The title says it all. Dickie says I should get one......my cunning plan worked to take him to Lee's stand at the Festival of Glass.....but joking aside......what do you think ladies?
Do you have any niggles or is it everything you ever dreamed of (including the colour)......eager minds want to know.
Can you get tons of beads in, do they stick and leave tiny pok marks if they touch (like mine does), does the rubino go fuzzy where it touches the kiln floor (again like mine, what a pain as you have to keep rubino off the floor), can you stack the beads up at one end, how many beads will it take? What about BIG mandrels? do they fall out with the weight.....
So many questions! ;) :D :D
any answers gratefully received as my finger is poised to order one. ;D
My only grumble. And I know I should know better as I know its only a annealer, but the one thing which put me off is that it does not go temp high for fusing.
I am a fuser and I have my large kiln for that purpose but sometimes I need only small pieces done at one go (usually commissions) and thats why I am buying the cube from them.
Also, I see my self only doing a few beads a day (maybe 20?) not loads of them so the small one is ideal for me to get going.
The pink does look yummy, I wonder if the cube could be painted it?
Denise
ah Sarah,
your rubino will be fine. When i tested the kiln there was a piece of metal at the back of the kiln with lots of holes in, you put the end of the mandrel in there and your beads dosen't touch the kiln floor!! I did mention to Lee about making the holes bigger for larger mandrels so you'll have to ask him but the kiln will take a lot of beads, i had a whole afternoons work in it and it was still only 1/4 full, not sure on the exact number of beads it will take.
You could also ask Claire and Sal (or maybe they will see this) as they also tested it, i think Sal had it longer than me and Claire so she might be a better person to ask but i want one once i've got the money ;D
Hiya Sarah, I tested the kiln and made Lee iron out any niggles I had about it and now I think its fab:D
The kiln will hold LOOOOOOOOOOADS, and I doubt they will touch whilst in it in with the mesh being used at the back. The kiln has a low floor so they tend not to touch the floor anyway as the kiln relies on the mesh at the back and the ledge on the door to hold the beads - and not the floor. But I suggested some people may like a level floor and want things to rest on the floor now and again (ie off mandrel), so there is a removable floor which takes it up to ledge level (ie a level floor, not a lowered one). There is a removable metal rest that will counterbalance the mandrels if need be so they shouldn't flip out.
As for very large/unusual mandrels, this is one thing I made Lee design for. There is a "third" of the kiln where you can take the back mesh out and replace it with a half mesh so you can rest heart mandrels, cab mandrels- the metal ledge outside should counterbalance them.
I also made him make it go to 650c so it could do PMC :D he got bullied a lot by me, that man. ;D
The last one I saw was the one that was taken to Stourbridge, I dunno if anyting has changed since. My opinion is this a fab kiln for people who make a lot of beads, do bead fairs etc. Its def one that would be good for the pros and has been designed knowing what beadmakers want from a kiln.
I hope that helps?
I have one and I'm really pleased with it.
I use the holes at the back to put my mandrels in so that the beads don't touch eachother or the bottom of the kiln. Then if I am working really flat out I tend to pull them out of the rack and pile them up them on the base of the kiln once they have been in there for a while to make it easier to put the new beads in the rack. To be honest I think you could just keep adding them to the rack if you want to but I just find it easier like that. I've had about 80 beads in at one time and there is still lots of room. Piling them up like I do you could fit hundreds in there.
On the first one or two cycles you did have to be a bit careful as the fringe along the bottom of the doors is still a bit stiff at that stage and if you aren't careful it sweeps the mandrels back out when you open the door. Not a problem by the third day though.
Can't think of anything bad to say about it. The controller is nice and easy to use, good programming instructions. It ramps up quickly and hold the temperature well when you are adding beads. The kiln is well built and as Claire says there is enough flexiblility there that you can change it to the way you want it.
I think between Claire and Sal, Lee had no choice but to make a good job of it.
Thank (insert appropriate deity here)! Mine is due any second at home - I just wish I was there to collect her instead of my Mum! Can't wait. :P
well, just back from a day of seeing agents and dropping off a couple of MAXInes. Can you believe how long it has taken me to "nip" over to Woking and get home since I left yours Sul!!!! :( 11.45 and siting in solid traffic on the M6 >:(
Nice to see good reports so far.
Right then, one by one as they come in.... The top temperature....well, ideally we wanted to make this a kiln capable of fusing BUT it would have compromised it's beading capabilities, things such as the mandrel opening would have effected the fusing and in making it good for fusing, it would have restricted mandrel access etc.
