROOM to be dust free. Also, I've built 3-4 dust-free heated and ventilated film drying cabinets. (have you seen the cost of commercial units?) anyway, if you decide to build one, I could give you some suggestions if you like, from easy to more elaborate. I wouldn't think it would be much different; drying temps would be about the same, and the cabinet would be horizontal instead of vertical. I probably should design one for myself anyway.

If I can help, let me know and I'll e-mail you some ideas; for example, you want positive air pressure inside your cabinet at all times. That is to say, filtered air flowing INTO not OUT of your cabinet. I suppose that's pretty obvious, but it is the #1 rule. I have received so much help on this rod board that I help where I think I can. Also, let me know how large a cabinet you need; i.e., for one rod, 4 or more... what do you plan to turn the rods with; etc.??

RON.

Dave, I live in north-central Wisconsin - the cheapest way to get around this problem is to commandeer the kitchen counter for all your epoxy work. I can't guarantee it will keep you out of the doghouse, but it does work :-)

Dave,

I don't think you'll find DIY plans because it's such a small market. Check the tools/equipment section of the photo gallery here and it will give you some ideas. The coolest one ever created (mine of course lol) isn't pictured there because I can't get far enough away from it to fit it in the frame! Well, that and because I'd have to spend hours cleaning up my wrapping bench before I'd take a picture.

It's 10-1/2' long, 4' high and 1' deep. It's really just a fairly crude box added onto the back of my wrapping bench, built around a Pac Bay quad dryer drive. I made it large enough to fit the largest Fly or ULUA rods I'll ever deal with. It has an 8' door with Lexan panels so I can see what's going on inside. There are three fans in one end and a 10" X 24" "sub micron" furnace filter at the other with two adjustable heat lamps inside. Turns out the three fans were overkill and ended up being counter productive to heating the inside. I'm running it off of one fan with the other two blocked off. It changes out the air inside so fast with more than one fan that it wouldn't build any heat.

Be careful how you heat it. I have enough cubic feet of air and clearance inside that I don't have to worry about the heat lamps making the cabinet burst into flames. A better choice for a smaller box might be to heat the air outside the air intake with a space heater placed at a safe distance. Just keep your air flow CFM's low enough and that should draw in the heated air w/o cooling it off too much.

You're just looking to make a box to contain your dryer. If you're doing one rod at a time, the box only needs to be large enough to house your dryer motor and rod support, with enough clearance to allow your guides to rotate. More than one dryer? Make it larger, add a shelf for the second unit, and you're off. A Kreg pocket hole jig made it a snap with no need for any time consuming joinery. You can get a "mini" version at Lowes, Rockler or Woodcraft for about $40. You could do it with hardware brackets & straps if you wanted to. I had the jig so I used it. The only other tools involved were a Skilsaw and a drill.

As for fans, I was going to use CPU fans from the electronics store until I discovered that I could get a shopping cart full of mini desk fans for the same $$ at Lowes. I drilled three 6" holes (that was a treat) in the end of the box, mounted the fans inside and sealed them in with silicone to force them to draw air from the far end of the box. I put a piece of nylon screen material on the outside to keep any bugs, lint, etc... from getting inside when the fans were off. As for the filter, I had to make a frame to go around the furnace filter to make it seal properly. Looking back on it, a small foam or paper filter like is used on a motorcycle would have been large enough.

The biggest challenge is getting it sealed. I used 3/16" thick self adhesive weather stripping around the door opening and sealed every joint in the box inside & out with caulking. The larger holes that were used to get electricity into the box were sealed with expanding foam. The only air getting inside this thing is going through the filter.

No more dust or Gnats in my finish AT ALL. It's also nice to have a dust free cabinet to store rods that I haven't applied finish to yet.

Mark Griffin
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C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

Dave, I am from North Dakota, and I live in an old house, 104 years old. Warm enough but dust, and getting the rods dry fast was my goal. I built a three sided box out of white shelving 1x12x 8', three boards, about $7.00 each, assembled them so I can take one side out. I have it set up on an 8ft table, and the cover is plexiglass, 2 sheets, 14" wide by about 8' 3" long for the see through top. I then bought two 24" halogen light fixtures that are used to light under cupboards. I got them on sale for 16.00 each. I have my turning motors outside using three motors for different speeds, 6 rpm, 40 rpm and 200 rpm. I use one motor at a time, I assembled a jack shaft and mounted the motors on both sides of the shaft which extends into the box. I just move the vacum o rings from motor to motor for the speeds. I made the pulleys out of plastic on my lathe and glued them on the shafts of the motors and the jack shaft. The light fixtures heat the box to about 85 degrees. In three hours the rods are done. pretty reasonable cost. galen briese