How to Use a Crock Pot

[chippy]

My wife has just bought a new slow cooker or crock pot (depending were you live in the world ) so now I have been given the old one for drying my oils , Whoopee ! . Now this is a realy old one, no varible heat settings just plug it in and off it goes . I do most of my painting at night so it would mean leaving the figure in all night long until the morning , is this going to be to long ? or would it be best to leave the painted figure on the table overnight and put it in in the morning for just a few hours (this would mean shooting home from work ) just how long should the oils take to dry ?
chippy

 

[megroot]

I don't know how hot a crockpot become's.
I leave my figures in a drybox (75 W lightbulb) and i cannot touch the metal on the holder after one night into the drybox.
So i think you gonna let it sit for a night.
My figure is dry after one night, and totally matt.

Marc

 

[socko47]

I leave mine on overnight. I leave the lid ajar to lower the heat a bit even though mine pot has two temperature settings and I am using the lower temp setting. Also, mine has a plastic lid and it started to frost with the lid closed so I surmised the vapors were attacking the plastic. If you are worried about time hook up a timer. Also, with resin, I had the ankle of a flat figure disappear - another reason to leave the top open. So you have to be carefull with thin resin items. You may want to get a rheostat to plug the pot into if the temperature is way too hot. Try a thermometer or check the instruction booklet to see how high the one temperature setting yields. I have heard that inside some models there can be an adjustment or if you are handy add something like a rheostat or resistor to lower the voltage. Consider putting in a small wood block to raise the figure off the bottom where the most intense heat eminates, for a cooler environment for the figure. Oils dry at different temperatures depending on color and manufacturer, your thiinner, and how much oil you soak up before using your paint. I used a light box [cardboard at that] as per Shep Payne in his course and the bulb was only 75 watts or smaller, depending somewhat on the size of the box...but it works so maybe that would guide you on the crock pot temp. Hope that gives you some things to consider. Joe

 

[chippy]

Thanks you Marc and Joe for replying , this is a real old one just the temperature . I think my best bet is to do a few old kits as a trial run on the weekend during the day . Thanks again guys
chippy

 

[marius'mules]

Years ago I built a drying box with a 75 watt bulb, from the plans in Shep Paine's old book "How to build dioramas".

Over night is always enough to dry the oils in the box, and they always come out looking nice and matt---and that is only using a 75 watt bulb. So perhaps you should start out by not leaving the figure in the crock pot all night---since it's a older one and don't have settings for heat adjustment. If it's running at full blast all night, it could damage the figure if it's resin and or make your seam filler and super glue or expoxy melt.

Just a suggestion; to cut down on drying time, let the oil paints soak on a piece of cardboard for around 30 minutes or so before painting. This will soak up a lot of the excess oil and they will dry quicker.

 

[Jeff]

I used to use a crock pot but I have had problems even when the figures were standing on tall wooden blocks and the lid was ajar. I had a metal figure explode. I heard a pop and looked in the pot and all that I saw at first was a pair of shoes pinned to the tall wooden block. The rest of the figure was in the bottom. but it was a loss.

I also made a mistake one night when I was very tired. Instead of turning off the pot when I felt a resin bust was done I turned it on to high and fell asleep. I woke up to a bad smell in the house about two hours later. I traced it to the pot and opened the lid and smoke came out I figured the figure was done for, but the figure had come through its ordeal and for the most part was just fine. The paint was really flat and there were drops of liquid resin on the surface of the figure. They all cleaned up and I was able to touch up the spots that were really bad and had damaged the paint. After that I always unplugged the pot and was done, and was very attentive to the figures when they were in there.

I also use a light bulb oven now. Just less to worry about.

 

[chippy]

Do you know what guys I think from all your replies I'm going to build a light box (as I'm a carpenter this wont be hard ) and just tell my wife the results are from her old crock pot that I've been after for years .
chippy

 

[marius'mules]

Do you know what guys I think from all your replies I'm going to build a light box (as I'm a carpenter this wont be hard ) and just tell my wife the results are from her old crock pot that I've been after for years .
chippy

I would also suggest buying a cheap oven thermometer and placing it in the box, to make sure it don't get to hot. Around 85 'f / 29 'c is more than enough to dry the oils over night. Depending on the dimensions of the box; you would be surprised at how quickly and very hot a 75 watt bulb can heat up the box, and cause the seam filler and epoxy glue to start oozing from the figure.

Steve

 

[Jeff]

Shep always liked to tell the story of a metal figure left in a pot too long. The figure melted leaving a perfectly painted face sitting on the surface of the molten puddle.

A finish carpenter friend of mine built a beautiful lightbulb oven.

 

[yellowcat]

I built a wooden lightbulb oven some years ago. It is lined with aluminium foil with an adjustable shelf. I use a 25 watt light bulb for the heating source. It can accommodate up to a 1:5 scale resin figure.

 

[gordy]

Hardcore Felix! Nice work

 

[chippy]

That's impressive felix! guess it's time to get of my lazy a** and build something like this myself .
chippy