"baking" an enclosure in a toaster oven question

[mikemaddux]

Ive seen numerous people raving about their toaster oven that they picked up from the local thrift shop for baking the finish onto pedals.  I have a few questions about the process b/c my local thrift store has a toaster oven for 5 bucks....

What is the ideal temperature and time?
and for what amount of paint?
cooling time?  should I cool in or out of the oven?
Should I bake the color coat, label, clearcoat, then bake again? or just once at the end?
How do you suspend the pedal inside?  (this is the main concern...I dont want the bottom of my pedals having grill lines in it.)
Is it safe to do in an unoccupied garage?  am I better off outside?
Is it that much better than not baking the pedal as far as look, durability, etc?

I tried searching but I could not find any specific answers.

Maybe someone with some experience could start a How to baking tutorial thread?

Thanks everyone and I hope you had a happy holiday!
Mike

[hday]

Ideal temps will differ depending on what paint you're using. Less than 200 degrees fahrenheit is the norm, but sometimes paints need a higher temp, or you want some sort of crackled effect you'll want to bake higher. Make sure you get one with a temperature adjustment, not something with different "numbers" of heat. Mine actually cooks a little cooler than the oven says, especially when cooking outside, so you'll need to do a few test runs.

You'll also have to play with times and amount of paint. A medium coat, baked, then wetsanded until smooth. Then a few more medium coats to get a good thickness, then maybe a few lighter coats. Most people bake between coats, but it's not necessary. All baking does is smooth out the top of the paint and make it much more resistant to damage. You could paint and clearcoat the whole thing and bake it last, and it'll have about the same amount of toughness. Only thing I wouldn't recommend is baking without a clearcoat on labels. I've never baked labels before, but I've heard bad stories about baking labels without a good clearcoat over them.

You don't really need to suspend the pedal. You'll want to bake the "lid" separate from the enclosure. Make sure they'll both fit in the oven, side by side, with enough room above the rack. I only bake on the bar part, but you could try a metal cooking tray too. The bottom plate can get a coat on the seam between the lid and the enclosure because of the lip on the inside, but the enclosure won't. No biggie though.

You can cool the pedal inside the oven, but I tend to spray, bake, then spray again while the oven is still on so that it'll get heat right away. You don't want to have the oven heating up after you've put the pedal in. Make sure it's been hot for a while before pulling the pedal. If you pull the enclosure after it's done baking and let it cool shortly on the garage floor, or something, the pedal will cool and the oven will remain hot.  A hot oven will ensure that the paint will smooth and harden quickly which will yield better results.

When picking your oven, bring an enclosure with you to make sure it'll fit. Standard sizes fit in my oven, but not taller enclosures. But you can always buy another, they're only $5! 

I cook mine at about 175-200 for about half hour to an hour. You probably don't need to bake it that long, I just feel better about it when it's in there longer. I open my garage, and place the oven right under the door, only because my outlet will only let me go about two feet from the garage. I pop the pedal in the oven, close the door and go inside and watch TV while I wait. If it's warm out and the toaster is far enough away from anything that burns, there should be no problem with walking away for a while.

[mikemaddux]

If it's warm out and the toaster is far enough away from anything that burns, there should be no problem with walking away for a while.

Is there a problem with doing this in the cold?

Thanks for the advice!
Mike

[hday]

No problems with the oven other than it being difficult to keep at a constant and even temperature. The biggest problem is spraying in the cold. If you handpaint inside, you could probably bake it. Spraying or painting in cold temperatures causes problems with the paint and it has trouble adhering to the metal.

I'm by far no expert, but the best advice I can give you is to just keep trying new things to find what works. It's not that hard to sand the paint off an enclosure, so don't fret about messing up and having to start over.

[Mike Burgundy]

FWIW manufacturers often supply drying temperatures with their paint (ask your supplier) for optimum results. This differs per painttype and manufacturer.  Under-baking will leave the paint softer than it could be, baking too hot might cause brittleness, cracking or even discoloration. 200F (90C) is a good ballpark I think. Keep in mind the recommendations are for whatever you're painting, not the air around it. I now like a relatively low-temperature, long bake (hour at least). If you do a couple of testruns, you'll find your sweetspot.
I actually have a lot of pedals on my board now that were slightly over-baked (little over 100C if memory serves): lots of chipping going on, making them looked, er, well used

I wonder if you'd get better results pre-heating (say to 50C) the box before spraying - should try that sometime.