Enameling Kiln

Not sure what you plan on doing but I wouldn't think that you could control it well for any annealing that you might want to do with glass. Enameling on metal doesn't require that and the objest is to get up to melt temp on the enamels quickly and then not worry about the cool down. I took a class

10 years ago or more and we put the piece in, took up to temp and back out several times a night.

Susan W

Thanks, Susan! I guess I would do better by asking folks here what kind of kiln I would need to fire Everhard/Hanovia gold lustre on glass. I'm kiln challenged, so the more info the better. I figure I should fire lustres in a different unit than the one I anneal in. And how do cones work?

I havent used this particular kiln, but it sure brings back memories. My mom used to enamel and let us kids do it too. What fun to take a plain piece of copper and dust it with colors and bits of glass .. pop it in the kiln and have something so very pretty come out of it. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! Diana

Looks like it would work like a Rapid Fire or Quick fire and would work for doing some fused jewelry! (and it's quite a bit cheaper!) If you have a separate controller, I would think you could hook it up to that. I hook my Rapid Fire up to my controller when I need to.

Tink - you don't need another kiln to do it -- My grandmother used to do ceramic gold firing in her regular ceramic kiln. As long as it is well venilated (which it must be when firing gold) However - - let me know if you have any sucess... because I tried and it didn't....

Here are the Cone temps for firing MATERIAL DEGREES ° C CONE Flint and Lime Glass 1060 ? 1120 cone 022 Pyrex and Quartz glass 1200 - 1250 cone 018

the problem is - if you take Moretti up to 1120 - you are talking about another annealing cycle - you can't just stick it in there hot like you can with enamel on copper. AND at 1120 - your Moretti may start to sag on you.

If you fire with the gold - bring it up slowly - when you get to about 950 (annealing for Moretti) run it up as quickly as you can to maturity - then drop it quickly - or the pieces are going to sag. I fired to 1200 - and the stuff still rubbed off my beads... drat it.

Those trinket enameling kilns have no temperature controls... Just use your annealer - and watch your temps closely. if you don't fire to complete maturity - the stuff will rub off quite quickly.

Cheryl of DRAGON BEADS Flameworked beads and glass

Hi Tink, Baileys has some good info on luster firing

They even have a gold for glass that has a lower firing temp then gold for ceramics. Cheryl's right, ventilation is the key! I am itching to do another gold firing. I usually fire my lusters in my large kiln but last time I tried it in my tiny test kiln. It had been a while since I had done one of these firings and I think I had forgot about leaving the lid propped until the cone fell (I think I closed the lid when I turned the kiln on high) and I am not happy with the results at all. The pieces seem almost fumed with a ... I don't really know how to describe it... an almost reflective sheen? It's hard to see that the glaze underneath is brown and it's hard to discern the copper and gold 'Halo', that I used , from the rest of the surface. 'Experimenting' is another key.... that's your middle name, right? : )

TTYL, Melinda W