Re: make small hot tank
 

Just for the home shop and the inconvenience of dragging everything but the 50 year old seriously gooood up stuff to the machine shop --- I cut a house heating oil drum in two and shortened the legs , bolted two pieces of angle iron to the back, cut a piece of 3/4 " plywood for a cover and hinged it to the angle iron. Placed an old fireplace grate in the bottom , drilled a bunch of holes in a piece of 3/8 brake line with a valve and laid it under the grate for aeration . welded a bung in each end and screwed in two heating elements and the thermostat set at 180 from an old hot water heater. Used nothing but ( Tide ) . Took a little longer but smelled great. ------ Put it outside on the concrete pad and used the engine hoist for blocks. As they say " it worked for me"

Re: make small hot tank
 

with tide my parts are rusting in the tank

Re: make small hot tank
 

Lye will keep the rust away on a steel tank.
Two furniture repair guys, different size tanks. One, he's still around, has a 4 X 8 X 18" steel tank, open top, 35 years and no rust. The other had a 4 X 6 X 5 with a lid, not sure where that went. I like the fuel oil tank previously mention, I'm looking for one now.