Mostly glass, but they work for tempering/ annealing. 3 commercial glass kilns.
Glass kilns tend to be shorter, with elements in the lid and sides. More even heating, but they dont have to get as hot as ceeamic kilns. Most art glass is pretty well molten just above 1600º. But at any point where it softens it becomes a matter of heat/time. At 1250º it takes a certain amount of time to get some effect. At 1450º you can get to the same point a lot quicker.
My largest kiln is 25" x 48" but is only 13.5" deep. Its big enough to make a sink in.
I also have the remains of a tall ceramic kiln that one of the schools was getting rid of. Someone cut the cord off the controller, but everything still works. I'm breaking it down for its parts. Fire brick cab be used for a small foundry. I also use fire bricks for gold/sikver smithing. It is soft and you can cut it to hold irregularly shaped pieces to solder. Additionally, I like to line the area behind my annealing pan.
We've also got a refractory lined hot box that my son used when making bows. And a small kiln - old school with just two switches to control the heating elements. Its pretty much an annealing kiln.
Chilly
