Drying sand in the oven- anyone try it?


Hi gents & ladies,

I'm going to use monitors in my home office, got some really nice four-pillar Focus stands to sit the speakers on. I want to fill the pillars with sand, but want to make sure the sand is completely dry before I fill'em up. Why not use the oven? Heat it up and let the sand bake for a while. Have you done this? What temp? For how long? Thanks, Jeff
hack
Anyone who is thinking of "drying" anything in the oven (be that veggies or sand) should know that if you don't crack the oven door you are simply roasting the sand. When teh moisture evaporates but has nowhere to go it will turn your oven into a steam room of sorts. This is probably why Tobias still had stinky moist soil after cooking it.
Spend same time and effort with a batch of San Marzano tomatoes and you will find much bigger rewards.

Good luck to all!
I've found that filling my stands is as much for sound quality as non "tipping" security for the monitors. While I've had success with sand in my stands, I'm much more secure with fine steel shot in my stands (as Jsd52756 recommended above). It's dry, much more dense than sand, non toxic, pours like a dream and inexpensive. The toughest part is locating a supplier. I've found it to be the perfect fill. My monitors weigh 56 pounds each, sitting on top of 24" stands, I was worried as hell about tipping over. With steel shot in my stands, they are very secure, and the stands are dead quiet. Just a thought.
a contractor builders supply where they sell silica sand is already dried and bagged..
To use an oven to dry the sand, use the self cleaning feature of the oven. That will ensure that any biological or HCs contained in the sand are effectively burned off. The oven is not hermetically sealed, BTW, so the moisture and burned off gases do go to atmosphere - one can see the smoke!
Bob P.
Make sure to remove cat and/or dog crap first. And stay away from the yellow sand.