Also, to make this kiln 100% safe we either had to door switch the doors so that the elements turned off when the doors were opened (this would have pushed the price well above the £1000 mark and still had questionable reliability) or use the elements we have used, which in turn limited the top temperature to 650c ish.
Once we realised this would be just a bead / flameworking kiln we had only one objective....to make it the best in the world. So rather than make an O.K. all rounder, we aimed for a full monty beader. We felt it would fit our corporate image much better to produce a specialised, top draw item which was specific to it's claims.
The seal "brush"...well, I searched the whole planet over for a high temperature "brush" type cloth and came up with nothing.
At the design stage I wanted to use a draught excluder method of closing off the mandrel opening at the bottom of the doors. You see, even though a couple of mm of brush won't hold back a great amount of heat, it will greatly reduce air movement and convection, which in turn reduces heat loss.
The high temperature cloth company that we get other items from came up with the idea that, if we used one of their 800c glass fibre cloths and it was cut like a Vileda (spelling?), over a short period, the horizontal strands would drop out and the Vileda would become a multiple of strands...a brush. So in reality, it will deteriorate to improve.
The ones we brought back from the IFG were turning into lovely soft brushes that moulded around each mandrel and they were only used for 1 week.
On a lighter note, as has been said, Sal, Di, Claire and Caroline were a tough bunch to please and I would love to take the credit for my pure genius....in reality, all I did was take on board their ideas and grumbles and sorted em. You won't believe how hard it is, taking something around for opinions, that you think is sooooo right, can be when you find out that it is actually sooooo wrong :D :D :D :D. But without their honesty and some of it was pretty brutal, this kiln would have been a mere shadow of what it has turned out to be.
My one claim to genius however in this is the KCR1 controller. Now this one is all mine. The whole ethos behind the controller was simplicity and capability and I think both boxes have been ticked big time.
RIGHT THEN MAXI AND MAXIne USERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I would really appreciate if you would let me know, either via pm , email, or on here in public view...
a) your initial, immediate thoughts when you got and first used the kiln
and
b)after a month or so of use, what you like and what you don't.
now I'm gonna finish me beer and get off to bed ;D
Blimey Lee, I was wondering if you'd suffer the Friday night road madness - seems you did - just glad to got to your beer in the end :)
I'll get a chance to fire up my MAXIne hopefully late this afternoon, but I need to find a good firing programme first. So my next question is....
Is there a pre programmed annealing programme in the controller, or does anyone have a good one I can pinch to start off please???? :-\
Ramp Full
Temp 520
Hold however long you think you will work plus an hour. I have mine at 13 hours and if I finish early I skip to the next segment an hour or so after the last bead has gone in.
Ramp 78
Temp 371
Hold 10
End
This was from an earlier post on here that someone did, can't remember who.
Oooooh FAB! Thanks Josephine.
I did a trawl through the archives but couldn't work out which suggested schedule would be suitable for this kiln, as this is the first kiln controller I've owned. I'm a kiln-controller-virgin!
Lee, I'll let you know first thoughts by Monday evening :)
I love the way this thread is going, and excellent you've joined in Lee. :)
It was good to meet you at Stourbridge, and you can see I haven't stopped thinking about your new kiln much since. I'm really starting to get fed up with my bargain box now and am keen to make a change.
I've nagged Dickie to improve his controller he made for me but he can't be bothered ( :D :D) especially when he thinks yours looks good.
Bring it on ;D
Ok so roughly how much is delivery and how long would I have to wait for one? or would I get door to door Lee stylie delivery too? ;D
We have a Maxi and it's a great kiln, loads of space, easy to use, does not get too hot on the outside, although have had a couple of beads hit the deck when the door is opened, thin mandrels are particularly at risk, but I rarely use mandrels as I am an off mandrel kind of guy. But I did learn that quick reactions can lead to a burnt thumb, never try to catch your mandrel when it's falling through the air on it's way to bounce on the floor.
How do you skip the segment, I spent ages trying to skip the segment, and in the end had to change the timer to hold for 00:00.
Cheers
Andrew
Quote from: silverlemon on October 18, 2008, 09:37:45 PM
or would I get door to door Lee stylie delivery too? ;D
Hmmm, my house is on the way .... I haven't stopped thinking about this kiln either so I'm following your thread with interest Sarah - actually I went to the website yesterday and would have pressed the BUY BUY BUY button, but I couldn't find it!
