WarmGlass.com

Hi,
Can anyone here help me? My husband just bought me a used kiln for my birthday.
I'm very interested in learning glass fusing ect. I have only read some books and looked around on the web about the subject.
I have a pyrometer coming in the mail soon. The kiln I have is a Paragon A88. I know it is about 20 years old. Has any one used this model for glass work and if so, is there a way to hold it at one temp. when you are in the "soak" phase of fusing?
Like I said, I am very new to this. I haven't even turned the kiln on yet.
I'm kind of scared because it is so old. But like I said I do know that I will need a pyrometer, and it should be here in the next couple days.
My husband said if I could learn the basics on this kiln and get to know what Iam doing some what, he would have no problem buying me one of those nice brand new fancy glass kilns!! But until then I will have to use this one!
But I am concerned with how to hold it at a constant temp. for the soak process of fusing. I do not have a manual. Has anyone else used this kiln before? Paragon A88.
Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Cyndi

Cyndi:
I am sure if you contact Paragon (one of the sponsors of this board) they can help answer all your questions.

The A88 is an old ceramics kiln from Paragon. It can be used to fire glass, but you will need to go slowly. Without a controller, there's no easy way to hold it at one temperature, but don't let that stop you -- it's entirely possible to fuse and slump without the ability to soak, you just have to experiment more to learn what will work and what won't.

You might also want to investigate a standalone controller that would insert into your kiln and give you the ability to regulate the temperature more precisely. This will become more important as your pieces get larger and thicker.

I agree with Brad.

You can do simple slumps and make small pendants and earrings in your kiln.

My first kiln was a used glass-firing kiln with no controller. It was probably 15 years old when I bought it. I had lots of fun with this kiln but when I wanted to get into serious glass I bought a glass-firing kiln with a digital controller.

Judy

the problem is the way you have to control the temp as the glass cools. You can easily keep turning up the kiln, peeking etc until the glass fusing to the perfect texture, but the problem then comes on the cooling side.

A firing schedule that I use for my "bumpy" textured glass (two layers thick) looks like this:

400deg per hour up to 1350, hold 30min
9000deg per hour down to 960, hold 45 - to equalize everything
60 deg per hour down to 720

The slower you go through the strain point of the glass, the more resistant your finished product will be to breakage, temp change etc. If you cool too fast, the outside cools (and contracts) faster than the inside... and you end up with broken stuff.

It is just hard to carefully cool down by hand.

BTW: take my temp changes as "a hobbyist telling you what works for him"