Need help..... I want to purchase a kiln and the local glass supplier says that he will sell me the above for 400.00. It has 6 hours on it and includes the following.....

AP-09 Furniture Kit, 1 9" kiln shelf, 4 1" legs, 1/2 lb GLS kiln wash, 1 91/4 kiln shelf, 3 1x1/2 sq shelf posts, 3 1x1 triangular posts, 1 pyrometer installed, 1 set terry gloves, 1 pr didymium spectacles, 1 bottle GLS fusers glue.

Operates on standard household current, has viewing window, independent top and side fire elements, independent infinite power controls, 9" deep x 11.25 wide (octagonal).

He says he will sell it to me for 400.00. Is this a deal? char"

ANGELS RESPONSE:  "Not a bad price if he gives you some kind of guarantee. I say go for it. As far as the kiln furniture goes, I'd try to get some 10" shelves. The 9" waste a lot of usable space in an 11" kiln. The didymium spectacles are NOT for looking into a kiln. They don't protect against UV. They're for lampworking and beading to block the spectrum produced by that. You need glasses with a #3 coated lens. You need either leather or kevlar gloves so unless the Terry set is mixed with kevlar, they aren't worth anything.

Don't use that GLS kiln wash. The only one that's any good is the Bullseye wash. Lot of people wishing they hadn't tried anything else. Jen-Ken sent me some with the Kiln...I threw it away. Dump the fusing glue. Get some white Elmer's and mix it 1/2 and 1/2 with water. Fusing glue is mostly just a starch mixture and it takes forever to dry.

The Jen-Ken Kilns usually come with a pyrometer so that's not anything extra. You DO need the viewing window...it's an extra $100 when you order a kiln. But what you really need is a programmer...either one that can be attached to the unit or a stand alone model. I'm about to plunk something in mine. You just set it to a tested program for the piece you're doing and forget about it. Also MUCH better control over everything you do...ramping, hold times set temps. You'll be a slave to an alarm otherwise.

Hey, look a me! I think I've actually learned something in the 2 months I've been playing with my little J-K, Running out of beginner's luck and making some exasperating mistakes...or maybe it's the nature of the beast. You never know what's IN there until you open the lid after it's cool. Occasional minor surprise....always fun."

I purchased the unit with a 2 year manufacturers warrantee.  However, I wasn't able to obtain the programmer.  I will be looking into this a little later.

My first project (attempt #1) was a circled "N" which I wanted to incorporate in a stained glass window for a friend of my husbands.  However, as you can see from the following picture....  my first project was a failure!  It cracked as soon as it cooled.  I did not anneal it correctly.