kiln advice requested

Hi Karen -

I don't make beads, but I do some fusing from time to time and I will say here, once again, that I LOVE my Skutt kiln.

It has the bead door just in case I ever need it. It has a great digital controller that you just set and forget when you're ready to run your cycle. For beads, you'd be keeping it at a certain temperature as you put mandrels in one by one until you had a batch and could run the program for annealing. No need to babysit it as long as it's sitting in a safe place and a stray critter can't jump up and move your mandrels. The extremes of outside temperatures might be a problem, but that would be the case with *any* kiln you used. It has panels that slide into groves that protect the heating coils on either side so you are less likely to electrocute yourself when you put beads in to anneal. It runs on household current (110-120v) and I've never gotten an electric bill that was extremely high because of using it. It's very efficient and has few, if any, cold/hot spots within the chamber.

It's a good size for beads, it works well for fusing and you can also fire PMC in it with NO problems. Slumping would be limited to small projects, but it can be done. I use two shelves when fusing and it's amazing to me the amount I can get into this thing! The controller allows you to set a new program whenever you want or you can save your favorite firing/annealing cycle for future use. Cost is $650-$750 plus shipping unless you have a dealer close by.

If you have more specific questions about this unit, I'd be happy to answer them.

Mj

I've gone through three kilns starting from inexpensive to medium expensive. The first two did not have digital controllers and the last one only had manual controller...which is better than none.

I am now working with a Paragon Caldera with bead ring. It has a digital controller with several programs. I've set up my own programs to suit my needs and it's pretty easy to figure out. It is on 120v which was very important to me. You can fuse and slump in this kiln and it will hold tons of beads. I paid around $750 for my kiln with the bead door. Without the bead door it was around $650. The bead door gives you additional height if you are wanting to slump vases though.

For a good all around kiln with a great digital controller you can't go wrong. It isn't too big or too small, works on regular 120v and can do a variety of projects.

Can you tell I love my kiln?

Starlia

My pick for all of the above is the Ek Miller Fusebox II, unless you lose power frequently. Fiber is more energy-efficient because it doesn't absorb heat, but the drawback is that if your power shuts off your kiln will lose heat quickly and you will have to re-anneal. If frequent power interruptions are not a concern, than either a biber or brick kiln will do you just fine. The Fusebox II fuses very nicely, is under $800 (barely) and has doors that run the full length of the kiln. If capacity is a concern, I would definitely suggest staying away from the Jen-Ken and the Skutt (which are fine kilns) because they have small bead doors. Although many folks say you can just put the beads seperated on the rack until they cool to annealing temp and then stack them in the kiln to make more room, in practice this can cause small dings on the beads where they touch. I have bought many beads with these dings, so I know it's not just me :). Most people never notice them, but I won't sell a bead with a ding, however tiny, so the kiln with the full-length bead door was the only option. I have the Fusebox 10 (same as the II, but slightly longer) and adore it.

Arrow Springs also makes an excellent bead kiln, but I have no experience with it. If I was a new beadmaker on a budget, yet had the advantage of knowing what I know now, I would get a Chili Pepper bead annealer because they have a huge bead capacity, and I could buy a seperate fusing kiln later with what I saved on the annealer, plus what I made from having such a great bead capacity.

-Kalera

Kar> I know this has been asked before, and I have gone back and looked, but