Question about Kilns

[meemie]

Hi!!

I have not posted in quite a while because I haven't made beads in quite some time. The major reason was not having an kiln in the same place I was making beads. I have a large kiln I do fusing on in the basement and was running from the garage outside to the basement everytime I made a bead. I want to invest in a smaller 120 volt kiln to use in my bead studio and I am torn about between two models.

I am intestested in either the Chili Pepper kiln for just annealing or the AF3P 11/4.5 Glass Fusing Bead Annealer Kiln by Jen-Ken.

I am leaning toward the glass fusing kiln because I want to start using PMC and I am not sure I want to fire up the big kiln every time I make one piece.

My delima is I am not sure how many beads the fusing kiln will hold and I think the chili pepper will hold more.

I was wondering what your opinions were?

[Three Muses Glass]

I don't think the Chili Pepper gets hot enough for PMC? This is the kiln I want when I grow up. http://theglasshive.com/BEAD%20ANNEALLERS.html
Jen-Kens are nice too. Haven't used the one you referred to though.

[SadiesJewels]

On the whole that looks nice but as I have a fuji controller I have to add that they have a horrible learning curve if you want to fuse. The one I have (originally from AIM) was preset with programs that just didn't give me what I needed. I had to learn to reprogram the wretched thing to get it to do what i wanted to do. Thanks to Mike Aurelius who had the necessary code I had to have to unlock all the programming and be able to add my own. It took me 6 months - I almost gave up. Even now it's a pain - go for something with a number pad- the push buttons gave way and I now use a pokey pointy tool to set it!

I'm looking at Bartletts as an alternative ... perhaps something else when I have the funds.

sadie

[Teague]

I pretty much have the Jen-ken you describe and I love it. It has a bartlett controller, 9 inches tall and 11 inches wide with the 4 inch door. You can fit a ton of beads in there. I have an easier time with shorter mandrels (10 or 9") because the 12" are just long enough that they stick out and into the fiber door, shredding it if I'm not careful.

I haven't done much fusing, but I just started doing potmelts and it's been fun.

TEague

[borealisglass]

the smallest kiln we have ever worked with was a jen ken. Now we just run paragons in the studio and never have any probs

[Geneva]

The JenKen 11/4.5 is a very good kiln for both fusing and beads. The door is very convenient and is blocked closed when used for fusing. I enjoy mine and sell at least one a month out of the store.
Geneva