Kiln question

I have a Fusebox kiln - similar to the one pictured here:

{87F1AF7A-0683-444D-AAE5-627666CE107F}&ic=131111&Tp=I bought mine from Frantz a year or so ago, and the one they have now is theupdated version with the digital controller attached. I have essentiallythe same thing, but my digital controller is a seperate unit, and my kiln isblue instead of grey. The only thing I don't like about my kiln is that it's not bigger. :) Seriously, I have filled it up completely and can fit about 50 beads in there with the little metal shelf. It is big enough to fuse if you want to.

Frantz has their unit on sale with the digital controller - and it's a pretty good deal. I think my set was about $150 more when I bought it.

I love the shape of the kiln, and that it fits on the end of my table. The ebad doors are in front, which makes it very easy to slip beads in without losing too much heat, and I don't need gloves to touch to doors or the mandrels. The controller comes pre-programmed, which, if you're making beads that aren't freaking huge, works just fine for annealing and for ramping up if you need to. Also, I haven't seen a huge increase in my electricity bill, so the kiln is pretty energy efficient.

I did have that one fubar with the kiln not too long ago, but found out that it wasn't the kiln - it was a power outage that lasted only a few seconds. My hubby has since fixed that with a switch.

I am very happy with my kiln - it has met my needs for the 9 months that I have been making beads. :) If you tend to make more than 50 smallish beads in a session, you may want to step up to a larger size.

Good luck!

My kiln came from Arrow Springs and I love it. No troubles, stablizes easily, large enough and versatile. Top opens on a hinge for fusing or emptying, but there's a front door for placing beads inside.If comes with a brick door as well. It's an AF99. And the best thing? Craig. He stand behind everything he sells.

Please remember that whatever you buy, you want your element to be encased. No one wants a fried Kalera on the end of mandrel....

The Use of Foul Language in Written Communication: The Tiny Rumblings of the Ineffectual and Stunted Thinker. The Inability to Think Beyond The Obivious and The Crude. ~~~Henry A. Byrne

You've only been making beads for Nine Months?! I yam impressed.

{87F1AF7A-0683-444D-AAE5-627666CE107F}&ic=131111&Tp=>> I bought mine from Frantz a year or so ago, and the one they have now is the> updated version with the digital controller attached. I have essentially> the same thing, but my digital controller is a seperate unit, and my kiln is> blue instead of grey.>

I know... she has my Ass whooped! I have been making beads for 4 years now.... SHEEZE!!!

nicole

CLP wrote:

{87F1AF7A-0683-444D-AAE5-627666CE107F}&ic=131111&Tp=> >>I bought mine from Frantz a year or so ago, and the one they have now is > > the

:) Well, I took a class about a year ago, then apprenticed with Paulette for about a month in August. I didn't have my own studio set up to make beads regularly until November. So, I have been making beads regularly for about 9 months.

OK, so collectively you guys have given good reviews to every kiln I'm looking at! :)

Actually, you have been very helpful... I think I'm narrowing things down. I do want a digital controller, but I may build it myself. I'm currently very torn between buying a less expensive kiln so I can have it sooner (I'm looking at an AIM or a Jen-Ken) or waiting and getting a more expensive kiln; the Fusebox or the Arrow Springs. As of this moment, I'm toward a Jen-Ken with a digital controller, because it's a good kiln with a solid reputation, and I don't REALLY have time to build my own, do I? LOL! I'm thinking that having it NOW would be a Very Good Thing and perhaps even worth my while if I bought another, more expensive kiln next year. It might even come close to paying for itself in electrical expenses by then; using a large top-loading kiln to garage beads is ridiculously wasteful.

I wish that there was a little annealer available for under $300; I'd go for it, but even the smallest annealers suitable for garaging beads as I make them is comparable in price to the cheaper fusing/bead kilns!

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Kandice Seeber" :

]So, I have been making beads regularly for ]about 9 months.

yeow!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

Bill of Rights - Void where prohibited by Law.Regime Change in 2004 - The life you save may be your own.

You can use something like this - and this is a GREAT DEAL. My"annealer" is an older enameling kiln that I modified to use for annealing beads...

of DRAGON BEADS Flameworked beads and glass

Hi Kalera:

One other thing to keep in mind as you decide: are you closer to one or the other? AIM is Corvallis Oregon, I think Jen-Ken is in the east somewhere. (Don't know if you have located distributors close to you.) But maybe if you're close, you can pick up and save some shipping? And for kilns, shipping could be fairly significant.

(Those of us in the Portland, Oregon, area are pretty lucky kiln-wise: Skutt is here, EK Miller (Fusebox) is here, AIM is down the road in Corvallis, I think there's someone manufacturing toolbox/mailbox annealers on the coast...)

--Dave

P.S. Got a good laugh about your comments on building your own controller --- first "I may build it myself", then "I don't really have time to build my own, do I?" I go through that internal argument on so many things all that time (most recently on rebuilding a malfunctioning oxygen concentrator myself...)

Jen-Ken is in Florida. I bought a minifuse Jen-Ken kiln from Centre de Verre. They charged $60.00 to ship. I love my kiln! Patti

Jen-Ken finally won out... I seriously considered the Skutt, but had concerns about the depth of the kiln, and also the AIM, but prefer a hinged top lid to a stacking type. I'm not good about having a clean flat surface in my work area, so I'd never have a good place to set the lid down! In the end, I got what I think was a great deal ($513, with a Bartlett controller) on the Jen-Ken bead annealer from Centre DeVerre, and shipping was only $30. With my darling husband's encouragement and support, I took the plunge and dipped into my "backup money", and ordered the kiln last night, forgoing my usual months of obsessing and comparing and agonizing. I decided to get the cheapest (good) kiln I could find with the features I need, so I can have it as soon as possible.

So, here we go! Wish me luck!

(Oh, and the dialogue about "do-it-myselfing"... I do that all the time too! In the end, I rarely really have the time for doing it myself... but it takes me a while to reach that conclusion, every time!)

I VERY seriously considered going that route, actually! I even had a design for the bead door I was going to make all worked out. In the end, I decided against it, partly because I found that the ending auction price of those is currently usually over $300, and partly because, once again, I don't REALLY have time for all the projects I imagine myself doing! I'd have to use time that I would otherwise use to make beads, and that didn't seem very productive in the end. If I had time, though, I think it's a great idea.

It is... It's a great fusing kiln, I couldn't be happier with it for that application. In fact, I like it so much that I looked for an Evenheat bead kiln, but they just don't have anything suitable. Their Hot Box is soooo close, if they'd only put a bead door on it! C'est la vie.

I fuse about one in a blue moon nowadays, but there are one or two of those per year, right? ;) At one point my plan was to replace all my dishes with fused glass, but I have this problem; I keep giving away what I make. I can't seem to help it. So, I have one fused plate. That's it. One.

Actually, I'm not positive I have that anymore.