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cupmaker
2007-02-18, 11:57am
Ive seen alot of talk about the chilipepper kiln that was the route I was going to take but wanted to get some other opinions.
I want a kiln with a digital controller and use it for beads. The chilipepper kiln is what is in my price range. I have seen some brick kilns that price but dont remmeber if they had a digital controller. I belive one was a aim kiln.
How many beads can you fit into one of those chilipeppers? Can you put a rack in their or is it not neassacry?
thanks for the help
I want a kiln with a digital controller and use it for beads. The chilipepper kiln is what is in my price range. I have seen some brick kilns that price but dont remmeber if they had a digital controller. I belive one was a aim kiln.
How many beads can you fit into one of those chilipeppers? Can you put a rack in their or is it not neassacry?
thanks for the help
We put a wire rack in ours and then stack on one end if it gets full. The annealer is 16" wide inside... so if you didn't stack, and if a bead was 1"... and if there was a 'no touch' space between each bead... then about 12-14 beads... or staggered, about 24-28 beads. This all assumes 'anneal as you go' -- garage annealing. If you batch anneal, it's 16" wide by 4" deep... and if a bead was 1"... and if there was a 'no touch' space between each ... about 48 beads.
We only garage anneal. In a normal day around here the annealer is started about 6-7am and ready for the first bead in 15 minutes. Then ramp down starts in mid-late afternoon... and by early evening it's ready to remove the day's work. We chose frax annealers (the Chilipepper) because they will ramp up and ramp down faster than a brick annealer... and with good digital control. And, we already have two fusing kilns.
Frax annealers do cycle on/off more frequently than brick annealers... so components usually wear out sooner than a brick kiln, i.e. the relay and heating coil. But 'sooner' is relative. For example, if a annealer relay is good for 500,000 cycles, and a frax annealer cycles the relay 1500 times in a 8 hour annealing day... then it will wear out in 333 days of use. Use it once a week... that would be about 6 years. Use it daily... less than a 1 year. And some annealers probably last longer than others... but they all wear out based on 'cycles'... like car tires :wink:... some tires are made to last 30,000 miles... and others 60,000. And there is usually a price difference.
A brick annealer cycle rate is half that of a frax annealer... so the relays last an incredibly long time... as does the heating coil. We have a 25 year old Paragon Fusing Kiln that still works... but it doesn't get used very often now... so it's probably good for another 25 years (even though I'm not :biggrin:).
Me
You can put a stainless steel rod rest (or two) in a Chili Pepper to rest mandrels on.
Here's what one of our classes put in a Chilipepper at Ron Jr's last year. I stole the image from Ron Jr's site :-) :
http://www.r4glassstudio.com/images/tink11306o.jpg
CO_Phantom
2007-02-18, 5:37pm
Wow! Look at all those little vessels!
And all of those went into ONE chilipepper?
You guys are making me want one! I have kiln envy now!!
-Amy
The Chilipepper is a great kiln. It's been the kiln we most commonly find at teaching studios, and it's what I ended up recommending for our Glass Pavilion here in Toledo: We have one Chilipepper for every two torches.
For those of you who are Dr. Who fans, I think of the Chilipepper as The Tardis Annealer. LOL! The darn things hold a LOT of work.
LoriBird
2007-02-18, 7:32pm
OMGOMGOMG...now ya got me all excited about KC again :)
xoxo
lori
cgreagor
2007-02-18, 7:35pm
Tink
Do you have a recomendation on who to get one from? I am buying my first kiln and the Chilipepper seems to be the best for my money and use. I want to make sure who I buy it from, I can get parts from as they wear down or ask questions too!
What kind of rack did you put in yours and where did you get it from?
Christy
www.firedancerjewelry.com
Me...I'm always around.
Paula
debkauz
2007-02-18, 8:21pm
The Chilipepper is a great kiln. It's been the kiln we most commonly find at teaching studios, and it's what I ended up recommending for our Glass Pavilion here in Toledo: We have one Chilipepper for every two torches.
For those of you who are Dr. Who fans, I think of the Chilipepper as The Tardis Annealer. LOL! The darn things hold a LOT of work.
Wouldn't you love to have a Tardis??? I'd just jettison the kitchen periodically and never have to do dishes.
LOL! Yes! I would LOVE a Tardis!!!
Lori, better eat your Wheaties: We will work you guys hard. LOL!
Christy, Paula sells the Chilipepper, and she'll take good care of you.
I don't use a rack. I put the work in the left end, then when I put the next piece in, I move the previous piece to the righthand end, stacking when necessary. I haven't had any problems doing it that way, even when I use enamels, though your mileage may vary.
daisydog7
2007-02-19, 7:19pm
If by early evening, the beads are ready to take out of the Chili Pepper, at what temperature are you removing them?
If by early evening, the beads are ready to take out of the Chili Pepper, at what temperature are you removing them?
When they drop below 300 F.
Me
cgreagor
2007-02-20, 1:27pm
Paula, I may be contacting you soon! Hubby and I just finished taxes yesterday and he said I get to have a little to buy a kiln! I am hoping he will let me before the money comes in and let me pay him back when the money arrives in a week or so!
Do I just go thru your website or contact you directly?
thanks!!!
Christy
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