;D ;D
Lee - Just a quick and cheap suggestion for you. You may have already considered this, but how about including an example firing schedule on a sheet of paper in the instructions? I know that everyone makes different beads and has different firing schedules, but just thinking that some people like me may never have used a controller before so may not know where to start. Perhaps just a general one for smallish beads and carry a disclaimer to state that this may not work for all and should be considered only as a starting point ;)
So far I am LOVING my new MAXIne, although not managed to fill her up with that many beads yet as I've had too many family commitments this weekend. So far ... Controller is fabulous, I love the incredibly efficient insulation, the flexibility of the interior set up and the overall build quality which I think is very nice indeed. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a high spec specialist bead annealing kiln, in my humble opinion!
Josephine, many thanks for the firing schedule, I have programmed this in and fired once and it looks like this will work for me very nicely to start with! :)
Quote from: andrew on October 19, 2008, 12:25:48 AM
How do you skip the segment, I spent ages trying to skip the segment, and in the end had to change the timer to hold for 00:00.
Andrew, to advance the programme, press and hold the up key for about 4 seconds until you hear a beep. Took me a while before I re-read the instructions and found this!
Quote from: Lush! on October 19, 2008, 09:34:13 AM
Quote from: silverlemon on October 18, 2008, 09:37:45 PM
or would I get door to door Lee stylie delivery too? ;D
Hmmm, my house is on the way .... I haven't stopped thinking about this kiln either so I'm following your thread with interest Sarah - actually I went to the website yesterday and would have pressed the BUY BUY BUY button, but I couldn't find it!
;D ;D
I meant to say Julie and Sarah, I'm sure you'd love this kiln. After seeing your stalls at Hatfield recently and seen the variety and number of beads that you must have to anneal (especially compared to my measly efforts!!) I reckon you'd find this a real godsend.
Yes Sulis has beat me to it and she is correct on how to forward a segment.
The KCR1 is designed to have customer codes programmed into it. For instance, the set up of a KCR1 for a Bead Cube has slightly different values than a MAXI and in turn both have different values than say a Hobbyfuser, these codes are preset into them at the point of manufacture. I shall see if it is possible to have a couple of pre-set Bead programs put into the Bead Cube and MAXI versions.
I see Josephine has put a on cycle on here already, anyone got anymore?
Andrew, in theory, light/thin mandrels should be fine after a short while as the door seal brush softens the more you use it.
Lush, sorry pal, look all you want but we don't have a buy button as yet. The reason being that 90% of our kilns are above the £1000 mark and we have found that people almost always like to run through their options and clear up any queeries they may have before spending the big coin. Maybe, if the MAXI and Bead Cube prove to be as succesfull as they promise, it may be worth us looking into getting a buy button.
Silverlemon, at the moment delivery is included in the price and we have them ready to go. If we get a batch of MAXI / MAXInes for one area then we would much rather fill the van up and take them out personally, which is what will do if possible.
Anyone can have the personalised delivery if they want to pay for it and it isn't cheap. It does however depend on where our vans are. If they are in the area then we can drop the kiln off as easy as it is to post it.
Hmmmm ....
Hmmmmmmm ....
thinking ...
can you hear the cogs whirring ....
Anybody know how much it would cost to post an SC3 to a new owner? ;)
and Lush, we're both going to be in the same place on 1st Nov....mmmmm....Sandown Park.......mmmmI wonder? ::)
Question is, will I have space in the boot for it? maybe not such a good idea, although Dickie did drop my box of ceramic display plates at harrow and I'm now short, so maybe if I leave them at home??? ....hmmmm
Not sure if we're thinking the same thing here, Sarah, but you've given me an idea ...
Do you think I'd be allowed to stick a Kiln-for-sale on the end of my table? ;D
I don't see why not, I sold my spare bottles of Mapp gas at one fair and they got snaffled up so fast.
Quote from: Lee - Kilncare on October 20, 2008, 09:56:53 AM
Silverlemon, at the moment delivery is included in the price and we have them ready to go. If we get a batch of MAXI / MAXInes for one area then we would much rather fill the van up and take them out personally, which is what will do if possible.
Anyone can have the personalised delivery if they want to pay for it and it isn't cheap. It does however depend on where our vans are. If they are in the area then we can drop the kiln off as easy as it is to post it.
Ok so if I ordered one today, when do you think I might get it? I'm 20 mins south of Gatwick Airport?
I'm thinking about my cash flow don't you know. ;D
Lee, do you make or are you going to make these kilns to the European market too, with European plug and voltage of 230V?
I have a good kiln, but will need another one sooner or later, so I am starting to look at the alternatives. I am teaching lamp working, so a kiln with lot of room in it would be nice.
