WarmGlass.com

I'm so glad to have found this group. I'm new to glass although I did some with my sister about 10 years ago and loved it. We mainly did fused jewelry. I am looking at buying my own kiln and have been looking at the Paragon Xpress-1193. It shows doing china painting, low fire ceramics, porcelain and stoneware, glass and crystaline glazes. It has the size chamber that I would like 11wide x 9 deep and the price range that I can afford. My question is has anyone used a kiln that was made for both glass and ceramics. I did write to Paragon and asked their opinion on doing mainly glass (allthough I'd like to also get into ceramics) and she suggested a smaller kiln for glass only, even though I told her that I was wanting to do not only jewelry but larger pieces. I really would like some feedback from you guys if possible. Thanks so much, Lori

I too bought my first kiln with the idea in mind of doing ceramics at a later date. I started with Paragon Caldera. I now have a Paragon CS-19 too. After becoming addicted to glass, I haven't even thought of venturing into ceramics. I can tell you this…..I wouldn't use the same kiln for ceramics and glass. Ceramics gives off a lot of dust and dirties the kiln. When fusing glass the kiln needs to be super clean. If it's not clean, it will show up in your finished glass project. Any particles flying around in there will settle on your warm glass like glue.
My Caldera was a great entry kiln and I still love her. However, if I were to do it again I would choose one for glass only and perhaps a bit bigger than the Caldera. Have you looked at the Paragon CS-14S or the Paragon CS-14S. If space is a deciding factor these may be too big for you. One suggestion I can offer is this…..GET ONE WITH A WINDOW. I love viewing and monerting my glass. Best of luck to you and enjoy the journey.

I have a ceramic kiln, and fire both ceramics and glass in it. It works fine. I would say though, if you are only going to work in glass, and don't need the depth of a ceramic kiln, go with a glass kiln. I have found with my ceramic kiln that I have to fire glass slower because of the elements on the sides, but other than that, I love the depth and can use it for casting as well as fusing.

Barb

Thank you both for your replies. Its so confusing when you are about to make a purchase. Between the cost and all the things that you want in the item it makes me nervous. I like this specific kiln because of the chamber depth and hope to do taller pieces as well as jewelry. Barb thanks for your insight also. Having done both makes me a little less nervous about this purchase.

I would not buy an octagon-shaped kiln -- there's a lot of space that is unusable. Go for a square one.

I agree about the view window.

Dana W.

My first kiln was a hotstart pro and is considered a workhorse and I have added a calandra for pulling rods and firing gold . I have added clam shell which makes combing glass and manipulating glass easier..however that can be done in the hotstart.

I highly recommend the HotStart Pro which gives you the ability to program and save up to 5 custom programs. Each program can have up to 8 segments. The shelf is 13 inches

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THE AUTO PROGRAMS


• Standard Household Voltage
• Reliable Solid State Relay
• Top Fired
• 15" Firing Chamber

You can use a kiln for both glass and ceramics with no problems. R.

rosanna gusler wrote:You can use a kiln for both glass and ceramics with no problems. R.

Been doing that for over 35 years. no problems just have to understand how to make your equipment do what you want.

a couple of you mentioned how much you love the window... please help newbie... I can't see jack through my window. it's too small and there is no light in the kiln for much of the time. do you shine a flashlight into the window so you can see anything. my window was a waste of $60.

lorimendenhall wrote:a couple of you mentioned how much you love the window... please help newbie... I can't see jack through my window. it's too small and there is no light in the kiln for much of the time. do you shine a flashlight into the window so you can see anything. my window waste a waste of $60.

What Model/Make of Kiln do you have? Mine is bathed in a bright orange glow when it's going full blast. I gotta wear the shades then to keep from melting my eyeballs.

lorimendenhall wrote:please help newbie... I can't see jack through my window. it's too small and there is no light in the kiln for much of the time. do you shine a flashlight into the window so you can see anything. my window waste a waste of $60.

The only time I need to look in the kiln is at process temps -- slumping to full fuse temps (most often at slumping temps). There is enough light in the kiln to see what is going on just fine. If I am doing a drape, drop, or slump that I need to watch closely, I try to place the piece in the kiln so that I can see its progress.

If there's not enough light in the kiln to see anything, there's probably no reason to look anyway . The glass isn't going to be doing much but sitting there!

Dana W.

I want to thank you all for posting your replies. So many times you will ask a question on a forum and be completely ignored. You all have been so helpful.

I have used my Caldera for about 5 years for almost daily testing and very small pieces. Except for its crappy three-key controller (us IT retreads aren't really happy unless we have a full-sized QWERTY keyboard in our hands) I have been very happy with it.

I also have a Paragon Fusion 10. I agree with the poster who commented about preferring a rectangular kiln - I will never have another kiln that has more than 4 sides and less then four.

The Fusion 10 has a viewing port that's about 2" x 6" IIRC. I almost never, ever use it and consider it wasted money. Yes, you need to shine a light in there unless the thing's going full blast. When you're holding the light, your arm and the light get in the way of your view. And if you can get the beam in there, you (or at least I) often find that the available viewing angle is such that you can't see the part of the piece that's of concern. In addition, my port has tended to cloud up slightly over the years, further impeding vision. I have found that heat-resistant gloves and very-short peeks (at judicious times - THINK before you open the kiln) give as much insight as to what's going on inside with a lot less trouble. YMMV.