Product Description
NEW! Introducing stress-free firing with the Prometheus Pre-Programmed PRO-7 Bead Door kiln from Metal Clay Ltd.
Unique to Metal Clay Ltd this kiln now comes pre-programmed, with 11 of our favourite, well tested programmes!
Prometheus 7 Programmable Kiln with a Bead Door is a tabletop kiln, similar in size to a Paragon SC2. It is designed for firing precious metal clays like Art Clay Silver, PMC, and PMC Flex. It is also good for base metal clays, and glass fusing, enamelling, low fire ceramics, china painting, as well as annealing and hardening silver and gold.
This kiln has a 150mm x 57mm letterbox-style bead-annealing door. The bead door is hinged at the top and opens upwards. Lampwork beads are built on bead mandrels or rods, the mandrels are then pushed in through the bead door with the door resting on the mandrels. Once open, the bead door does not stay held upright.
The bead door is sometimes used to take a quick peep at china paints, enamels, glass, and glazes to check on their progress. It gives you a wider view than a window, but the kiln will heat unevenly if you keep it fully open for too long: although not as much as opening the main door. Please remember to always use the correct eye and body protection if you're looking into a hot kiln.
Purists might tell you not to leave the bead door open but, of course, when you're using bead mandrels it's slightly open all the time. As always, it depends on what you're using the kiln for and it's important to experiment to find what works for you.
It's a 1100°C front-loading kiln, with a built-in, easy-to-use, 3-key digital programmable controller.
The UK kiln is rated at 230V/1900W, so it plugs into a regular mains socket.
Are you new to using a kiln? Or feeling a little nervous about how to use it?
We've got you; all our Prometheus programmable kilns now come with 11 pre-set programmes so you are ready to go as soon as you get your kiln!
We know that for most people, the most daunting thing about buying a kiln is how to programme it. Well, no more stress. We've selected eleven of our our favourite, well tested, programmes and installed them on all the Prometheus programmable kilns. We’ve been using these kilns for many years, so you are getting our tested and tried programmes.
There are still four spare programmes, ready for you to set as you wish. And, if you want, you can always overwrite our programmes to make them work for you, as they are not locked in = stress-free firings but you still have full control!
STRESS-FREE FIRING WITH PRESET PROGRAMMES
This kiln has 15 program slots, four are blank for you to use as you wish, and 11 are preset with really useful firing schedules, for media like silverclay (including Express and Extra Strength options), Art Clay Copper, adding gold, combining silver and glass - and more.
HOW DOES PROGRAMMES WORK?
The programmable controller means you can set what temperature you want the kiln to fire at (target temperature), and also tell it how fast you want it to heat up (ramp speed), and how long you want it to hold at the firing temperature (hold/soak time), and the kiln will then turn the heating off once it has completed the programme. If you want you can also say how slow it should cool down, and if it should hold at a temperature whilst cooling down.
You have 11 preset programmes, and 4 blank to set as you wish. Each programme can have up to 5 segments or steps. A segment could be like this: heat up at 300° C per hour, until you get to 800°C, then hold that temperature for 45 minutes.
To be able to set several segments with different heating speeds and temperatures are very useful if you're firing base metals, like copper and bronze (where you want to heat up slower and hold steady to burn the binder out at a lower temperature before the full firing at a higher temperature), or doing glass fusing (which needs a slow heating, and a slow cool down, with a soak/hold at a low temperature to anneal the glass once fused).
A good thing with programmes is that you only set them once, and they will stay there until you change them. So you could set one programme for firing silver clay, another for fusing glass cabochons, and another for that perfect Art Clay Copper firing schedule you've come up with.
This kiln has a Orton AutoFire Express Digital Programmable Temperature Controller (similar to the one on Paragon, Sierra, and Evenheat kilns).
SIZE
The outer steel case measures 360mm x 370mm x 435mm, and is slotted for air circulation, so it keeps cool. The door opens 180° upright, and there's a small door vent above the bead door.
The ceramic firing chamber, enclosed in an inner steel case, measures 230mm x 205mm x 155mm internally, and heats from the top, sides and bottom, with the fast-firing elements safely embedded in the ceramic.
IMPORTANT TO KNOW
It is normal for the metal above the door vent and the area around the door to discolour with use.
The chamber expands and contracts with each firing so hairline cracks are normal and may even show on a new kiln. These will not affect the function of the kiln. Any small cracks close up as the kiln heats up.
These kilns no longer have a latch on the door as their centre of gravity allows the door to close securely by itself.
This kiln doesn't come with a shelf - you can purchase a large fibre kiln shelf here or a hard kiln shelf kit here **
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Volts: 230V
Amps: 8.2A
Watt: 1900W
Controller: Orton Digital Programmable Temperature Controller - 9 programmes with 8 segments
Max Temp: 1100°C
Heating elements: 4; top, bottom and sides
External Size: 360 x 370 x 435 (width x depth x height) (mm)
Firing Chamber: 230 x 205 x 155 (width x depth x height) (mm)
Door type: Bead door slot
Volume: 7.3 litres
Weight: 22kg
Box Dimension approx: 470 x 480 x 560 (width x depth x height) (mm)
Quick explanation of some kiln lingo:
Target temperature: the temperature you want your kiln to heat up to (or cool down to), i.e. the temperature you need to fire your material at.
Digital controller: how you tell your kiln what to do. With a digital controller you press buttons. Older (or simpler) kilns sometimes just have a rotary controller which you turn until you're happy with the temp. - digital controllers are much easier to control.
Ramp function: a function which allows you to tell the kiln how fast (or slow) it should heat up/cool down. Mostly used in glass fusing and for some base metal clay firings, or for other materials which needs heating and/or cooling under more controlled conditions.
Ramp speed: the speed at which the kiln heats up, or cools down.
Hold time: how long your kiln should hold the target temperature. E.g., fire at 650°C for 30 minutes - 30 minutes is the hold time.
Firing chamber: the inside of your kiln, where you place your things to be fired.
Kiln shelf: a small shelf on which you fire things. Never fire direct on the kiln floor.
