Author:  Created:  Rating: EJSAUNDERS Oct. 12, 2002, 07:15AM   1 Ratings     12345     Drying Blocks Tony suggested using a dehydrator, made for drying food, and has found the 2 to 3 days normally required has been reduced to an hour and a half in most cases. Sineater suggests that for most Gypsum-based plasters the best, and cheapest alternative suggestion is to bake them in your home oven at about 120F for a couple of hours. In some cases, Sineater comments that baking the blocks actually increases the compressive strength of the plaster, but baking will not work with dental plasters. I personally let mine dry for about 2-3 days before I put them into their containers and tend to use the oldest, and therefore the driest first. If your casting specifically to build, then 4 days should be sufficient time without heating them in any way. Floogyman uses dental plaster which he drys successfully in a microwave. He suggests three mins on high is sufficient to dry most standard sized pieces. Rusty, who lives in West Texas (about 20% humidity) needs to let his blocks air dry for 3 days to be sure they are dry enough for use. He switched to a dehydrator and found that at the most it takes about 10 hours to dry regular Plaster of Paris pieces. BMT Gander suggests A good indicator of a block's dryness is its color and heft. He suggests you let your first batch dry for several days at room temperature and compare these completely dry blocks to your next batch, which are dry enough to demold, but are still 'damp' inside. Isa, has also successfully used a microwave and an oven, which she compares as the oven providing a more stable, but slower drying alternative to the quick, but less stable microwave. She also suggests if you're going to use the microwave, be sure to put the bricks on a towel or something, or the moisture will just be reabsorbed and watch how long you microwave the bricks for, they may explode, burn or disintegrate if heated for too long.  Public Comments Please log in to post a comment    You must be a registered member to post comments. You may sign-in Here.

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