Morning Reading- Low Cost Metal Clay Kilns

Yesterday's morning reading was my own email... not so interesting for a blog post.

Today I went through the Art Jewelry Special Publication in Metal Clay Jewelry this one is a keeper and if you have even a passing whim of interest in metal clay it is a good one to add to your collection.
I was immediately drawn to an article on alternatives to kiln firing. A real kiln is in the future but it's going to take a while, sales are never good at this time of the year and spending time researching methods to emphasize ooak rather than production is financially risky in the short and perhaps long term. So a budget kiln would make sense. I plan to use a torch for my first pieces, they will need to be less than 25g and smaller than a US silver dollar which I suppose is the size of a Canadian Loonie. I could use steel mesh on the top of my gas stove too. Both techniques limit size and thickness- so what are the options?  The article makes two suggestions:

A PMC Hot Pot Kiln - this is $68 in Polymer Clay Express. It runs on alchohol gel fuel. (anyone have a Canadian Source for that?- Canadian Tire?)

 

The second option is The Ultra Lite Beehive Kiln- I found it on the Cool Tools site. It's $178 and requires ceramic inserts for metal clay firing- they cost $19 for 3.

Bottom line... I have to get to work!