I had an ad on craigslist for anyone who had a free electric oven to contact me. Not too much after I placed the ad I got a response from a woman who had a GE Spectra Oven with digital timer and temp stuff for $50...



I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was even better shape than the photo shows. The burner units will be pulled off the top and a flat surface placed over it for keeping powder coat and other essential materials. I'll be using it in conjunction with this counter top oven for smaller parts...



to start doing some powder coating. I recently received a powder coat gun and some powder coat from an other member here and already have the compressor to work with it, with more variety of powders on their way. When I picked up the stove today, they asked me if I wanted a SS sink for free, so I took that as well.



As I start doing my home work on putting together a well equipped production area (at least for smaller jobs) I wondered if the sink could be used somehow as a parts cleaner. My idea was that I have a brand new fuel pump and clear hose that's made to handle gasoline (and I imagine other solvents) that I might try to put something together where the sink would have pipes under it that connect and drain into a bucket to collect the solvents. The end of the pipe going into a metal bucket could have a strainer of some kind to separate the liquid from the particulates. The fuel pump could be used to pump the solvents through the faucet. I'm thinking that the hose could somehow be run through the faucet to the end that dispenses into the sink. When done, the two drains could be covered to keep the solvent from evaporating. The bucket would also be sealed.

I can't seem to anything yet on doing this so chances may be that it might not be a good idea? I figured that each sink could have a heavy gauge screen for the parts to rest on. As long as it was free, with a little bit of work I was hoping that I might be able to make something functional and save a few bucks in the long run.

With all the custom built ovens, powder booths, and sand blasting units that are being made out there, I was encouraged to take a leap of faith that this might be one of those other things. I have a feeling that I may be wrong, but I'd much rather ask the opinion of those who are much more knowledgeable here than I am before trying or giving up.

I've got some time before I need to worry about this too much. Now to get the 220v wiring in place, the grinders and other equipment staged powered up.

So, what can be done here? Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and consider it.

I see that you finally found a stove for your powdercoating, nice! I have a sink in my garage that we used to use for a parts cleaner. We used a old electric water pump and attached it to a race car fuel cell. The output is hooked up to the sprayer hose on the sink and we wired the water pump to a regular wall plug in. Then we hooked up the drain to the fuel cell, that way we can keep the cleaner circulating. The water pump went and we haven't gotten around to fixing it, so we just bought a parts washer from the store. But the old sink parts washer worked great for years.

I like the sprayer idea rather than the faucet, although I was thinking that I'd put a sprayer on the faucet itself. Now that I think about it, it does make more sense to have something more flexible that can be maneuvered around the part instead of fussing so much with the part itself. Plus you can spray with one hand and pick/flake stuff off with the other.

Regarding the pump itself, I'd have a concern about using an electric water pump in that it would make me nervous being in contact with flammable liquids. The only other thing I can think of is finding a sprayer that is resistant to solvents. Is there something else I could use instead of a fuel cell, which I don't have? Something that maybe could be gotten at a u-pull it or a simple metal bucket with holes and fittings?

Also, what could be used to screen the waste? Oil filter maybe? Time to do some research on "Parts Cleaners: How Things Work".

You can fab. up a metal tank with fittings. We used the fuel cell because it had the foam in it so it filtered the junk out. You can use a fuel filter system, like what's in a diesel engine or tractor. You could use a oil fiter setup, but you would have to be careful on what you use for cleaner, so of the cleaners could eat the filter media out of the oil filter. You could use an inline fuel pump and wire it up to accept the regular two prong plug in with a switch. You might get lucky and find a boat tank at the u-pull. We used a removeable screen on the drain to catch the heavy stuff.

That looks like the exact oven I got from my grand mother...for powder coating. I haven't coated anything yet, but my wife used it to make biscuits. Darn thing is practically new and now acts as a table for my belt sander and grinder.

Bob

Dang, now THAT is inventive. I don't see any reason it can't work.

If it was me, I might make a cover of some kind to put over it when it's not in use.

Most sinks I've seen, the sprayer is part of the faucet assembly, so theoretically you shouldn't have to do any extra plumbing. Just grab it and hit the button.

My only worry would be what the solvent would do to washers and fittings in the faucet assembly. (Some guys use kerosene in their parts washers.)

Cool.

Ed

Well, I've started rearranging the work area. I have a really heavy duty adjustable shelving unit (from Ames?) that I've been using to keep things on. Everything goes on this. I'll lower the shelves and use the top area for powder coating- enclosing the sides and back. The neat thing about using this is that I can put a florescent light across the top, and the grid to hook wires onto. I just came up with a great idea! I'll run over to Lowes and get a handful of those clicky things that you find on dog leashes (but a little bigger) to hook onto the grid. That way I can turn the parts nice and easy like. I don't see why I can't unhook them and attach them to the rack placed at the top of the inside of the oven. Hmmmmm...

Here's the mess as it is right now. The stove is on a roller to make it easier to move out when I do the wiring...



The bottom shelves will have the powders and wire needed, the gun, and the air compressor.

Plenty of shelving is available, just needs to be gutted and reorganized...



I've been so used to keeping my tools in a pile which were divided by the project they went to. The panel on the wall came from a store that went out of business (my wife says I'm a garbage picker). I like it because I can slide things around very easily to make room if I need to. Currently the wall is being reorganized and categorized as I find all the lost tools that are turning up. Kinda like Christmas, I'm finding tools that I forgot I had. I'm really excited about getting this straightened out, sorta makes me feel like an adult... Please note that I just started this and it's NOT organized yet. It'll look much better once I get all the tools into like groups and start playing with them on the wall.



Need to get my nuts and bolts in better order, then I'll fix that poor old grinding bench.

Once I get the shelves and tools organized, and a few odds and ends are made to disappear (probably in the mall for free plus shipping) I'll be able to think about how I want to put the parts cleaner together.

One idea that I just got from reading Ed's post is that I could modify a large square rolling work table that I have by cutting it in half and putting the sink into the one side. Then hinge the other half's top to flip up and cover the sink when not in use. This way I could use it as an additional work bench/area. I could fit the sprayer into a recessed SS metal bowl with a hole in the bottom to allow the hose to travel.