help choosing a kiln

[Sherri*S]

I'm a little confused and maybe someone can help me. A month into beadmaking and I've decided to go for it for real and get a kiln.

I'm looking at the Chili Pepper, but also just found the Jenn Kenn Bead Annealer/Fusing Kiln (GLB-BA-3K)for the same price (both with digital controller). I know that I am going to want to try fusing and other glassworking at some point, so that's what caught my eye.

My question is - am I sacrificing any bead annealing capacity by getting the combination kiln, and vice versa? I just don't know what I'm really looking at. My thought is that if I want to try fusing later, it will be no added expense. But will I be sorry for not getting a bead-only kiln? What other things should I be considering? For the next couple of months, I have a smallish space on my back porch, but we're moving and I'll have much more room...

Does the kiln *have* to be in the same room for now? Can I just carry the beads to the kiln, keeping them in vermiculite ?
I know, too many questions ... but any advice or thoughts would help me so much :)

[Lizabeads]

I have the tall bead/fuser by Jen Ken... I love it.. it has the bead door too.. make sure you get that.. and the bartlett programer... I'm like you I figure this way I can also do fusing... :waving:

[BillBrach]

You want the kiln pretty close to where you are making beads. I have my kiln currently next to me on my glass bench.

But, for a couple of years, I had it behind me on top of a 4 drawer filing cabinet. Being up high, it is MUCH easier to put the bead in w/o touching anything, 'cause of being near eye level.

There isn't really much difference between the Orton or the Bartlett 3 button controllers. I've sold many more kilns with the Orton, than I've sold with the Bartlett. You won't go wrong with a Jen-Ken kiln or EITHER of these controllers :biggrin:

[MikeAurelius]

I'll concur with Bill about "eye level" -- my previous studio had much lower benches than the current one, and unless you were sitting on your chair, it was extremely difficult to get beads into the rack at the back of the kiln.

My current benches are 2" higher, but I'm still thinking that I want to raise the kilns by at least another 6".

[R4GlassStudio]

Shesmi- Only you can answer your question. Both kilns are great. The Chili pepper is a GREAT kiln for annealing beads. The door size , space, portability make it my first choice for beads. If you really plan on doing some fusing, then I would go with the other one. That kiln will do both annealing and fusing well.

[Sherri*S]

Thanks all for your suggestions, especially the "eye level" thing. (lol, i'm only 5' tall, so my eye level is pretty low anyway)... i get to build my studio from scratch in a totally extra room when we move woo-hoo.

going with the annealing/fusing choice.... i hope all my wonky beads don't shatter in the meantime :)