Which Bell Style Kiln would you recommend?

[Mary Simmons]

I am in the market for a Bell Style Kiln and am looking for some insights/experience others have had with this style of kiln and manufacturers and any input on who I should order one from. I have quote requests in to Denver, Paragon and Olympic.
Interior 40 x 17 x 18" deep, 220V, 3 Phase with an automatic Vent System, with a shelf, Overhead crane system w/roll out table and floor rail/docking system, and controller.
I'm in northern Washington state.
I already have a Paragon Pearl56 and GL24, but need a wider and longer shelf and taller kiln for fusing larger pieces and the occasional 1 - 2" thick table pieces.

Thanks for any advice/input you can offer.

[Rick Wilton]

Euclids makes some great kiln. They are made in Canada and with our dollar taking a hit lately you'll likely save a significant amount.

http://www.euclids.com/index.php?cat_na ... tric-kilns

[Mary Simmons]

Thanks for the info. I just sent them a quote request.

[Babette (Shawn)]

I like the Denver kilns, I bought mine used (10plus years old) and have used it almost every day for 2 years now, it has been great. My Denver is 40 long by 25 inches wide, about 24 inches deep without the shelf, I have separate controllers for top elements and the side elements. I personally would like a wider kiln than 17 inches...I like to use the whole width of a sheet of glass. Check with Denver Kilns, they are very helpful,.

[Bert Weiss]

I think bell style kilns are the best design. However I don't like any manufactured designs I have seen, so I build my own. First of all, the last thing i want to do, after I do a sensitive setup, is roll my floor. My floors are stationary, the bell lifts up and rolls out of the way. I think fiber blanket is a lousy hot face material. I prefer using HD fiber boards. They are far more durable. Denver under insulates their kilns. This makes them cheap to build. They run really hot to the touch.

There is no such thing as 220v 3 phase. Common wirings are 240v single phase, 208v single phase (derived from 3 phase) or 480v 3 phase. These are all really different, and require different designs. Heating elements don't really care about phase, only watts.

I am working on some new designs for embedding elements in fiber boards, and for being able to double production speed. These will take quite some time before I perfect them.