[essiemessy]

Update on testing.
I managed to work out a way to use the kiln with the "annealing" collar on top without modifying anything, with the help of a fibre board floor, using the base as a lid. Then making a metal stand and putting stainless steel wide mesh in as a floor and mandrel rack.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.


As Paragon told the distributor (without any explanation as to why except to say it's 'unnecessary and too complicated' - they're still at their helpful best) since my last post here, don't bother.

However, it would have been great for them to explain to me directly their reasons why, given the weeks of work I've already had to do to get this thing to work as advertised (It won't!), but clearly they're happy for me to keep on going to the time and effort to test for myself as a responsible owner of expensive equipment which they're not willing in any way to take the smallest skerrick of responsibility for, themselves.

Even at 560C, beads were still not annealed, so there was no point in taking it up to their 'opinion' of 595 'or higher' in that configuration either.

So please accept my apologies for my statement above in this thread where I really hoped and believed that it would.
Unlike Paragon, I'm cool with admitting a mistake.

They've refused to engage with me at all on this which I find to be in extremely poor form. Not only dishonest, but also super-arrogant.

So I wrote them a letter a week or two back, letting them know what I thought of that. Still nothing from them directly. That was when they responded to the distributor here in Australia (who was CCd), instead of myself.
As for the distributor, they are willing to take the kiln back for a full refund if I can't get it working to my satisfaction. I'll have to decide whether I want to work for hours at a time with a 600C benchmate, or not.

I just don't understand why they would send you your new kiln with such inadequate instructions, especially for an inexperienced glass worker to work to. Down the track the consequences could be, at best, incredibly stressful when a new user finds that their glass is not annealed after all.

THE TRUTH IS IT SIMPLY WON'T DO THE JOB if 'annealing' in that format is what you're after.

I can't believe this has been allowed to go on for 18 years! And I can't believe it hasn't been picked up by anyone else during all that time!
I do believe, however that Paragon knew as soon as I first got in touch with them, hence their silence and complete unwillingness to even have a conversation from day one.

So today, completely and utterly defeated and gutted by this whole pile of BS, I'm testing the original collar on floor config at 600C. I'll know tonight whether or not even that's sufficient to actually anneal my work.