In Dallas, there is a master potter named Randy Broadneck, who I saw
build a kiln with chicken wire, a space age insulation, an some
ceramic beads. It was light, portable, cool to the touch, and most
important, cheap.
He made a dome with regular old chicken wire, lined it on the inside
with an insulation developed for NASA which I took to be readily
available, held the insulation to the chicken wire using buttons, just
like shirt buttons but made of ceramic, and the wire was a nichrome
wire with a melting point somewhere around 3000 degrees.
I’ll try to find him if you’re interested. He is a ceramic teacher
at one of the local Colleges, is a regular ‘character’, one wore a
tuxedo and boxer shorts to teach a course to get the students
attention, and super nice guy. -randy
I recently completed the construction of a 220 volt, 12 amp burnout
kiln. It has interior dimensions of 13 x 13 x 18 inches and is made
out of lightweight firebrick with a angle steel frame and sheet
metal sides. I am a novice at this sort of thing. I assembled the
parts and obtained from a variety of sources, the most
helpful of which was a Charlotte, NC company called “All Fired Up”.
http://www.kilndr.com The construction tips they gave me were
invaluable and save considerable trial and error on my part (I had
enough trial and error on own anyways). They not only had the
switches, high temperature wire, connectors, etc. that I needed, but
were willing to spend 10 or 15 minutes helping explain things to me.
I understand they also repair and sell kilns. Their phone number
is 704-609-4605 and E mail is doctor at kilndr.com.
Mitch Adams