Acquiring a liner oven - new, used, DIY?

[burrito]

I've been an Intution convert for a while, but I've never found any of the at-home solutions (rice sock, conventional oven, etc.) to be quite as easy or effective as getting the liners molded at a shop with a proper liner convection oven.

Has anyone ever found somewhere to either buy a proper liner oven, new or used, or built one themselves?

New - SVST.com is the only place I've found in the states selling them, and they're wholesale/B2B only. Regardless, any boot ovens I've found for sale at online European shops are all €1000+, so it's probably not the most economical route.

Used - Do shops ever ditch these? I gotta believe given how simple they are mechanically they basically last forever and are consequently next-to-impossible to find used.

DIY - Since all you need to make a convection oven is pretty much a heating element, a fan, and some kind of box have any mags out there built one themselves?

[Falcon3]

Call me crazy, but you can probably pay for a lifetime worth of molds in at shop at $25/pop compared to buying your own.

Look for ski shops going out of business.

[gregL]

Has anyone ever found somewhere to either buy a proper liner oven, new or used, or built one themselves?
Used - Do shops ever ditch these? I gotta believe given how simple they are mechanically they basically last forever and are consequently next-to-impossible to find used.

Every brand uses the same oven from Germany, made by K-Tech. They retail for around $900 USD unless you place an order for a relatively large number of boots each year. Shops usually only ditch them when they stop working or the shop goes out of business, this might be your best bet.

The usual weak points are the main power fuse (in the back) and the 117 C. thermal fuse in back of the front cover, either is easily replaced with a soldering iron, though you can't find the exact item in the States (I get a slightly hotter thermal fuse on Amazon).

I used to use a small convection oven my in-laws left behind, it worked OK but you could only fit one liner in at a time (horizontally).

[kamtron]

You can buy a little consumer convection style toaster oven pretty cheap these days. I use my normal oven with a pizza stone in it for thermal mass, seems to work fine.

[iriponsnow]

I bought a set of heat stacks for Intuitions from a closing shop for only $25 - best money ever spent.

[XXX-er]

This ^^ IME people never do something as well that they only do once every 5 yrs compared to someone who is doing it 7 times a day and there are more than a few ways for liner molding to go sideways

so I have driven 13hrs to the church of liner molding ( AKA intuition factory outlet in Vangroovy ) where they had all the product the tools, the expertise on which liner TO chose and mold them without melting or fucking it up and so it was worth the 50$ cuz you do need 2 people, the person wearing the boot and the person doing the fitting

they even allowed me to exchange liners that didnt work out, i don't know if they still do fitting or what but their site will probably answer your questions

[burrito]

I would gladly pay a shop to do it, and have in the past, but I'm not in an area where it's particularly accessible. Especially given covid conditions, I'm just looking for alternatives.

[fleaches]

I would gladly pay a shop to do it, and have in the past, but I'm not in an area where it's particularly accessible. Especially given covid conditions, I'm just looking for alternatives.

I have also seen some shops charging $100 just to cook your liners, ridiculous.

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[sruffian]

my wife bought a food dehydrator that goes to 175. suuuper temp stable, cost like $100. Haven't used it to heat liners but have cooked leather gloves and the like so far

[burrito]

my wife bought a food dehydrator that goes to 175. suuuper temp stable, cost like $100. Haven't used it to heat liners but have cooked leather gloves and the like so far

Ooh that's a solid idea. Dehydrators are literally just a heating element and a fan. Might try to find one used and rig up a box big enough for the liners.

[burrito]

Now this seems like a fun little project. Proper temperature is somewhere between 200 and 250 degrees, right?

They make "halogen ovens" that are basically little portable convection oven heater and fan assemblies. They're made to attach to a pyrex bowl and lid to cook your food, but I gotta believe they'd work just fine attached to a box big enough for a liner or two. Not sure how stable the temperature would be, though, given that 200-degrees seems to be their minimum operating temperature.

https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=halogen+oven&i=garden&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

[gregL]

Now this seems like a fun little project. Proper temperature is somewhere between 200 and 250 degrees, right?

The factory ovens run between 235 F. and 243 F. on average. Unless those are really big thighs, your liner isn't going to fit.

[burrito]

The factory ovens run between 235 F. and 243 F. on average. Unless those are really big thighs, your liner isn't going to fit.

