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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips

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  #1  
Old 2012-07-08, 4:02pm
Signguy Signguy is offline
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Default Another kiln?

I'm thinking pretty seriously about getting a second kiln as I'd like to be able to do sculpture of greater height then I can do with my current kiln.

I have a glass hive regular guy which I love, but it has very limited height, and even though I would be happy to buy another glass hive kiln the tallest one they make is only about a 7" inside capacity.

So, I have been looking around and determined that I particularly want a front opening kiln, and it looks to me like a guillotine door is the most desirable configuration. So that leads me to question number one: any thoughts regarding pros and cons of the guillitene door setup?

Question number two is that it appears that only Paragon and Aim offer this style. Based on my preliminary research I get the impression that Paragon may be more reliable, and also when looking at them the Paragon seems to be a bit more elegant with more refined construction and finish. Anyone have input regarding this?

And my final question is, even though I love my glas shive for other than sculptural work, is there any significant benefit to having two kilns, one in a "bead" type configuration and the other with the guillitene door? I'm fine with keeping both, but just wondering if others feel like that is excessive and just the one larger kiln could easily serve both purposes.

I generally work only in boro, and do few beads. Mostly pendants, marbles and sculptural type items so far. Sme day might want to try goblets and such.

I'm well beyond being a beginner, but far away from being a true artist...

Any suggestions and input will be much appreciated!

Erik
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  #2  
Old 2012-07-08, 4:34pm
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Three Muses Glass Three Muses Glass is offline
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At one point I had 5 kilns. I was fusing at the time though....one big bathtub kiln, a smaller one for tests, one for vitrigraph, one for annealing beads and one small back-up that I got a killer deal on.
They do all have their uses really. I thought about getting a kiln with a guillotine front loader type, but on the rare occasion I do make goblets, I put them in the 'smaller one for tests' which is 13"round x I think 10" high. It's a toploader and I have to wear kevlar to load it but I don't do goblets a bunch.

So you have to ask yourself how often you are likely to use it? Once in awhile is usually good enough for me, I still have 3.
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  #3  
Old 2012-07-08, 4:58pm
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At present I have 4 Kilns in my studio but by far the most used due to its convieniance is a Paragon f350 I like the 11 x 11 x 11 inside dimentions when doing sculptural work and the bead door in the front opening guilotine is great for both beads and punties.

the other kilns you ask

a coneart 36" octaganal for fusing

a coneart 24" x 30" deep for doing pot melts, may someday be converted to hold crucibles for off hand blowing

and an Af138 bead annealer that I use when I fill the Paragon up and want to keep on working
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Old 2012-07-08, 7:13pm
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I've got 3 kilns at the moment. I use a Regular Guy Tall for my larger sculptural pieces. If you've got something tall you can set up kiln furniture to have it lay down sideways for annealing. At that point width is your limiting factor more then height.

Robert
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  #5  
Old 2012-07-08, 7:28pm
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You all are making me feel better about having two kilns.

One for beads and the second intended for enamels but not yet in use.
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  #6  
Old 2012-07-08, 8:20pm
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The guillotine type is very nice. Have one on this end. The door stays open at the top while loading or taking out beads to be reworked, etc. Or the door can be opened part way depending on needs.

The nice part is that all of the heated air does not rush out of the top like in a top loader. A standard glove is all that is needed for the guillotine to keep the hand cooler.

IMO it is best to use the correct tool for the job.
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  #7  
Old 2012-07-09, 6:37am
Arnold Howard Arnold Howard is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Signguy View Post
So, I have been looking around and determined that I particularly want a front opening kiln, and it looks to me like a guillotine door is the most desirable configuration. So that leads me to question number one: any thoughts regarding pros and cons of the guillitene door setup?
We have just updated our lamp working kilns. Here are videos that show the new features:

http://www.youtube.com/arnoldhoward

Sincerely,

Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
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  #8  
Old 2012-07-09, 8:49am
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I have three kilns - huge one for fusing, bead annealer, and a front-door one for enameling. We have a guillotine style one at the enameling studio, and I don't care for it for a couple reasons - the door is heavy and you have to be very very careful about how you close it, or you get brick powder in your work, and it seems to let out a good deal more heat than the regular front-door style (probably because you have to be so careful when you close it.)

Can never have too many kilns....
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  #9  
Old 2012-07-09, 10:06am
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Hi Erik,

Pam from the Glass Hive. We do guillotine doors as well on our customs. We can build any size that works for you. Here's a picture of a custom we did for Plum Loco Designs in purple and diamond plate.



And for another customer in galvanized and black.



On customs you can choose size, color, materials, voltage, ect. and create your own perfect solution to the type of glass working you do. Punti doors and the door itself can be divided any way you choose making it very versatile, and you can avoid the heat loss Karin describes when you don't need the full gull door opened. Layaway plans still apply.


As to how many kilns is necessary? That is up to your working style. Some days a small kiln for small projects is helpful. Some days you are going all out and need that big one. Having two helps keep energy costs down. I have quite a few large scale workers coming in for Short Guy kilns to save $ on production costs when they don't need to run the larger hungrier units while working on components.

If you have any questions, you can reach us just about anytime, even after hours and most weekends. 541-961-6978.
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  #10  
Old 2012-07-09, 10:11am
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Imaglassgal Imaglassgal is offline
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I have a sudden urge to pimp my kilns. (Thanks Pam, LOL)
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  #11  
Old 2012-07-09, 7:37pm
Signguy Signguy is offline
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Hi Pam,

I had no idea that you guys do custom kilns as well! You should post something about it on the website, because that's the first place I looked (of course).

I'll give you a call to discuss...

Erik
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  #12  
Old 2012-07-09, 7:38pm
Signguy Signguy is offline
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Thanks every one!

Your comments are really helpful...

I'm going to keep my regular guy and look into either a custom glass hive, or a paragon as well.

Erik
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