Quote from: silverlemon on October 21, 2008, 10:00:24 AM
Ok so if I ordered one today, when do you think I might get it? I'm 20 mins south of Gatwick Airport?
I'm thinking about my cash flow don't you know. ;D
Oh you did, did you ??????? !!!!!! >:( >:( >:(
I'll be 'avin words later... Naughty Girl !
LOL ;) ;) (te he)
woop.... I ran a test fire last night...... many thanks to our George for looking a schedule up on the forum for me ;)
xx
My first beads in the new MAXIne are looking good, no losses, all looking as they should. Great firing schedule Josephine - thanks! I was using recycled glass for these beads, (but sadly didn't have the joy of drinking the gin first) and this schedule has annealed them well.
I did manage to launch a mandrel with a hot bead on the end out of the kiln door and onto the floor, as I opened the door a little quickly and the door fringe hasn't worn in yet - but I grabbed the mandrel quickly with the pliers, checked to see the floor wasn't alight and then stuck said bead straight back in the flame. I gave it a good flame bath and then stuck it back in the kiln - amazingly it has survived very well!!
Lee - you need to put a warning in the box about that!
Still very much in love with my new kiln though 8)
I'm so jealous - I want a big pink kiln too :(
O.K. Silverlemon, MAXInes and MAXIs can be dispatched on Thursday.
Yes Dickie, the kilns are already heading over there with European plugs to both the kiln and the KCR1 controller.
Sullis, we were aware that it may happen, but only may. I think I've read it twice now that it has happened so, yes, I fully agree, I shall be taking a look at this tonight to see if we can speed the softening of the seal and yes, I shall amend the instructions in the morning.
It did happen just the once to Sal, but her original opening was much narrower and so the seal would in theory be much stiffer. It soon cleared though all the same.
I shall be keeping a very close eye on this issue beaders so keep me informed.
There may well be a certain size/angle/placing that should be done carefully to begin with.
Other than Sals one, the original testers and the two that were run at the I.F.G. had no such issues so it will be interesting to find out more please people.
Can I just say again, we are all overwhelmed by the interest these kilns have generated.
It is really pleasing to see.
Quote from: Lee - Kilncare on October 21, 2008, 05:12:58 PM
Yes Dickie, the kilns are already heading over there with European plugs to both the kiln and the KCR1 controller.
Do you not mean UK plugs?
Ha ha Dickie, pay attention :-[ :-[ ;D
The reply was meant for Maikki sorry
Maikki... Dickie... similar I suppose... I forgive you... :)
Quote from: Lee - Kilncare on October 21, 2008, 05:12:58 PM
It did happen just the once to Sal, but her original opening was much narrower and so the seal would in theory be much stiffer. It soon cleared though all the same.
Pardon? I'm not sure I want them all to know about me "opening"........ :o ;)
:o ::) ;D
Quote from: Sulis on October 19, 2008, 10:17:00 PM
Quote from: andrew on October 19, 2008, 12:25:48 AM
How do you skip the segment, I spent ages trying to skip the segment, and in the end had to change the timer to hold for 00:00.
Andrew, to advance the programme, press and hold the up key for about 4 seconds until you hear a beep. Took me a while before I re-read the instructions and found this!
Thanks for that, I should have read the manual, but nearly 20 years working in IT have taught me that the manual is the root of all evil and you get a better understanding playing with it. There is also a little bit of "new toy" syndrome, put paperwork in corner and play with "new toy".
Should give me more torch time not having to reprogramme it each time we want to use it.
Thanks again.
Cheers
Andrew
Haha!
R.T.F.M.
Bead prize for the first one who knows what that means....!
Read the Furnished Materials...
Or
Read the Fine Manual
or if you are being rude....
READ THE F****NG MANUAL !!!!!
Maybe
Rub The Flaming Marver...
or perhaps
Really...? That's Flippin' Marvelous !!
Quote from: Dickie on October 21, 2008, 06:29:32 PM
Maikki... Dickie... similar I suppose... I forgive you... :)
At least I look like the avatar of Dickie... ;) Thank you for the answer, Lee!
Quote from: Maikki on October 22, 2008, 12:57:43 PM
Quote from: Dickie on October 21, 2008, 06:29:32 PM
Maikki... Dickie... similar I suppose... I forgive you... :)
At least I look like the avatar of Dickie... ;) Thank you for the answer, Lee!
