| Posted: Sun Nov 7th, 2010 10:39 am |
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Nonnie
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I need some advice and this was the closest category I could find for my question...
I want to buy a new medium/large glass kiln and I would like to know if anyone has one that that they would recommend. This week I had to return Paragon Pearl 22 that has been a lemon since the day I bought it in February, and returning it was a huge hassle. I know the company has a good reputation but I will spare you the details and just say that I am looking for a kiln other than Paragon. Any advice out there? Thanks very much! Nonnie
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| Posted: Mon Nov 8th, 2010 02:04 am |
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Steve
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I would be happy to chat with you about whatever you have in mind about a glass kiln, and one I have had inthe past was a Paragon, so I have used them, but also have Evenheat and Denver.
depending on the type of work you do, you may find some kilns more suited to your work than others.
I believe my email is on my profile page, if not, I will make sure it IS there for you .
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| Posted: Mon Nov 8th, 2010 02:09 pm |
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joseph2bears
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Hi Nonnie. Sorry to hear about your lemon. I guess it can happen, but I am sorry it happened to you. I have 3 different small Paragon kilns and have been happy with them. My large kiln is a German made Nabertherm. I regard Nabertherm to be the Rolls Royce of kilns. It costs a lot more, but then it has more. Mine is a top firing clamshell for the type of work I am doing. The elements are in Quartz tubes so there is no brick dust falling into my glass. This is the main reason I chose this kiln at the time, but now several manufacturers are offering fiberboard lids that have less of a dust dropping problem than the brick lids. The Nabertherm has a solid state switch for the elements rather than a relay. This is pricey, but more reliable, even compared to the Mercury relays. The Nabertherm also comes with its own welded steel cart on locking casters. This has turned out to be an asset in my limited shop space, since I can push it into the corner when not in use. The built-in cart puts the bed of the kiln right at bench height, which makes the transfer of work from bench to kiln very easy.
Before I had my own kilns I rented shop time and have used Cress, Skutt, and Evenheat kilns. Throw in Jenn-Kenn and Olympic, which I looked at when shopping, and I don't see any real difference in any of them, including Paragon. They are virtually all identical in materials, design, and features. Just like the auto manufacturers, you can get a lemon from any of them. It happens. I've heard stories. Sales and service vary by location and the person you are dealing with, just like any other product you buy.
I don't know what else to tell you, but i would be happy to answer any question.
--Joseph 2bears
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| Posted: Mon Nov 8th, 2010 06:13 pm |
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Susana Rutherford
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I'm loving my two Evenheat Kilns and also favourable reports from others in my neck of the woods who use them.
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| Posted: Mon Nov 8th, 2010 06:33 pm |
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Nonnie
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Thank you so much for the feedback everyone. Joseph, I was going to email you today because Judy Keane thought you would be a good resource to go to. I love the thorough answer, and one day hope to look into that Nabertherm. Right now I have been looking at a Jen-Ken or an Evenheat. The former because I have a little one and it has been a perfect little workhorse, and the latter because they have a model I like and I met the owners once and they were so nice and friendly that I good a good impression of the company. Unless something changes, I guess I just need to bite the bullet and make a decision! Last edited on Mon Nov 8th, 2010 06:33 pm by Nonnie
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| Posted: Tue Nov 9th, 2010 02:40 am |
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Steve
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AS important as the kiln is, the type of work you are doing with it should determine the kiln.
I have 3 Evenheats, I work them, all are over 15 years old, 2 are the GTS 23 series, and those get most of the work. I bend alot, I fuse some, and do some kilncasting also. What I don't do is abuse, or flash vent.
I should mention that although I live in MI, where the Evenheat is made, I have never had to call them for service. but I have had to replace a couple of relays.
If the Nabertherm excites you, look into building your own, it is not that tough.
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| Posted: Tue Nov 9th, 2010 10:58 am |
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Don Burt
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I think Steve makes some good points in that care of the kiln (e.g. no flash venting) and generally just going easy on it, improves its life. Fusing temps will result in more element wear than painting temps, but the kilns are made to do it anyway. I found a particularly good strategy is to explain to your spouse that you are building your own kiln. As a result I was heartily encouraged to go out and purchase my new jenken fiber fuser. It can turn around a paint test for me in about three hours with 120V service. I never did like using my larger kiln for little tests. (I still want to build a little test kiln some day, just because I know I can....will have to do it in stealth mode though).
Which jenken are you looking at Nonnie?
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| Posted: Tue Nov 9th, 2010 03:01 pm |
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CZL
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For glass painting, speed, and economy,
the Speed Burn by HOAF. I have worked a lot of kilns in the last 50 years starting with a hand built gas kiln, at R.H.Buenz S.G.
I owned an electric hexagon kiln. I used the Heimer big electric kiln back in the sixties as well as the big gas kiln at Rambusch.
The electric kilns were too slow and it was impossible to watch the glass during the firing.
I fire as much by eye as any thing else.
The Hoaf permits all that stuff and is fast, and cheap to fire. Best all around kiln I ever worked with.
CZ
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| Posted: Fri Nov 12th, 2010 06:13 pm |
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Judy K
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Hi Nonnie, I also bought a Pearl 22 about a year ago. And it also had problems, the controller was bad. But the folks at Paragon helped me find a way to get the bad controller to work by taking it out of the kiln and hanging it from a ladder near the kiln to get my Christmas orders filled. Then they sent me a new controller and talked my husband through installing it. It works like a charm now. I have even thought of finding a way to get the new controller a cooler place to live for it's well being.
My Paragon Fusion 7 arrived with a cracked lid, but after time and photos, they sent me one of those too.
Both arrived with issues to start with, and customer service was a little hard to convince that there was a real problem at first. I guess if I had to ship my heavy products so far I would be very specific about details too. But now that both are working I am a Happy Fuser / Painter and love my Paragons.
Arnold Howard at Paragon was very helpful in getting things remedied. Your problem has been resolved, but if anyone else has trouble, I highly recommend contacting Arnold. He is a great guy to work with.
Though, in my dreams I ask Santa for a Hoaf someday :)
I have friends with all the other brands and they all like them. Good Luck with your decisions. See you in Asheville - Judy KillianLast edited on Fri Nov 12th, 2010 06:24 pm by Judy K
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| Posted: Mon Nov 22nd, 2010 11:50 am |
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Nonnie
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Thanks again all. I just got my refund check for the other kiln (which they had walked me through repairing SIX times in nine months of ownership) and I think I'm going to go ahead and buy a Jen Ken Oval 9. I am just nervous after the problems with the Pearl 22, so if anyone has any last minute warnings or advice, I'm open to hearing them.
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| Posted: Mon Nov 22nd, 2010 04:15 pm |
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| Posted: Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 04:36 pm |
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Don Burt
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Jen Ken has a good rep, so its probably a reasonable kiln at the price. The brick lids with elements in grooves seem to be an object of aggravation over at warmglass.com, just this week there's a thread with discussion with Arnold Howard at Paragon. The split shelf on the oval kiln sounds like it may occasionally be challenging. But there are ways to cope.
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