Never buy another $75 dryer baffle

[The2ndAmendment]

Seriously, the next time your baffle breaks, get a 2x4, three 1/4 x 3 inch bolts, six 1 inch fender washers for the 1/4 bolts, and 3 nuts.

1a: Cut 2x4 to depth of barrel.
2a: Sand with 60 grit, then 80, then 100, then 120, 150, then 180, then 220. Corners and edges must also be sanded.

2: Drill 3 matching holes (from old baffle) 3 + 1/2 inches through the 2x4 with a drill press using 1/4 bit.

3: Get frostner bit that drills 1 inch diameter hole for the washers. On the side opposite that which attached to the drum, drill to a depth of 1 inch, giving you a 1 inch diameter hole that is 1 inch deep.

4: Put fender washers on bolts, then push them through the barrel and into your 2x4.

5: Push washers onto end of bolt as far as they can go.

6: Put nuts in ratchet socket. Hold ratchet still while turning head of bolt with wrench. Just as it starts to become tight (when you have to apply pressure), hold wrench still and turn ratchet instead.

7: Overtighten by two quarter-twists of the ratchet. This will cause the wood to act as a spring washer (it compress the wood slightly). Do not overtighten any more than this.

Enjoy your $1 baffle.

 

[Mr. H.]

I'm baffled all right.

 

[Nutz]

I thought you were leaving.

 

[Sunni Man]

What baffle? .......

 

[Mr. H.]

What baffle? .......

The one right there... on the back of yer noggin'.

 

[Ringel05]

This is baffling........

 

[Alex.]

This is baffling........

^^^
That is dryer than most

 

[Mr. H.]

Seriously, the next time your baffle breaks, get a 2x4, three 1/4 x 3 inch bolts, six 1 inch fender washers for the 1/4 bolts, and 3 nuts.

1a: Cut 2x4 to depth of barrel.
2a: Sand with 60 grit, then 80, then 100, then 120, 150, then 180, then 220. Corners and edges must also be sanded.

2: Drill 3 matching holes (from old baffle) 3 + 1/2 inches through the 2x4 with a drill press using 1/4 bit.

3: Get frostner bit that drills 1 inch diameter hole for the washers. On the side opposite that which attached to the drum, drill to a depth of 1 inch, giving you a 1 inch diameter hole that is 1 inch deep.

4: Put fender washers on bolts, then push them through the barrel and into your 2x4.

5: Push washers onto end of bolt as far as they can go.

6: Put nuts in ratchet socket. Hold ratchet still while turning head of bolt with wrench. Just as it starts to become tight (when you have to apply pressure), hold wrench still and turn ratchet instead.

7: Overtighten by two quarter-twists of the ratchet. This will cause the wood to act as a spring washer (it compress the wood slightly). Do not overtighten any more than this.

Enjoy your $1 baffle.

Post a picture or it didn't happen.

 

[The2ndAmendment]

Seriously, the next time your baffle breaks, get a 2x4, three 1/4 x 3 inch bolts, six 1 inch fender washers for the 1/4 bolts, and 3 nuts.

1a: Cut 2x4 to depth of barrel.
2a: Sand with 60 grit, then 80, then 100, then 120, 150, then 180, then 220. Corners and edges must also be sanded.

2: Drill 3 matching holes (from old baffle) 3 + 1/2 inches through the 2x4 with a drill press using 1/4 bit.

3: Get frostner bit that drills 1 inch diameter hole for the washers. On the side opposite that which attached to the drum, drill to a depth of 1 inch, giving you a 1 inch diameter hole that is 1 inch deep.

4: Put fender washers on bolts, then push them through the barrel and into your 2x4.

5: Push washers onto end of bolt as far as they can go.

6: Put nuts in ratchet socket. Hold ratchet still while turning head of bolt with wrench. Just as it starts to become tight (when you have to apply pressure), hold wrench still and turn ratchet instead.

7: Overtighten by two quarter-twists of the ratchet. This will cause the wood to act as a spring washer (it compress the wood slightly). Do not overtighten any more than this.

Enjoy your $1 baffle.

Post a picture or it didn't happen.

ok one second

 

[The2ndAmendment]

Here's a pic, it happened!

http://s14.postimg.org/90b725w3l/1_dolla_baffle.jpg

What happens in the dryer stays in the dryer.

 

[The2ndAmendment]

Save the above pic for a reference and never buy that shit again

 

[Missourian]

Is that pine?

 

[The2ndAmendment]

Is that pine?

Yes

Wood and Combustion Heat Values

 

[Missourian]

Is that pine?

Yes

Wood and Combustion Heat Values

It's not the combustibility that may give you a small problem, it's the pitch (sap).

Pine sap is crystallized in pine boards by heating to 130 degrees, and that sap will remain crystallized...until the next time the wood is heated to 130 degrees.

IOW, you might end up with pine sap in your clothes.

Google "hot pine boards pitch" or "hot pine boards sap".

You can get all the sap out of the wood, but commercial pine lumber producers save money by sell "wetter" pine boards that come from low temp kilns fired for shorter dry times...so you'll have to do it yourself in the oven, or with a propane torch.

 

[Missourian]

Here is a good explanation:

From Gene Wengert, forum technical advisor:
Pitch contains many (1000s) of chemicals. Some are liquid at room temperature, some are hard. (I believe the chemist would say "solid.")
At 120 F, for example, some of these chemicals would turn to vapor (that is the nice smell around a kiln), some of the hard ones would become liquid, and some stay hard. Basically, we would say that those chemicals in the pitch that have a boiling point under 120 F will be evaporated at 120 F. The chemicals that have low boiling points are the ones that are soft and liquid at room temperature. When the wood is cooled, some of the chemicals that were liquid at room temperature would have been evaporated, but not all.

Now let's jump to 160 F. We evaporate a lot more of the pitch. When the wood is cooled, the pitch chemicals that remain are almost 100% hard at room temperature... a few might be liquid, but would not flow very fast at all - they are thick. But give the wood a little heat (sunlight, near a fireplace, etc.), and these "almost hard" chemicals could soften and flow a bit. They can actually flow through paint films and plastic.

So, we learned that at 180 F we evaporate the chemicals that would be soft at room temperature and even a little hotter. You can still see pitch in pitch pockets, but it will not flow.

- See more at: Setting Pitch in Douglas Fir​

 

[The2ndAmendment]

Perhaps I should run the dryer a few times with some old towels. Would that eliminate any potential sap problem?

You gotta admit though, good way to save $74

 

[Mr. H.]

Here's a pic, it happened!

http://s14.postimg.org/90b725w3l/1_dolla_baffle.jpg

What happens in the dryer stays in the dryer.

Ohhhhh. Ok. Geez, I've never known one of those things to fall off. Why replace it? One less baffle? Big deal.

 

[Moonglow]

Perhaps I should run the dryer a few times with some old towels. Would that eliminate any potential sap problem?

You gotta admit though, good way to save $74

Only cedar would have been better ...

 

[Moonglow]

It's the coils/heater element that will cost ya...

 

[Pop23]

Here's a pic, it happened!

http://s14.postimg.org/90b725w3l/1_dolla_baffle.jpg

What happens in the dryer stays in the dryer.

Ohhhhh. Ok. Geez, I've never known one of those things to fall off. Why replace it? One less baffle? Big deal.

That actually looks great!

Would it throw the drum out of balance though? Does that even matter? Why am I here? Why are you here? Why are any of us here.

Ok, I'm ready for the bitch slap.