Home made heat treat oven

[rodgervich]

Has anyone made their own little heat treat oven? I have been looking around the internet and the knifemakers have furnaces but I haven't seen any gunsmith pages with these. I was thinking of building a small one, maybe shoebox size inside, to run on propane for case hardening, reamers and such. If someone could steer me toward some pictures or designs I would appreciate it. If you have made one yourself I would like to hear about it, what materials used, parts sources, how you would do it different and why.
Thanks!
Paul

[John Traveler]

How-Do!

You can find several do-it-yourself articles on building foundry kilns and heat-treating furnaces on the internet.  Try a search under "model making machinery" and "foundry projects".

Also, the classic gunsmithing books by Baker will give directions on how to build your own furnace.  

The more modern projects state that you can use an old vacuum cleaner blower and propane or butane gas to heat the furnace.  That sounds like it should work.  I used to teach high school metal shop, and basically all you need is a stack of firebricks, a gas source, and a blower.  A pyrometer would be useful, as well as an exhaust fan if you are working indoors.

HTH
John

[gunnut69]

I would have to agree with John.  This would seem a fairly simple project but having said that I haven't built one!  I have seen the propane torches used to clear sidewalks of snow along with cinder blocks and fire brick used to construct a furnace capable of heating steel to bright red heat.  Farriers use propane fired furnaces to heat horse shoes to the heat needed to bend, form and even weld.  I should think one might find something with a search for farrier's equipment...  good luck from the gunnut69

[rodgervich]

I did search the foundry pages and there seems to be a basic design by Ron Reil that everyone uses, looks pretty simple. I'll also check farrier equipment. If I make something I'll post pics on my homepage. Thanks for the guidance.