Reading all of the information about heat treating, as a newbie, has gotten me curious about heat treat kilns. Frankly, a kiln is way down the list of things to buy for me, as I have very little equipment at present. What I do have, though, is an older (~12 years) Paragon Caldera kiln made for small craft firings like metal clays and dichroic glass.
This kiln is small, maybe a 6" cube, but it is made in pieces. The top and bottom are just fire bricks joined together and surrounded by a metal edge frame. The controller and elements are attached to the center block that makes up the heating chamber.
My thoughts are to buy some fire bricks to stack at the bottom and top of the original heating chamber to expand the overall volume in the kiln, and cut a slot in the top cover to allow a blade to be suspended vertically.
Just curious if anyone has tried this, or if anyone has any pointers about possible issues with how this may work.
Hey Corey, one tip is to use kiln bricks instead of fire bricks. Kiln bricks are white, soft and much better at reflecting heat. Depending on how much larger you make it, you may need to add some heating elements. This is not hard or expensive, just need to do some simple research.
