Question for glass workers

How hot does it get?

Tina

recommendation for

Paragon makes a small muffle kiln called a Rapidfire 6 that has a 6"x6" floor that does great for small fusing. It comes with a pyrometer already attached. It should run about $250. I had one and it got hot enough to turn the glass into liquid goo. (>2200F. oops!) I have seen people prop up the top with kiln posts on the side and back and put Fiberfrax in the hole, hook it up to a rheostat and use it as a small annealer. The elements in mine burned out after the aforementioned abuse, but all in all, I would consider it a good kiln to get your feet wet with. Data per Ed Hoy's catalog: Firing camber 6"x6"x6" Electrical 1680 watts, 120v 14 amps Shipping weight 14 lbs firing speed (empty)

1000F in 4.75 minutes 2000F in 14.5 minutes 2000F in 27.5 minutes with 10.6 oz charge

Look for used kilns in your local paper. There is almost always 5 or 6 a year around here. I bought a small 110v kiln for $50 at a garage sale. Also I traded 10 hours of fusing lessons for another small 110v kiln. Lots of people try enameling or slipcast ceramics and get tired of it and sell their kilns. Check with your local pottery/ceramic dealers. I looked on Rio grande's site and the Ultralite doesn't look like it would do the job. they seem to indicate 1500F is a maximum temp, also it seems the cool down would be too rapid. As a rule, you should look for a kiln that is rated for higher temps than you are actually going to use.

That's what I was figuring -- that pushing the envelope on kiln temp was Not A Good Idea. I'll look into Paragon, thanks. Would you happen to have a URL? (I can probably find them with a quick search on "Paragon kiln", though.)

Celine

AAAAGH! The Paragon webpage isn't what I'd call useful. If you don't know what you're looking for, there's no way to find it. Would you have any idea what the part number for the Rapidfire 6 might be?

Celine

Celine, Go to the warm glass site

and click on archives - there's endless discussion on there about kilns. There's also a link for Centre de Verre - you can get on their site and they describe a lot of different kilns from different manufacturers. Might give you a better idea of what you need. A 6 x 6 kiln is very small, if you are "hooked on fusing" you will outgrow it very quickly, especially if you plan on doing any production work. Patti

What I want it for is dichroic tabs and cabs, and perhaps some small PMC items as well. I'm not planning to do large work at all, and the idea of production work is... well, maybe in 5 or 6 years!

Celine

Celine, Although the 6x6 is the measurement, the area you can actually use is smaller than that since you don't want to put anything on the outside inch of the kiln shelf since if the glass were to slag off, it would damage the floor of your kiln. So your "usable area" is only about 5" x 5". If you cut out a piece of paper which is 5" x 5", and then draw a bunch of cabs/tabs you will see how many you can put on the shelf, you know you have to leave spaces in between them as well. Plus, as you get hooked on fusing, you may want to make larger cabs or pendants. Just a suggestion... Patti

I agree with your point, but she did put a $250 price cap. For a new kiln, that cuts your options. That's why I advised to look for used equipment as well.