Going bigger

[anditsinthefish]

I've been debating weather to upgrade and get a larger fusing kiln for a while and I recently bought a mould, which according to the website would fit in my SC2 but it has arrived and it doesn't so this has told me clearly I need to go bigger

I have been toying with the idea of a hobby fuser and now that Lee is bringing out the elite fuser I may wait for that.

However, I have been playing more and more with pottery and ultimately would like a kiln that is versatile for both. I'd love one for each but that is just a little excessive and I don't have the cash/space either.

Does anyone fuse in a pottery kiln? There seems to be so many options and they all seem quite similar. HELP

[Fluffstar]

Hi Sarah,

Probably not all that helpful but I remember my teacher at the NGC in Sunderland (Sue Woolhouse) had both a pottery kiln and a flatbed, and she likened fusing in the pottery kiln to 'using an oven' and fusing in the flatbed 'using a grill'.  I don't know if that helps too much!  I guess pottery kilns are great for casting, where you need an even distribution of heat all around the item, but for most fusing applications top-down heat is fine.  I guess you'd have to do a lot of trial-and-error fusings to get the right program, but then, you should do that anyway as every kiln is different. 

Just a suggestion but Skutt do both fusing and ceramic kilns.  I've got a Skutt hotstart pro and I love it, it's a real workhorse and has never let me down.  I wish I'd bought the Firebox 14 as it's square, and so you can fit more in it, but realistically it was good enough for me at the time (and 200 beans cheaper!).

Hope that helps!

Kathy.

[Zeldazog]

Depending on what you want to do with ceramics, most glass kilns won't go hot enough.  Terracotta/earthenware is the lowest firing of standard clays and that requires 1000c - a lot of glass kilns only go to around 950c and if they can go a bit hotter, it means you'd be running it flat out.  Other more hard wearing clays such as stoneware and porcelain require hotter temperatures to mature and vitrify, so you wouldn't even be able to do those.

Not a lot bigger but I *think* has a slightly bigger footprint, is a Paragon Caldera - which can go up to 1300c if I recall correctly.  It fires on all four sides, and has various addable collars with a bead door or extra height, which does affect top temperature but gives flexibility.

Yes, you can fuse in a pottery kiln, but standard ones have less complicated controllers than typical of a glass kiln, and sometimes even only kiln sitters - although you should be able to get more complicated controller - there are several that only have three stages but can link several together to create complex firing schedules

Main things you have to be aware of are that because they are generally side firing, you have to be aware of things too close to the outer edges of the shelves, and there is more of a tendency to trap bubbles when using inclusions as pieces are more likely to fuse on the edges first, being closer to the heat source.  Also, you will get a different temperature, top to bottom, but we used to use that to our advantage at college and do a tack fuse and full fuse in the same kiln!


When I was first looking, I came across Rohde (sp?) kilns, I am sure that they did a model that was switchable from side firing to top firing and had the option of a digital glass controller - I can't remember where I found it, I think it's a German make - that was the most flexible I came across, but I imagine it's not cheap.

[Pat from Canvey]

I fuse in my pottery kiln. It has an ST 3300 controller which provides me with 10 programs, each with the possibility of 16 segments. I bought the kiln second hand but barely used, from Essex Kilns after my previous ceramic kiln finally died due to a silly error of mine when loading a huge pot of glass for a pot melt. I'd put in a different shelf and forgot to check it's levels. That kiln, also bought second hand, had functioned well for over 20 years for me, including doing some clay work. When I first started beading, I also used to anneal my beads in it.

[anditsinthefish]

I fuse in my pottery kiln. It has an ST 3300 controller which provides me with 10 programs, each with the possibility of 16 segments. I bought the kiln second hand but barely used, from Essex Kilns after my previous ceramic kiln finally died due to a silly error of mine when loading a huge pot of glass for a pot melt. I'd put in a different shelf and forgot to check it's levels. That kiln, also bought second hand, had functioned well for over 20 years for me, including doing some clay work. When I first started beading, I also used to anneal my beads in it.

Thank you everyone, so you do pot melts in your pottery kiln Pat? Thats something else I am really interested in doing and guess it is easier in a top loader pottery kiln.....?

[Pat from Canvey]

Yes I do pot melts in my pottery kiln. I liked to use a temperature 930 deg centigrade. The glass, if using Bullseye, will also flow at a lower temperature, about 820 deg C. You have to have enough height to be able to get the flower pot in supported on dams and I find a front loader suits me best so that I can judge whether the pot is placed centrally. I started initially because I had lots of COE 96 scrap. If you do intend to try a melt, I suggest you start with a small amount of glass and make sure the shelf onto which the glass is flowing is level. If the melt is successful, you can always reuse that glass for a larger melt when you're more confident.

[anditsinthefish]

brilliant, thank you Pat!