Here are the pictures of the oven I modified from the original Cattanach style radiant oven that I made about 4 years ago, and converted to a convection oven. I thought I would take this approach instead of building a new oven from scratch, simply because so many rodmakers have originally built this design.

Basically I took my oven built from Wayne's specs, put a fan/blower unit taken from a Tappan commercial microwave, and added the double insulated duct channel that you see running down the side. By extending the oven another six inches, I was able to allow for the 2 3/4" x 1 1/2" discharge into the back of the oven, a section of metal egg crate (think waffle pattern, 1/2" squares)about 4" in front of the inlet (this breaks up the air), and a 4 1/4" x 2 3/4" turning vane between the elements and the discharge.

I originally had (1) 600 watt element, but added a second and wired them in parallel to speed heat up time. By much trial and error, I got the temperature delta from front to back of the oven down to two degrees, even with using M-D's fixtures, proving to be the biggest challenge.

Larry Blan's help with the design, particularly the PID controller wiring, programming, and help with oven design in general was insurmountable. It took more than a month and probably twenty emails back and forth to get this project done. I am greatly indebted to Larry for his help.

I want rodmakers with similar ovens to be able to convert them to convection ovens if they wish without having to put the time into it that I have. There should be no reason to reinvent the wheel. Anyone wanting exact dimensions and materials can email me for more info.

Tom Vagell