Kiln Budget

Evening everyone :-)

I have managed to find myself a £300 to £350 budget to buy a kiln.... I want it for bead annealing and would also like metal/silver sterling clay fireing as I saw a great project in one of MJ magazines! I have looked on the net and get that a BeadCube would be the best but I don't mind which one I get as long as it does the job! Sadly I have a feeling that my newly found budget is not sufficient..... would you guys have any advice on where to buy a kiln for that price?

Thank you,

B xx

In honesty, you really need a kiln with a multistep digital controller if you want to use it for annealing. Firing clay and enamelling are a bit more forgiving, but you really don't want to be kiln-sitting every time you make beads.

The bead cube is, IMO the best value small kiln around, and will handle metal clay firing (not sure what you mean about sterling, though you can use a kiln to anneal silver), enamelling and even some small scale fusing if you want.

They do occasionally pop up second hand, but it's rare as they're such nice little bits of kit. Even then, they hold their price really well, and tend only to be sold if someone's upgrading to a larger version.

Your budget is three quarters of the way to a brand new cube, so it might be worth hanging on and seeing if you can find the little bit extra?

Hi Bea,
Well George has given the best advice and I agree with her being a fellow bead cube user. I have had a few beads in it in garage mode, and more in just bead annealing. Despite its size it does the job.
To be honest I expect a paragon user will say exactly the same, I'm not sure on the size difference but I think it will come down money and features. The bead cube is good value even if you go for all the optional extras, bead rack, controller stand etc.
It all may be more than your budget but keep an eye out while saving you never know.