Would this be a good Kiln?

Not really. Besides being a small size chamber, the max temp is rated at 1700F. While that seems high enough for carbon steel blades, it is more like i500F max n reality. The controller is a firing time/temp type, and not programmable like we do for knife HT. If someone wanted a couple hundred bucks for it, yes, grab it. It can do tempering and some basic HT tasks, but if they want any real amount of money, pass on it.
 
The guy who is working on my oven right now said that most of the kilns fall into three ranges, the 1700, like1950 or so and the 2300. He said that in most cases, they are UNDERRATED. He said that my Paragon is actually rated for 1950, but will go higher than that. Size and price would be the big issues with that one.
 
Just for reference, I have an old Paragon that I added an ebay plug-n-play PID controller to. It goes to 1600 range, so adequate for the steels I have been working with (8670, 15N20, 80CrV2), but it is very very slow. It was a craigslist find, and I know they are very rare to find locally.

The PID controller is basic but holds very stable once you identify the delta between set point and what the oven stabilizes to.

I probably overpaid and creates some long heat treat sessions getting to temp, opening the door and waiting to get back to temp... But I am very glad I grabbed it. It's sparked, kindled...interest in the heat treating part that I just glossed over in the books. A hardness tester would help me tune methods a lot and I fear fall into the rabbit hole more.

DhBiL1Zh.jpg

M9jPlbgh.jpg

O2TAlsXh.jpg
 
Last edited:
Hope I am adding to, not derailing the thread here. This was the what I thought would be the 'bare minimum" for knifemaking, but still only does up to 14" long. 2200f, digital controls, less than $1K new.knife oven1.jpg knife oven2.jpg
 
If I remember correctly it's 8 in wide by just a little over 14 in deep
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top