Umm, I have a question. Went to heat the 2 lb chunk of goldstone I got and realized, how the hell am I going to take it out of the kiln?! Too heavy to punty up; what do other folks use?

I wrap it up in newspaper and crack it with a hammer to break it into smaller pieces. If you've already put the whole thing in the kiln, bbq tongs will work.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21-g909dpvL.jpg

Wasn't sure if the tongs would be strong enough - would hate to drop it coming out of the kiln LOL

And haven't heated it yet; wanted to be sure of my removal process first.

Working in the house, I'd be breaking it up like Shawnette said (wrapping then whacking with a hammer) just in case. Or try it first cold to see how secure you think it is at least.

Not sure if you're trying to break it up to make into frit or if you're just trying to get smaller more manageable chunks.... I work my roughly 2 - 3 inch chunks easily into stringers. I pick up a chunk (from Tucson gem show) with pliers or hemostats, wave and gently heat the goldstone at the top part of the flame and let it get red hot. At same time I am heating 104 rod of clear. Wind clear onto the red hot part of gold stone, twist the two together really well, then pull. It looks a little muddy as stringer, but applied it's still sparkly, especially reduced. I'll see if I can dig out something to take a pic of and post.