A Bead Door or Not?

[SueP]

Hi

Just about to order my kiln.  I have decided on the SC2 but can't decide whether to have a bead door.  I intend to batch anneal and maybe do some small scale fusing so do I really need one?

Any advice from you experienced people gratefully received

Sue

[Billie]

I find a bead door useful for large, pressed beads as the cellar I work in is very cold and inevitably pressed/large beads crack when I leave them to cool in vermiculite so I'll make quite a few focals at a time.  I also make spacer beads as I go along but if the kiln is full of focals I'll batch anneal them later.

Some people don't like bead doors though as obviously cool air comes in and the kiln has to keep adjusting.  If you don't think you'll be placing items in the kiln as you go along then it sounds as if you don't need one, and it'll save you some pennies.  I have a Caldera which has a bead collar so when if I want to fuse/slump pieces I can just remove it.

Maybe it's worth talking to some of the kiln people who lurk on the forum 

[Maria Louisa]

Always a beaddoor.
My first kiln didn't have a beaddoor and this is the reason I've sold it and bought another one, and kilns are not cheap if you think of this too late.
Maybe not now but in time you want to make bigger beads and than it's really handy to use a beaddoor instead of the vermicullite first.

[mariag]

Hi Sue I've got the SC2 with bead door although so far I've only batch annealed as I haven't made any large focals yet.
On the Paragon Kilns UK site there is only £20 difference in price between a kiln with & without a bead door which is why I opted for the bead door so that I had the option of batch or anneal as I go
If you don't go for the bead door you can buy one later & change it over but it costs about £125.

[Mary]

As soon as you start doing pressed beads, bigger beads, beads with sticky-out bits, basically anything other than medium round beads, you'll want a bead door. I got so frustrated doing even small pressed beads, I was losing half of them before they got to the annealing stage.

On the other hand, if fusing is going to be your main thing, don't get a bead door because you'll get frustrated by the uneven temperatures it causes.

I know, it's hard to know at this stage what you'll love best!

[DragonflyLynne]

Another silly question. If you don't have a bead door, why can't you just open the kiln and put the bead in as you make it, then close the door? Maybe wearing a protective glove. 

[Zeldazog]

I would think that would cause the temperature to drop dramatically enough to cause thermal shock on your beads.

Although I guess it would be less of a problem with a front loader than a top loader. 

Billie mentions the Caldera, which I did order, but when it arrived it wasn't suitable for me - I work in the kitchen and needed to be able to move it around easily, I found it awkward to lift (long story) - I ended up returning it, and now have another kiln, which my brother made a trolley for so I could wheel it around and out the way.

However, if we had thought of the trolley with the Caldera, I would most certainly have kept it, as, apart from its size limitation (remember I am a fuser not a lampie) it is such a versatile kiln.  And as Billie said, you can add or take away the bead door, as it sits in a removable collar.  I love my kiln, but it is limited by temperature, which means I can't pot melt, or do anything more than frit casting in it.  (Not that I have tried either of those).

I found choosing a kiln a nightmare - what else was I likely to do in it - primarily I fuse, and at the moment mainly small pieces - but would I want to do larger pieces?  Will I become a lampie (that's a given!!!  Just gimme time....) - what about PMC??  Casting? Ceramics??  Enamelling???   

Oh, the choices.......

[DragonflyLynne]

So if you don't have a bead door you can only batch anneal?

[Bumpy Beads]

The bead on the mandrel won't fit inside a Paragon SC2, hence the bead door through which the mandrel pokes out.

[DragonflyLynne]

Thanks Heather. So if my kiln will take the mandrel I will be ok to put beads in as I go?? In the dim and distance future, of course! I will be batch annealing small beads for a long time. 

[SueP]

Hi

Thanks for all the replies - think I will go for the bead door as I know I will want to do some larger beads in the future.  Will probably stick to the SC2 as it will fit on the work bench just nicely 

....then again there is the SC3 ummm I can feel another question coming on 

No I must make up my mind I have been dithering for months now

Sue

[Bumpy Beads]

Thanks Heather. So if my kiln will take the mandrel I will be ok to put beads in as I go??

I can't see why you couldn't bung the whole thing in if it would fit. The shortest mandrel I'd want to work with would be about 9" and I prefer 12". My only concern would be what has already been said about the temperature fluctuation each time the door is opened. 

[DragonflyLynne]

Thanks Heather. The inside of my kiln measures 8.5W x 6H x 12D, so there is room. But I don't think I will be doing anything large and complex for quite some time! 

[turnedlight]

I have the bead door one - I thought I might do fusing, but I love beadmaking so much, I just haven't got around to trying it!

[Stacy]

I also have a bead door on my SC2 and have done a little bit of fusing. I have to be honest and say that I haven't really found any problems mixing the bead door and fusing. Some people have had an issue where pieces have a tendency to fuse unevenly closer to the bead door, but as I only do small pieces I make sure they are in as close to the back as they can go and not had a problem.
Saying that I have made a small bowl and lid for a bowl and they took up most of the kiln but I still didn't have any problems.
I'd say go for the bead door.