Kiln Opinion Needed....

Rick Marchand

Rick Marchand

Donkey on the Edge
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Jan 6, 2005
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I have a line on one of these. It is local and cheap. Would the top loading feature suck as a knife kiln? (top loading). I would think the large cavity would be a drawback, too.

Evenheat kiln model 4320

4320.gif
 
Most make a salt pot out of these for heat treating and or tempering, as using it as is is a pain. First time you open it to take out a knife you will probably cook yourself leaning in and getting out your stock as well as all the heat will leave immediately.
CW
 
I have no experience with electric kilns so I'm just asking:

Couldn't that thing be repositioned on it's side so it's not a top loader anymore? Or do they not run right tipped over?

Even still for $80, you could play around with it for a bit and see if it works for you. Maybe sell it if it doesn't and recover some of your cost.

Just a thought.
 
Rick,

I use a Paragon glass fusing kiln for heat treating...it's what I could afford at the time. Its an octagonal shaped kiln with the element in the lid. It's about 10 inches deep and 14 inches across. I can tell you from my limited experience that having to open the lid with one hand, grab the blade with tongs, close the lid, and quench the blade...pretty much sucks! all the heat rolls up and out right by my hand, which has to be double gloved, not to mention that I have to stick my hand inside the oven to get the blade ( I use short tongs for more control).
Sure, there is a latch that holds the door propped up, but it sucks for what it need it to do. It takes longer to heat than a regular HT oven as well since the cavity is 3 times larger that what I need.

Bottom line...I look at that oven which has got to be at least 18 inches deep, and think that I wouldn't like to reach down in there and grab a blade.

I am currently trying to save for an Evenheat knifemakers kiln...I should have just saved longer and bought one in the first place. Just my personal experience. I wish you the best of luck, I hope it helps some! -Matt-
 
Rick,
I have always used a top loader and had no problems with is, and I used one like that for many years. There are 2 things to think about here, one is that you will have to build your own controller and two is a kiln that big will suck up the juice like a thirsty camel. I stlii use a top loader, but one that is much skinnier and I was surprised at how fast and how much less electricity it used.
Thanks,
Del
 
I've got one like that I'm gonna convert, I traded a knife for it. Mine is a bit bigger even, but has three sections, two of which I'm gonna remove. I think with a PID it will at least enable me to HT some stainless in my own shop. You're a smith, do like I plan on and make yourself some long tongs to snatch blades out with. Make an extension out of a steel bar to clamp onto the handle so that you can open the top without roasting your hand. I'm with Mr. Doyle,try it, if it sucks you could easily sell it back to an aspiring potter for probably $100.
That way, when you set it up with a controller, I can be one step behind the whole way and rely on you to tell me what worked best...
 
It should be better than nothing for annealing and tempering as we place the blade or billet in our Paragon cool, set the Paragon to come up to heat in an hour and let it soak, for two hours, then turns off and let it cool slowly to room temp.
 
Snatch it and make some pottery! :rolleyes:

Could you stack some light firebricks in there, or something, to lift the floor up closer to the top and not have to reach so far down?

Just for grins, you might want to talk with Evenheat and see if they have any suggestions for converting it. Maybe they have a trade in program? :(
 
I'm with Phil, add some bricks and make that sucker shallow.

I'd watch my energy usage though, and see if you are really saving any money.
 
Maybe I'll just buy it and re-sell it to buy a better kiln... lol... these things list new for $1280.... I should be able to sell it for better than $100.

Ah.... on second thought, my luck has been horrible for "buy to re-sell" stuff.... I could see this costing me more than its worth. Thanks for the comments, guys. I'll just make a few side project blades to finance a knife-specific kiln.


Rick
 
Im working on building a HT Oven right now but I have pushed it back a bit to get some other stuff done. Anyhow my total investment so far is just about what that kiln would cost you. I gave 40 bucks for the PID, I bought the wire for the heating element for like 15 bucks, I had the insulated brick, thermocouple was a few bucks, I used the cord from an old dryer, And gave 20 bucks for a solid state relay.


I found the plans for it here http://www.viddler.com/explore/rashid11/videos/3/

I have not put it all together yet so I cant tell you how well it will work, I plan in a side loading design rather then his top loader.
 
You can easily add PID control for less than $100. You can cut a 75mm hole in the center of the lid and make a fire brick cover/plug for it. Lower the blades into the chamber ,suspended on a 3mm stainless wire hook. It will work well.

The hooks are hard to describe in words, but here goes:
The wire has a small "J" on one end to hook the blade tang hole on. There is a 90 degree bend at a distance from the "J" that the blade will hang free in the oven...probably about 100-150mm .The wire goes out from that bend , across the top to the side of the kiln, and then bends down along the side for about 200-300mm. you can put a wooden handle on the wire, or just bend a loop in the end to grab it with. This will allow several wires to sit around the side of the hole with the plug in place. You can lift a wire and quench the dangling blade safely and easily....then move to the next blade.
 
Hey Stacy, cool idea. I may co-opt that one. That way, like you say, you could have a fair little batch of blades in there and quench all of them without wasting a lot of heat or time.
 
Yes exactly. Make the outside down part longer with a grip loop or handle to counterbalance the weight of the blade. A slightly tapered soft brick plug can actually plug the hole during soak. A cover brick like you drew can be used when you are quenching.
 
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