sugar creek kilns

Jarrett Fleming

Jarrett Fleming

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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Im in the market for a ht oven and I am wondering if the sugar creek kilns are good quality. Does anyone here have any experience with them?
 
Have one. Love it.

Not as robust as Paragons or EvenHeats but well worth the price..... 100% satisfied.

I bought a rolling tool cart to fit mine........ sweeeeeeeeeet.

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Only heard good things about them. When the time comes to which I can afford one I will get one so I can move my HT from a forge to a kiln for more control. I'll probably get the manual one tho and adjust by hand.
 
I strongly advise getting the digital control. The manual infinite control is nowhere near as accurate. You can't just dial in 1500 and expect to keep it there.
 
Is it pretty simple to use with the digital control? I've only had experience with an evenheat kiln at a local maker's shop. I think it was the regular control not the rampmaster, but it seemed simple enough.
 
I a very happy with my 24" Sugar creek. The controller is easy to use. I'm sure an evenheat or paragon would be more heavy duty but for the budget you can't beat the sugar creek in my opinion.

When tempering let it cycle for 15 minutes or so before putting your knives in, it gets over temperature for a while at first at low temps then stabilizes down to a very constant temperature. I guess it does this to preheat the kiln. At high temp it is spot on right off the bat with only a few degrees of fluctuation.
 
Yup...... When I run a HT cycle for 1500F, I go FULL to 1425F, hold for 5min, then ramp up at a rate of 300deg/hr which gets me to 1500F in exactly 15mins without overshooting the mark.
 
Glad to hear good things about it. Thank you so much guys. I plan to order one monday. All the knives that I have made so far are under 10 inches so the small one will do for now.
 
I am a newbie. I admit it. However, I have seen this situation before with my purchasing. don't go with the smallest. go with the next size up. it will totally be worth it, becuase you will be able to do pretty much anything other than swords, and it will keep you from feeling like you are stuck to knives that fit the small kiln. it is better than having to buy the bigger one later if you change your mind.
 
I went with an Evenheat and have been happy with it...until I heard the Sugarceeks have heating elements recessed down in J shaped grooves. Evenheat's coils are recessed in regular grooves, thus they do not drop out of sight. Apparently they radiate more infrared heat on the blades making for a higher likelihood of overheating the steel even though the temp doesn't get overshot. Now I have to figure out how to deal with that.
:confused: :grumpy:
 
Both Evenheat and Paragon have straight channels (I believe) and I know for a fact that excessive infrared radiation is problematic in conventional ovens with open elements. Ceramics and glass aren't as affected as shiny metal so I don't see the issue with pottery.... but I would think knives pose a problem. Though, this is just one guy's opinion and Evenheat/Paragon are the experts. It seems like too easy a fix for both those companies not to adopt the J channel....... perhaps it is not as bad as it's been made out to be.
 
I hope this isn't perceived as derailing the thread. :o

I've seen that some of the ITC products are recommended for coating metals, including for heat treating...even for coating electrical heating elements (basically to protect them and prolong their life.) I wonder if coated on the elements it would also help moderate the IR? Or, what if it were coated on the blades being HT'ed?
 
Phil Dwyer said:
I hope this isn't perceived as derailing the thread. :o

I've seen that some of the ITC products are recommended for coating metals, including for heat treating...even for coating electrical heating elements (basically to protect them and prolong their life.) I wonder if coated on the elements it would also help moderate the IR? Or, what if it were coated on the blades being HT'ed?
Click to expand...

I always coat my blades with a thin clay slip when heat treating.... whether they are kiln or open forge heated. I don't think I would try coating the elements. Really, the infrared problem can be avoided by allowing your kiln to equalize prior to putting your blades in.... and I think the temperature overshoot would only be critical during the tempering cycle.
 
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