Planing on removing the heater/fan unit from all of the cooking parts and attaching it to a wood or metal box that will fit the liners. It would be nice to find something with a glass door so I don't have to keep opening it up to check on them, but we'll see what I can hack together.

[turnfarmer]

The standard in orthotic production used to be Farberwar convection ovens. Got mine on eBay a ways back for $125ish. Very temp stable and accurate to setting.
Probably your best option.

[MegaStoke]

My shops SVST convection oven is set to run at 100C/210F according to infrared thermometer. I could see doing it in a home convection oven if it can maintain that temp without going over.

[gregL]

My shops SVST convection oven is set to run at 100C/210F according to infrared thermometer. I could see doing it in a home convection oven if it can maintain that temp without going over.

What are you pointing it at? You want to measure ambient air temperature over a course of, say, five minutes rather than the temperature on any metal or glass surface on the oven. We hang an oven thermometer inside the oven, and the heating element usually stops at around 245 F. and starts up again when the temp drops below about 228 F. (the adjustment screw isn't really all that precise).

FWIW, I've had good results in our home convection oven (have to do it when my wife's not home as she thinks I'm poisoning the family) setting it a little over 225 F. for 8-9 minutes, but again I can only do one liner at a time. You kind of need to mold each boot completely (cooling also) so you can stand in them level (or with toes up on a 2x4), then do the other one.

[Dee Hubbs]

Unless those are really big thighs, your liner isn't going to fit.

30” thighs?

[NAKsloChinoMalo]

I've cooked several pairs of liners many years ago using the home GE convection oven when not many places had that capability. I targeted 235F for about 10 minutes as I recall. They were fine. In the recent years, I had the local ski shop do it, and they never charged me, since I buy stuff from them often enough. Even if they charge me, I'd still let them do it. It's just knowing they'll come out consistently fine every time.

If you want to build a DIY oven, that's a different transaction.

[burrito]

I've cooked several pairs of liners many years ago using the home GE convection oven when not many places had that capability. I targeted 235F for about 10 minutes as I recall. They were fine. In the recent years, I had the local ski shop do it, and they never charged me, since I buy stuff from them often enough. Even if they charge me, I'd still let them do it. It's just knowing they'll come out consistently fine every time.

If you want to build a DIY oven, that's a different transaction.

I feel you. All things being equal I'd rather just go to a shop, but the closest shop that might even consider it is a solid 1.5-2 hours away. It also seems like a fun little DIY project, and if I end up with a workable oven for what's looking like less than $100 in parts, I'll have it for the rest of my life.

[Bushwacka]

Why not just use, your oven.....it seem to work.

[burrito]

Why not just use, your oven.....it seem to work.

Normal ovens, gas or electric, are pretty unreliable when it comes to temperature regulation (especially under 300-degrees), and they don't heat evenly due to their large volume, heating element position, and lack of convection fan. I've seen any number of people try to use a regular oven only to accidentally melt part of the liner, get an uneven mold, etc., and I've only had marginal success with the rice/sock method.

For something as important as liner fit, I want to try to cobble together something that is easier to control and less prone to ruining a new pair of liners.

[Bushwacka]

why not use thermometer and your oven? and just start lower than you think. I have used an oven so many times......since my local shop no longer has a good way to mold intuitions.

[frorider]

Our LG gas oven has a convection setting that circulates the hell out of the air and has worked fantastically for molding liners (mostly Intuition) for the last decade. However this thread made me realize my parents have a smallish electric convection oven in their closet that I should try sometime.

The “rely on your local shop” advice is fine, but there are advantages to figuring out this shit on your own. As with tuning my own skis, there’s a convenience advantage, eg doing a remold on one liner that’s a little tight the day before a big tour. And it pairs well with a cold beer. And it allows you to figure out what method works best for you (for example, foam spacers between certain toes rather than the neoprene toe cap method).

[Peruvian]

Spending $1k on a specialty oven for ski boot liners is ridiculous.

[burrito]

Spending $1k on a specialty oven for ski boot liners is ridiculous.

Agreed. The combo of a used convection oven heater/fan from eBay and making a custom box looks doable for under $100. The box might not be as fancy, but when you're maxing out at 250-degrees it doesn't really matter.