Dear Andrea, I am responding to your post about setting up a home
studio. A lot of jewelry suppliers sell kits that are designed for
the beginner. The kits range in complexity and price. Rio Grande
(1-800-545-6566) www.riogrande.com, Swest Inc. (1-800-527-5057)
www.swestinc.com, and Allcraft (1-800-645-7124) would be good
suppliers to check out. Also look in the newspaper to possible buy
used equipment. You are correct that you could use natural gas for
the fuel part of your torch since you have a gas line to your
residence.
I think you would love working with Precious Metals Clay (PMC). It is
fun, challenging and rewarding. PMC requires that you have a kiln
that can hold a precise temperature for a certain period of time. PMC
a can be purchased at Rio Grande. Swest Inc. carries a similar
product to PMC called Art Clay. You can purchase kilns that are
designed for PMC & Art Clay. I teach PMC, and I fire my work and
student work with the small Rapid Fire Fiber Kiln by Even Kiln Inc. I
purchased a separate power control box to go with the kiln so that I
can hold the temperature for the required time. There is the Studio
PMC newsletter and they also have a web site www.pmclay.com.
Warm Wishes and best of luck,
Cathy Wheless
www.cathywheless.com