More on the Kiln Project

In these pictures I took the old jacket off the kiln and added new firebrick for a floor.



This picture shows where the elements connect to the controller. A heat shield is used between the controller box and the brick.

My Kiln Project

These are more pics of the kiln project. I have it done! The previous posts explains what I did to convert my first kiln (Hot Box by Evenheat) into a bead annealer that I've used for several years.
What I did now is to make a firebrick top and bottom for it and encase the bottom and sides with stainless steel so I can easily take it with me on my camping trips.

Another project

Really its more like 3-5 projects going on all at once. I'm in the process of revamping my little Hot Box kiln for about the 3rd time. Been using it with a bead collar and digital controller I made up several years ago as my bead annealer until recently when I bought a bigger secondhand kiln for my home studio.

I was taking this small kiln with me when traveling in the summer. Packing up 4 separate layers safely is a hassle. It had to go into a huge plastic tub that took up a lot of room. Wasn't trilled with the cheap fiber board top and bottom on this kiln either. Despite is compact size I am able to get 60-80 beads in it in one sitting.

Since I already had the firebrick and heat stop mortar in the shop I made a brick bottom and used an old collar to make a new flip open hinged lid.

Our nephew runs a laser cutter at a metal shop so I was able to get a new stainless steel kiln jacket and bottom cut there for cost! 8-D That has always been the hardest part of any kiln project I've done in the past... getting the metal work done at a reasonable cost. This baby should be finished early next week. Have to stop by one of our neighbors and use his metal break to shape the bottom plate and door piece.

So that's what I've been up to and why I haven't sent out my newsletter and picked a new date for the conch shell drawing. I'll get on it as soon as I get caught up a bit here.

I also have oak blanks cut out for 9 new bead racks! Hope to have those ready sometime next week too.

I've been having problems getting pics to load to the blog so trying them separately.

Freebie Drawing, Sign Up to Win!

Of the four new conch shells on my desk I like this one the best so I'm giving it away! For a chance to win this beauty sign up for my newsletter (over on the right side of this page), and follow the directions in it to enter. I only send the newsletter out once a month or so, you get bombarded with them I promise.

Anyway, I'm off to bed, it's 4 am here.

Wow! Glad to be back!

Just a quick post to let you know I haven't fallen off the edge of the earth, lol. Yeah, right. We've spent the last 30 days getting ready for our youngest ones graduation party.

How hard can it be to plan a pig roast for 100 people you ask? Well, if you let your yard go as long as we have (5 yrs) it takes a lot of work to get it back on track. 11,000 lbs. of stones, 3 trailer loads of bark, plants and more plants. Didn't help that DH backed into 5 bushes next to the driveway when plowing last winter either. Ugh! Yard looks great now, so glad we had a great turnout and IT'S OVER! I'll get some pics up when I have them on the camera. (quick before it all dies)

I've decided to start a prize drawing using my newsletter. Think I'll start with a shell bead (to be made yet) and have it run 2x a month. The catch will be you actually have to open, read and click on a link in the newsletter. I use a paid service for my newsletter which keeps stats, the winner will be chosen from qualifying participants. As soon as I make the bead I'll post it here too.

Lampwork Sale!

Lampwork bead Sale going on now!

Ends April 7th!

Just wanted to blog about the Lest Sale going on now. 50 etsy shops from our group are participating! Wide variety of glass lampwork beads and jewelry to choose from. I'm off to list more items right now!

New Etsy Street Team

Joined another Etsy Street Team recently. LEST, Lampwork Etc. Street Team. Lampwork Etc. is an online community of self-representing glass lampwork artisans. Being a new etsy team we're still working on a website and/or blog for the group. I'm quite excited to among the "cream of the crop" within this new street team. You can search etsy using the keyword "lest" to see what these talented artists have to offer. OR just click on either logo to go directly to the etsy search results for LEST!



Some of my new work also on etsy.