The Paragon Home Artist looks like an air hostess's travelling case, with wheels and a telescopic handle. It's very easy to move around, so excellent for demonstrations, presentations, and exhibitions, or a small studio that doesn't have a dedicated kiln space.

The Paragon Home Artist is ideal for Art Clay, PMC, Accent Gold, Metal Clay Veneer, Fimo Polymer Clay, china painting, dichroics, enamelling, jewellery, and medium-scale low-fire ceramics, glass fusing, sagging, slumping, and raku. It's a 1095°C cone 04, cylindrical, top-opening kiln, with an easy-to-use, ramp-hold, Sentry Xpress 3-key digital programmer.

The HomeArtist kiln is sometimes called an Art Clay kiln, a ceramic kiln, a craft kiln, an enamelling kiln, a glass kiln, a glass-fusing kiln, a hobby kiln, a jewellery kiln, a metal clay kiln, a PMC kiln, a portable kiln, a SilverClay kiln, a small kiln, or a studio kiln.

Electric Kilns is an on-line shop for low-cost table-top kilns, such as the UltraLite Kiln, the Kitiki Mini-Kiln, and the Paragon BlueBird, Caldera, FireFly, Fusion, Home Artist, SC-2, SC-3, and Xpress.

To learn more about larger kilns, such as the Paragon Fusion, GL, and Pearl glass kilns, and the Dragon, Iguana, Janus, Ovation, Viking, and Vulcan ceramics kilns, transfer to Paragon Kilns, using the Paragon Kilns link above the menu bar at the top of the page.

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The Paragon Home Artist.

During heating, the thermocouple checks the temperature regularly and tells the programmer to switch the elements on or off to control the heating rate.

When the target temperature is reached, and the elements turn off, residual heat in the firing chamber allows the actual temperature to overshoot the target temperature briefly before beginning to fall back.

This is more noticeable at low temperatures than at high temperatures. For example, 200°C will probably overshoot to 230°C whereas 700°C will probably only overshoot to 710°C, before falling back. This won't affect Art Clay or PMC fired at 800°C, but you'll need to be careful with temperature-critical materials or processes.

As the hold-time begins, with the elements still off, the temperature will begin to fall. Although the programmer will now switch the elements back on, the firing chamber will initially absorb some of the heat before the temperature recovers.

During the hold time, the continual switching of the elements on and off will cause the actual temperature to oscillate around the target temperature.

The actual temperature of your work will depend on its position on the shelf, the vertical spacing of any stacked shelves, and it's nearness to the elements, a lid, a door, a bead door, a window, or a peephole.

Remember that glass needs radiant heat and will fuse, sag, or slump better on one shelf than between stacked shelves.

Kiln doors and lids are not meant to be a perfect fit otherwise, at high temperatures, there'd be no room for expansion and the door could stick and the ceramic-fibre or firebricks could crack.

Eventually, with normal use, kilns discolour slightly, inside and outside, and some firebricks might develop hairline cracks. Remember, your kiln is a robust, versatile, red-hot tool: not an ornament.

Working successfully with a kiln involves careful research, planned experiment, and repeated testing. It's important to learn how to creatively use unexpected effects, especially as things that work for your friends or teachers may not work in the same way for you. So, keep a firing log:

Buy a durable notebook. On a new page for every firing, draw a diagram of the shelves, their vertical spacing, and the position of your work on the shelves. Put a few scraps at different places on the shelves to learn how things react. Describe the material, the shape of your work, the firing cycle, and the end result.

A kiln log is vital if you're experimenting with temperature-sensitive materials, or working with coloured dichroic glasses, enamels, or glazes. A skilled artist will use the log to advantage to re-create effects.

The Paragon Home Artist is a low cost, ceramic-fobre kiln. It's suitable for for Art Clay, PMC, Accent Gold, Metal Clay Veneer, Fimo Polymer Clay, china painting, dichroics, enamelling, jewellery, and medium-scale low-fire ceramics, glass fusing, sagging, slumping, and raku.

The Paragon Home Artist is a 1095°C cone 04, cylindrical, top-opening kiln, with an easy-to-use, ramp-hold, Sentry Xpress 3-key digital programmer.

The UK kiln is rated at 230V 2200W, so can use a regular mains socket. It's small enough to use in your home, school, craft workshop, ceramics studio, or course venue, as it only weighs about 21kg.

