Total Newbie Needs Advice on Equipment and Kilns

[jellyfuser]

Helloooooo!

I am a total new comer to this. I have been on a one day glass fusing workshop and I have been bitten by the bug!

I am looking to buy a kiln, between £600-£800. I am thinking the skutt firebox 14, as it seems reasonably big and something I can grow into if I want to do bigger panels and slumping work. Does this kiln need a special cooker type socket? or can it go in the wall? Any specific safety advice?

Also, what tools? Dont know what I need to get going? What cant you live without?

Any books or courses you can advise that will get me going?

Also I have only tried fusing and only ever seen slumping, any other avenues I could explore? (whats lamp working???)

Thanks so much!!!!

Sorry for all the questions!

Jelly

[noora]

Lampworking is bead making, using a propane torch to melt the glass. You'll see plenty of bead examples in the Show and Tell threads on this forum. You'll need a kiln for that too, to anneal the beads once they're finished. You can use the same kiln as for fusing, especially if it has a special bead door on the kiln.

Another thing you can use your kiln for is PMC - Precious Metal Clay. You shape the clay more or less like you would shape ordinary ceramic clay, dry it and chuck it in your kiln for a while. When it's finished you have an object made of pure silver (or copper or bronze, there are clays for those too). You can combine PMC with fused glass too, that's a lot of fun.

I don't know anyting about the skutt firebox, so I can't help you there. I have an Evenheat PMC kiln and use it for both fusing, PMC and annealing lampwork beads. It's quite small but works in your ordinary wall socket.

[bluefairy]

Hello, I've got a firebox 14, and it's great, and runs on normal household current.  Having said that, I used to have a hotstart and preferred it, can't really explain why, except that my firebox seems to fire a lot hotter, so I had more consistent results with my hotstart.  Of course, that might just be my particular kiln, and obviously, where it's square, you can get a lot more in it than the hotstart.  They're both bloomin great kilns though.  I stand mine on a bit of worktop on a stack of breeze blocks, with a good gap between it and the wall.  I use mine primarily for fusing, but you can batch anneal beads in it too, by inputting your own programme 

Tools wise, you don't really need much to start - glass cutter, I use a Toyo oil filled one and its FAB, and I swear by my steel ruler and cutting mat.  Breaking pliers and grozing pliers.  And I use tweezers and cocktail sticks a lot too, just cheapy 49p tweezers from Asda for placing stringer and little pieces of glass.

Books wise, Warm Glass by Brad walker is invaluable.  I also really liked Petra Kaisers books (Introduction to..... and Fuse It).  There's also a great one by Brenda Griffiths, A beginners guide to kiln formed glass.  In fact, just looked on Amazon and they've got a great deal on 3 really good books, here's the linky http://www.amazon.co.uk/Introduction-Glass-Fusing-Project-Project/dp/0919985386/ref=wl_mb_recs_6_dp
Hope that helps, suppose I'd better get back to my packing!!  Have fun xx

[Zeldazog]

Can't add any much to Helen's post, other than I haven't got the Firebox 14, but wish I had, based purely on size (I have the Hotstart Pro, which is fabulous).

Don't forget SAFETY GOGGLES!

Have a browse through the threads on fusing, I know there was one discussing must have tools and helpful things, a while back.  There's also threads discussing the merits and disadvantages of different kilns, especially if you want to multi-use them (front loaders, bead doors, etc).

If you did go down the lampworking avenue in the future, you could only batch anneal in the Firebox.

Is that budget to cover other stuff as well? And don't forget the price quoted on Warm Glass site excludes VAT, so it will cost you about £900 after that's been added.  If that stretches you, don't be afraid to buy a smaller kiln for now, and maybe upgrade later - they generally sell really quickly and hold their price.

[millyfrances]

Hi there - kilns are confusing, too many options on the market! Kilncare do good ones - they call them Hobbyfuser and Hobbyfuser midi (bit smaller). I've got one of their larger fusing kilns and absolutely love it, best kiln I've ever had.
Hope that helps,
Milly

Everything Stained Glass