I'm in the market for an enameling kiln and would like to know more about the Vcella you mentioned. Are you able to offer any comparisons to others, such as Paragon?
Rene, I’ve had my small [6" x 6" x 6" chamber] Vcella since
November 1995 and I love this kiln. The design of the door is
especially good. It opens from right to left and it’s hung on an
ingenious hinge that means you can manuever it with the tip of
one finger. It closes securely with a large latch that always
stays cool and is easy to grasp securely with your hand in a
bulky kiln glove. The firebrick of the door is shaped to fit
snugly into the kiln’s chamber, so there is little heat leakage.
In fact, the whole kiln is so well insulated that you can lay a
hand flat on it when it’s going full bore. They pyrometer is
very accurate. It takes about 40 minutes to reach 1450 d. F.
when set on high, then I dial it back gradually to 2.5 or 3 as it
becomes heat soaked enough that it doesn’t loose any baking power
when I put in a loaded trivet. It runs on standard household
current [don’t need to pay to have 220 run into the studio, a big
plus], and doesn’t make the lights flicker when it comes on.
Before I got this kiln, I had only worked with large models at
the craft center where I teach [I can’t remember the names], and
with a Kerr with a door that opened from top to bottom – a real
pain to reach across when it was roasting and you had a
precariously balanced trivet full of delicate wet-packed work.
All of the other kilns I’ve used have gotten really hot on their
upper surfaces, and have had tiny, fussy latches that get
searingly hot. What a pain.
Do you know anyone near you that owns one you could examine?
Once you see the design of the Vcella door and the thickness of
the walls, you won’t be as interested in the Paragon.
Just my $.02, adjusted for inflation.
Anne