The lampwork annealing kiln is beginning to take shape. The kiln parts have been in storage all winter. Now that the weather is nice, it is time to use the garage as a convenient workshop.

The bricks are IFB, lightweight and easy to cut using woodworking tools. The issue is how to hold the bricks together. Some wrap the entire assembly with a stainless steel sheet metal shroud. That would work, but would require the use of a local steel fabricator and extra cost.

In this case, kiln brick support was devised using a removable steel cage. All of the major sections are removable and held together with 5/16 inch machine screws. This is in case there is a need to remove and replace any bricks or the heating element.

The cage is made of 1/2 inch .0625 thin wall square steel tubing. The ends are fitted with 5/16 inch nuts which are welded in place using a MIG wire feed welder.

MIG works well, but is a bit difficult to use when the steel is 1/2 square material. i.e. not much room for error! A better choice may be to use oxygen/acetylene gas welding torch for more control. It is slower, but less costly than purchasing a TIG machine to perform the same basic function. i.e. however, in a production shop TIG would be a necessity.

The entire kin, with the excision of the front door, will be wrapped with one inch ceramic blanket. This serves two purposes, 1) to cushion the bricks and 2) to add additional insulation. In the image, the top is missing a piece of blanket which will be installed after testing.

This front loading kiln has a useable opening of 8” H x 11” W x 13” D. The heating element is placed high to avoid the possibility of hitting an energized element with a bead mandrel.

An additional production step is to add two center supports on the left/right sides to hold the blanket against these sides. Plus adding a removable blanket holding grid to the back of the kiln is another part of the project.

Then it will be the design of the front door and its supporting members. And it is not finished yet, as a six inch stand will be welded up to support the kiln. And so on and so on with the project.

And gee, I thought that forty feet of steel tubing would do the job. Guess again and buy another stick!