There are so many different types of kilns, and they can be used for so many different jewelry techniques. A kiln is a large financial commitment, so before purchasing mine, I searched and searched the Internet for information. I read through all my jewelry making catalogs. Finally, I emailed Tim McCreight with my query. Here is what I asked along with his helpful reply:

Me: "I have a question concerning kilns. I do lost wax casting and have also started playing around with fused glass. I'm also very interested in PMC. I'd like to purchase a kiln/oven that would allow me to do all of these mediums. When I look at the specs, it seems like as long as the kiln can reach 1600 deg. F for fusing, then just about any kind would work for this. Is this true? Am I dreaming to believe I can find one oven that can do all the stuff I want it to do? Do you have any particular kind or brand that you recommend?"

Tim: "Every once in a while, dreams come true. Yes, you can buy one kiln to accomplish all your tasks - burnout, glass fusing, and PMC. In fact if you get into lampwork you can use it for annealing and when enamels catch your attention you'll be covered there too.

I'm very excited about a kiln made just for firing PMC. It's available in two sizes, of which I strongly recommend the larger. It has a reliable programming unit that allows you to set ramping (rate of heating up), maximum temp. and hold time. It gets up to temperature, holds for as long as you want by cycling on and off, then turns itself off and beeps when the programmed time has elapsed.

Just a few years ago a kiln with these features would have cost over a thousand dollars, so I'm pleased to say that you can buy it from Rio Grande for $499.

The stock # is 703-059 and their number is 800-545-6566."

I was so excited to hear back from the Tim McCreight. I hope you found this information as helpful as I have.

Here's a printer friendly copy of this file.