[Jewelry making - Article 00961] - Re: [Orchid] Bee-hive kilns for enameling

[Linda Gebert]

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    I purchased one of these kilns some time back, since two of the
    galleries that show my work ask the artists to do demonstrations on
    occasion. I was doing a demo on cloisonne enameling, and the little
    kiln was small and portable, that much was good. However, they take a
    much longer time to fire even a very small piece, so you really have
    to be familiar with what a piece should look like before you take it
    out of the kiln. I found it took perhaps 10-12 minutes, vs. the usual
    1 - 2 minutes. What I'm saying is, yes, they work to fire enamel, but
    I found it extremely frustrating, being used to a larger kiln. It
    does eventually fire the piece, but you have to keep taking the lid
    off to see the progress of the piece, thereby losing a lot of the
    heat each time. Also it is kind of tricky, getting the pieces in and
    out without tipping them over, So the simple answer is yes, they fire
    enamel, but the devil is in the details. I think if you have any
    intention of doing small pieces on a regular basis, the small kiln
    that is pre-programmed for firing PMC is the way to go. It plugs into
    110V, heats quickly, and fires small enamel pieces in the right time
    frame. They are in the $600 range, also from Rio or others. 

Linda Gebert
http://homepage.mac.com/lgebertsilverjewelry
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