Radiant heat experiment to cure orgonite

HI,
this is a post explaining my recent experiments to be able to cure/harden orgonite in winter in a clean and low consumption way. Of course it is more comfortable and easy to do this in summer time or on those places which maintain a good temperature all year round. For me January and february are the coldest months but compared to other places we do not have below 0º C temps normally but we do get lots and lots of humidity. Menorca is a mediterranean island and we do not have mountains.

i do not think there s any reason to stop making orgonite in winter, some set up can always be achieved to continue producing, specially for field orgonite. If one is working with clear resin and makes special pieces, extra care must be taken of course (a bit more difficult). But if you think about it, all you need is temperature, right? Is there any way you can achieve that in a workshop?

As of now i have been using the orgonite ¨oven¨ option and this is very easy to do. You could make an enclosed furniture with trays, like an oven, cover it all in a plastic and put a blowing heater underneath in a way that the air will go thru the trays to help start the reacting of the peroxide. Once they are heated well, you simply stop the heater and let the orgonite cool down by itself.

You can also use a working table, place the moulds of orgonite stacked neatly and build yourself some type of ´roof¨ , preferably something that isolates the heat so it is well kept inside as it passes thru. Again, you would have to place a heater on one side or even at both edges of the table. Once the pieces are hot enough, you can turn the heater/s off and let the process finish by itself. It is never a bad idea to keep at least some fire extinguisher in your workshop just in case but if you take extra care to make it safe, you should never have problems.
This is the current set up i have chosen and i can tell you it works very well but i wanted to try something cleaner and more convenient.
I wanted to do away with any extra´roofings¨ and work comfortably around the table and try as well to heat the workshop so the idea popped up to make a heated table that would produce temps from under and going upwards to the moulds that would be placed on top. This would be cleaner and safer and possibly cheaper once installed.

We all have different needs and the size of your workshop, the temp where you live in winter are main considerations but i want to stress that even then, with the previous described method (orgonite oven) you will still be able to make orgonite in winter although your workshop might be cold if it is very large and high. I was pondering at one point to heat the workshop with a propane cannon. There s a brand called Mr Heater. Those do really work nice but after calculating the cost to maintain my workshop at a decent temp, i decided against it.

So now to my initial experiment with this heated orgonite curing table that may help work comfortably.

You will need a metal working table, poliutherane blocks (heat isolating construction material), a cutter, duck tape and radiant heat sheet. if you do not have a metal table you can buy to measure and place it on your working table. I chose a 2mm stainless steel plate but i have learned that Aluminum plates will release the heat 20% more efficiently than the stainless steel.

Radiant heat operates in the infrared band and has hundreds of uses. In construction is used to heat floors, walls, mirrors, ceilings…. In some factories some plates are hanging from the ceilings in a way that direct heat in a very precise area so you will be comfortable under that area but the moment you walk away, the temp of the factory/workshop will drop down.

This pic shows an example of that

Description of the radiant sheet:

  • Measures 1,80 by 60cm width.
  • It gives 350w and it is cut to measure almost same as one of my working tables (1.80cm length by 80cm width).
  • Heats the 2mm plate to 50º C in a few minutes.

here are some pics of it and building materials. It came with pre installation wire and all i needed was to put a plug. You can use a button or even put a thermostat if you wish.

Roll as it comes:

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Poliutherene blocks (heat isolators) firm and easy to cut.

After cutting and setting to table

Spread radiant sheet 350w & same with pre installed wire

a quickly made poliutherane roofing to place orgonite under.

Results:

I must say i was disappointed to learn that the plate would heat up with a great temp at 50ºC but after measuring the heat at 3cm above it would drop at 29ºC. My workshop door was open for air and no heating system was on. it would warm slightly the moulds but not enough to reach temps to cure the resin and i could not feel the heat with my hands as in a radiator if i put my hand near. Of course it is infrared ´do but the step 2 of my experiment might solve this.

So far as this set up is configured this is what i figured

ADVANTAGES:

  • clean system which allows to work comfortably,
  • low consumption at 350w
  • No need to heat up the whole workshop. If one is working around the table will not feel the cold.
  • Speeds up the curing process but doesn’t remove the need for heater/s on the edges of the table. Time is shortened.
    *Easy mantainance, safe and clean.

DISADVANTAGES:

  • Not enough temp as it stands now to cure orgonite on its own
  • With 2mm stainless steel plate, once max temp is achieved, the heat bends it upwards at the edges. (didn’t want to get too thick of a plate so would not absorve all the heat produced by the sheet but thicker might be needed in order to avoid this deformation).

COSTS:

This radiant heat sheet was about 50€ with preinstallation wire and the plate cut to measure was about 85€. Not a ridiculous amount.

STEP 2 of experiment.

Since i learned that aluminum release heat 20% better, next set up will make use of it. I have also learned there are some ready mounted sheet/plates (similar to those in the factory pic) that have a graphene circuit welded in the plate itself and can reach higher temps. These can be hanging from the ceiling at whatever height one wishes. They reach 90º temps at plate since the power can be 750w or 1250w.
The idea now is to order one which will hang above my working table. Those cost a bit more. i will work warm and ideally i will be able to drop the heating plate down with railing system to heat the orgonite laying on the table at closer range. Once cured or when i see there s no need for more heat, i can pull it up and that s it.
Whenever i make this second part of the experiment, i will write about it.

In the meantime, if you have never done it already, i recommend you try the orgonite oven option ;-d it works well and one can cure lots of orgonite in one go.
Maybe some other people have thought and found other solutions but this has worked well for me thru the years.

fran

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Thanks for posting this, Fran, because ever since this movement got started there was a sharp decline in orgonite-flinging activity each winter in all but tropical climates Wink

It’s odd the way innovations like yours can take many years to manifest after a need is known but congratulations for apparently being the first!

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If you are building a table yourself maybe you can copy the technique used for heating floors by circulating warm water underneath with PEX plastic pipes or a circuit of copper pipes on your table? The water could be heated by an electric tap water boiler and to this a circulating pump is attatched, the same kind used for water based floor heating in bathrooms. The thermostat on the boiler is set to the desired temperature. Everything can be bought pretty cheap from plumbing supply stores or scrapyards.

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Thanks Don. I do think other people might have come out with a solution of their own ´do. It never ocurred to me to stop making orgonite in winter so i had to find a solution. Thanks Tomas for providing a new idea. If someone has made their own or have another system they want to share here, they are welcomed. The main thing is to achieve that hot air to move upwards freely towards the moulds.

I want to stress ´do i am happy with the orgonite oven solution and will keep using it but i wanted to find an elegant/clean solution on a table that i could work warm, pre heat, and harden orgonite directly on top as i worked. I might achieve it with the second test but in 15 minutes of oven heat i think i achieve enough temp for the orgonite to cure on its own so i just turn it off and let them cool down. The less parts of the system, the easier it is to manage too.

fran

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