Cheaper version/alternative to the Cube type kiln

[Lee - Kilncare]

You know those stickers that come on the doors of new fridges etc that scale A to F with regards to how efficient the appliance appliance is.............be interesting if that had one.....it would be a Z 
Then again it won't have one.......there is no door to stick it on 

[Steampunkglass]

Well I admit my first 'kiln' was a cheap on off ebay that turned out to have a temperature controller that was just one of those bimetallic strips - sort of thing you'd find on an old heater  I popped in a themocouple themometer I had, and was shocked to see how much it bounced up and down as it heated up, I ended up putting my own very basic power controller and kept tweeking the dial every 5 minutes to keep it on temperature.

I realised I'd bought a lemon, and wasted my money, and ended up re-annealing everything when I got a proper kiln.

However the moral of the story is, when a year or so later I unbolted the back of this mini kiln as I was going to use it for something else, found that the mains cable had partly melted through, and rest had gone very brittle and charred - I hadn't run it more that a few times, maybe 5 at the very most!  . Like everyone else has said, you get what you pay for, and modern proper kilns are built so well they will last for years if looked after.

[andrew.spencer.2]

Beansprout, I'd like to meet your dad, he sounds like an interesting kind of guy!
I've just finished building my own kiln from scratch, and you're right, it does take years.
Although it cost less than £200 in the end, and is probably 4x the volume of a bead cube, it certainly has  its downsides.
Aside from how long it took to source all the materials, my controller can only soak, not ramp, so I have to manually raise/lower the temp every 5 min for the hours that each ramp lasts.
Also if I touch the exposed element with a mandrel I could easily electrocute myself. Anyway, it's nothing I would allow anybody else to use, just from a safety standpoint.

Redhotsal is exactly right about the constant tweaking as well, if I weren't an engineer/programmer who enjoyed tinkering on the kiln as much as doing the lampworking itself, I would probably write it off as a lost cause  .

[Krysia@No98]

Yes, I'm married to the man who thinks that copper pipe is an acceptable substitute for curtain poles.

That can't be a cheep alternative in this day and age.  I reckon it would look pretty cool...

Anywho

I agree with the others, the kiln is a really good investment and will sell on at a very good price.  You may be worth looking out for a second hand one on here.  There is also some come back on a pre made kiln going wrong as apposed to a home made one going wrong.  Do you really want to see hours of hard work as a puddle at the bottom of your kiln?

As this is a bit of kit that you will be heavily reliant on it is worth spending money on.