To comply with EU safety regulations, an additional switch, included in the price, is fitted to cut off the power whenever the kiln is opened. This feature changes the design slightly, so the EU model doesn't look exactly the same as the US model.

The stainless steel body normally stands on four legs. The electrical components and the safety cut-out, located on the front, stay cool, even at extended hold times. The programmer faces upwards, making it easy to use.

The outer steel case measures 406mm x 584mm x 476mm, including the legs, wheels, telescopic handle, programmer housing, and hinge assembly.

The ceramic-fibre firing chamber measures 305mm x 305mm internally, and is suspended in a vented steel case to help keep the outside cool. It heats from the side, with the fast-firing elements lying in the ceramic fibre.

The electronic display prompts for heating rate, target temperature, and hold time, making it easy to set up and re-use accurate drying, heating, holding, and cooling sequences.

It's very important to understand what the shelf kit consists of, why you might need a different one, and why you might need more than one:

The furniture kit, included in the price, consists of two round 254mm x 15mm cordierite shelves, three sets of assorted shelf posts, three bell stilts, six 06 Orton cones, and a bag of glass separator.

Cordierite is a magnesium aluminium silicate that resists thermal distortion and fracture. A thick shelf, on posts, heats and cools evenly: particularly important for glass work.

Cordierite is brittle: if you drop the shelf, it'll break. It's a good idea to have spare shelves, especially if your business depends on your kiln or you're running courses. You can buy extra shelf kits in the on-line shop.

Depending on the sizes of your pieces and the number of pieces you want to fire, three shelves can be stacked to make better use of your time: so you may want more than one furniture kit. However, remember that glass needs radiant heat and is better fired on one shelf rather than between stacked shelves.

For enamelling and glass fusing, you'll need to put kiln paper on the shelf to stop anything sticking: it's simpler and cleaner to use than glass separator. You can buy shelf paper in the on-line shop.

The 1095°C Home Artist is a versatile kiln for your craft workshop or glass studio: it's compact and easy to move, it can use a regular mains socket, it's fully programmable, and it's inexpensive to run. It's popular with glass artists, as it will accommodate seven 250mm plates.

The elements are embedded in ceramic fibre, an important safety feature if you like to add and remove work whilst the kiln is on. However, never get careless: kilns are hot and connected to the mains.

The only minor limitation is that, although 1095°C is hot enough for low-fire ceramics, it's not hot enough for normal ceramics, porcelain, pottery, and stoneware: they need a 1260°C or 1290°C kiln.

To learn more about larger kilns, such as the Paragon Fusion, GL, and Pearl glass kilns, and the Dragon, Iguana, Janus, Ovation, Viking, and Vulcan ceramics kilns, transfer to Paragon Kilns, using the Paragon Kilns link above the menu bar at the top of the page.

To learn more about Art Clay metal clays, Accent Gold, Metal Clay Veneer, buying and using kilns and tools, choosing a course, or discovering more at The Art Clay Club, use the Art Clay link below the menu bar at the top of the page.

The Art Clay Club is an information resource, not a shop, providing free on-line help, 24 7 52: you don't have to register, log on, or remember a password.

The kiln prices include the recommended shelf kit, and the legally-necessary lid or door safety switch where appropriate.

The on-line shop includes the Ultra Lite Kiln, the Kitiki MiniKiln, Paragon Kilns, BullsEye ThinFire kiln paper, ceramic blocks, ceramic cloths, digital pyrometers, reminder-timers, fire extinguishers, glare-resistant glasses, heat-resistant gloves, kiln shelves, kiln tables, and other tools and accessories. Alternatively, visit the Cherry Heaven Shop in Corfe Castle village.

Cherry Heaven, through Electric Kilns, is an EU distributor for Paragon Kilns made by Paragon Industries in the US, and the Prometheus Pro kilns made by Odak Sanat in Turkey.

Cherry Heaven, through Advance Kilns, is the EU distributor for Advance Kiklns made by Advance Kilns in Canada, and, through The UltraLite Kiln, an EU distributor for the Ultra Lite Kiln made by JEC Products in the US.

Cherry Heaven, through The Kitiki Studio, is a UK distributor for Art Clay made by Aida Chemical Industries in Japan, and an EU distributor for AccentGold For Silver paint and Metal Clay Veneer, both made in the US.