by Rosanne Sloane

Created on: October 09, 2009   Last Updated: October 11, 2009

Crafts are no longer just limited to the simple popsicle stick contraptions or brown bag puppets. Over the years crafts have evolved greatly especially after the revolution of scrapbooking in the 90's. There are many different home crafts today stemming from ceramics, glass, lamp working, jewelry, china painting, enameling, knife making, and beading which require a kiln for the success of the end product. A kiln is an insulated chamber that when brought to a predetermined temperature it will dry/cure the items inside. Kilns range in various sizes and voltages. Most hobby or craft kilns are small in size to accommodate jewelry work, china painting, beading, PMC clay, stained glass and enameling. These crafts require the kiln to reach a lower temperature than traditional ceramic studio kiln. They come with an electronic controller, similar to a microwave, for special firing schedules to achieve the appropriate outcome.

Paragon Kilns, www.paragonweb.com, offers various multi-purpose kilns such as their SC2 Kiln for jewelry work, beading, silver clay, glass fusing, china painting, lost wax casting, and enameling . The average size for these kilns are about 8 inches square and plug into a standard 120v outlet. The kiln retails for $710. Jewelry and some silver metals can now be fired in household microwaves with special kiln enclosures made from the same refractory materials as the traditional ceramic studio kiln. A microwave kiln provides instant gratification and is an inexpensive way for someone to fuse glass, fire silver metals, and small mixed media by using your kitchen microwave. The microwave should be preferably a 800-1000 watt microwave. This little kiln will heat to approximately 1650F (900C) in minutes. Microwave kilns typically measure between 4"-8" round.

Jen-Ken Kilns, www.jenkenkilns.com, sells the Microfusion Kiln for fun and fast glass fusing in your home at a cost of $119. Knife making or bladesmithing as it is known, requires what bladesmiths call a kiln, a furnace or oven. There are 2 basic knife blade making techniques which require a kiln. These are forging and mould casting, which require the metal to be heated to a very high temperature. The knife oven operates on 120v the same as jewelry and glass kilns. Their chambers are small as well, but are rectangular in shape often measuring 6.5" W x 4.25" H x 18" D. They are typically a bit longer to accommodate the length of a blade. Like the glass and jewelry kilns the knife furnace comes with

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