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Roaster Ovens for rocks
Otoe Bow:
Hey guys, I came across some sites on the Internet where they were using an 18 qt. Roaster Oven to heat treat their rock in. I know that not all rock works the same way and not all roaster ovens can achieve the correct temperatures, but has anyone here tired it? I'd be interested in hearing your experiences.
Otoe
Sleddman:
Otoe, Roaster Ovens work just fine for most of the rock. The exception is for the rocks that require high heat like Novaculite. There are some drawbacks that you need to be aware of. You hit it right when you were talking about temperatures. Talk about that in a second. First what you need to do is find the right roaster oven. Most of the ovens you will find on todays market have heat settings that go up to 450 Deg. I was lucky to find one in like new never used condition that cranks up to 500 Deg. Warning. >:D Don't ever crank one of these things up on your kitchen counter or mom :-* will be getting a new counter in short time. What you need to do is without the insert fill the oven up with clean sand and crank up the heat to about 150 overnight to make sure the sand is dry, mix it up a little to make sure. At a temperature of 150 make yourself a graph of at least six to eight quarters of the oven. With a good thermomiter check the heat range of each grid and mark it down. I did this in 25 Deg. steps all the way up to 500. You will have drastic heat differences at each setting so be carefull. Once you know how your oven works you will be able to follow the heating recipies of each rock in the area that will give you the most consistant heat. Sounds like alot of work but after the initial work it works quite well and simple. I find this best works with rock such as Texas flit that sometimes works a lot better with a mild heat and great with your aggets and coral. I also heat burlington and pioria with great results. This is the poor mans kiln but it works fine. Good luck. For more info check out (Roasting Rocks, The Art and Science of Heat Treating, with D.C. Waldorf. I found this helpfull. The DVD comes with a Rock Recipe Book. Good luck Sleddman.
DanaM:
Think there is a video on youtube also.
Otoe Bow:
Excellent info Sheddman. I see the benefit of seeing where all the "hot" and "cold" spots are in the oven. Keeping a fire going for long periods of time in the Oklahoma wind is what's keeping me away from traditional methods of heat treating and I'm looking for cheap alternatives. ;)
I've got to get me a copy of Waldorf's DVD. I've got another book and DVD but all here keep pointing back to D.C's. Great to add to the library. :D
Thanks Dana. I'll check out YouTube. I've found they have some awesome instructional video. Not to mention some completely and utterly silly stuff too. ;D
Otoe
Wolf Watcher:
I have been using a roasting oven for some time now and with a couple of exceptions have had fairly good results. I ruined some Dakota flint as it exploded. Quite a loss. I have used vermiculite instead of sand. It works well, but does not have the weight to dampen any breakups you might have and it has terrible dust problems. It heats and cools down faster. Also have found that your materials must be dry when you put them in. Rocks that need more heat place close to the bottom and sides. In the oven and kiln I find that nodules requires less heat than thin preforms. We have agate and jasper and no flint so can cook most material in the roaster. I would never try cooking in the kitchen!! One of my main problems is knowing which flint I am dealing with as they very so much in temps required and they all look the same to me!! Watcher
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