So does Dickie :D :D
LOL ;D
I think maybe I was just over enthusiastic with the door, shooting a hot mandrel about. I dunno. If it's just me, it's probably just my not being used to the kiln Lee. I just worried that you may end up with a lawsuit if you don't put a warning in! Not from me I hasten to add!!
I agree mate, it is now in the instructions anyway.
By the way, I was playing about with one oif these last night and I found that if the kiln was used with the 2 external mandrel supports fitted to the front of the kiln, the action of the seal brushing past the supports on each open and close, seemed to release the horizontal strands from the seal much quicker.
They also seem to catch the strands for you as well.
Ha Dickie Wins of Course. The answer is the rude one, naturally. Something on its way to you. Or probably I'll come and find you on Saturday at the fair.
Sal x
If I didn't know it, I should be slapped around the head with a wet fish !!
Realising That (you) Failed Miserably.
I worked for a RM (a large education IT company), we had a product which was made by a Turkish company, but in the back of the manual where details of how to contact support, but it mentioned that any customers ringing up and asking questions what were answered in the manual would be entered into a monthly RTFM draw.
We had a few customers ring us asking us what this draw was, the company developed the line that it meant "Read The First Manual" but in the mean time the product was put on hold until we recieved updated manuals with this taken out.
Cheers
Andrew
Oh well, the deed is done, and I've taken the plunge and ordered my very own Maxine, in pink of course, I love the blue but that's so boring as almost all kilns are blue. I shall be naming her Beadica ne Maxine, when she arrives, because I love the name that someone on here came up with, and just cos she's not called that officially don't mean I can't! lol.
Cheers Lee, I can't wait, although I suspect I'll have too since I'm not sure I trust the guys that deliver parcels. Anyway half term is next week so I wouldn't get much chance to play, I'll console myself with that.
I'm really impressed that I can choose how I receive my kiln, it's not just going to be shoved out and delivered by couriers if I'd prefer to have it delivered by Kilncare....that's what I call caring for kilns ...pun intended. ;)
goes off singing..'I'm so excited....and I just can't hide it....' ;D
Yes mate, it is good to have you joining the familly ;)
Just to widen the delivery methods thingy.
The MAXI/MAXIne's now go out in custom sized boxes and are packed with polystyrene slabs and expanding foam bags. They are really well packed and I have checked on the two that were delivered yesterday and one was perfect and the other, believe it or not, was delivered by an Eastern European chappy who spoke little English and rolled the box, end over end, from the van to the house, even though it says fragile all over it and has a sticker on all sides with arrows pointing up and a wine glass, as well as the words glass - fragile on them.
The lady was to open the box last night but apparently the box looks fine so the kiln should be also. I would have thought I would have heard by now if there was a problem.
We have also just heard that a MAXI we sent to Germany is actually fine even though the box had taken a right pasting.
However, as with anything, the kilns, when using any national courior go through depots and are handled by multiple persons. So whether it is a kiln or a piece of glass or a T.V. the risk is there. We have packed them as well as they can be so the risk is the same as with any item.
One lady has chosen to take a pallet deliver for her kiln which meant the kiln was straped to a pallet and then boxed over, this way means that the boxes are handled by machine and this method tends to be more gentle, unless some careless +@#* sticks the forks of a fork lift straight through the side of the box as happened to a poor lady in North Wales last year on her £4500 kiln!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Unfortunately the pallet method costs around £55-60 more.
What we are actually trying to do is batch the kilns if possible, for instance, if there were enough sales in the next week to Beaders who are going to the Sandown show, then it may be worth filling the van up with the kilns and handing them over down there personally. That may be something to bear in mind. We already have one candidate, Silverlemon, so a few more and it may be worth it.
Then of course there is the final option. It is the final one because it does cost a fortune, but all the same it is an option but normally taken on bigger kilns.
We can bring the kiln to you personally, at your given time, be it 6pm, 11.30am or whatever. We will site the kiln, check the site is O.K. and then go through the options on how to use the kiln and give full instructions on how to use the controller, what to do and what not to do etc.
We do try to batch these types of delivery so that we can spread the cost over a few customers.
To give you some idea of the cost here, we have delivered a casting kiln into Durham this week. The fuel cost was £102 alone and the engineer was out for 13 hours which all have to be paid for. So it can be expensive.
Basically, we try to offer the best alternative to suit the customer.
Oh and Sal, keep on about your opening and I shall expect a swift punch on the nose off Adam the next time I'm calling to your place :-[ ;D
So you delivering a kiln to me in France might get a bit pricey then, Lee... :D :D :D Maybe I'll get my mitts on a MAXine next year :)