The Paragon MagicFuse microwave kiln is a small, low-cost, glass-fusing microwave kiln. It reaches 815°C in about eight minutes, so you can fuse regular, dichroic, and stained glasses, and try small-scale raku. To learn more about raku, use the raku link below the menu bar near the top of the page.

It's ideal for your home, school, college, jewellery studio, or arts centre providing jewellery-making courses. It's great for classes, craft fairs, and demonstrations, as it weighs just 1kg and heats up so quickly.

Although a programmable electric kiln can be used for a diverse range of materials and processes, it's a real investment. The Paragon MagicFuse is an inexpensive way to experiment with fusing glass before committing yourself.

If you've already got a larger kiln and you're making glass jewellery, or running courses, the Magic Fuse will still be very useful: it's quick and convenient.

For smaller plug-in table-top kilns, such as the Paragon SC1, SC2, SC3, BlueBird, Caldera, CS ClamShell, FireFly, Fusion, Home Artist, KM, MagicFuse, and Xpress, the Kitiki MiniKiln, and the UltraLite, transfer now to Electric Kilns using the Electric Kilns link above the menu bar near the top of the page.

You can shop here now: on line or by phone with a card, or by post with a cheque. Prices include UK VAT and duty, and insured door-to-door UK-mainland delivery: there are no other charges. For other destinations, mail or call.

All the products mentioned on these pages are in the on-line shop: use the shop link below the menu bar near the top of the page.

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The Paragon MagicFuse.

The Paragon MagicFuse.

The Paragon MagicFuse.

The Paragon MagicFuse Microwave Kiln is a round, ceramic-fibre, top-opening kiln, that heats up in a microwave. It heats up quickly so is cheap to run.

You can try glass fusing without the expense of a normal kiln. However, although it's great for fusing glass, it won't do much else: although you can experiment.

The Paragon Magic Fuse lets you try glass fusing, without buying an electric kiln. As it has no elements, it heats in your microwave.

Before looking at the Magic Fuse in detail, here's a brief introduction to glass:

The main component of glass is silicon dioxide, often called silica: found naturally and plentifully as sand. When it melts, at around 1700°C, it's like syrup on a cold day. When it cools, it forms a rigid and brittle glass called quartz glass.

To lower the melting point, and the cost of melting, chemicals are added: typically sodium carbonate and calcium oxide. Other chemicals, and different heating and cooling processes, can produce a range of mechanical properties and colours.

Chemically, glass is classed as an amorphous solid: not a liquid, as is widely believed. As it's heated, it becomes softer allowing it to be blown, moulded, poured, pressed, coated, decorated, engraved, or heat-treated.

A form of glass occurs naturally within the mouth of a volcano when the intense heat of an eruption melts sand to form Obsidian, a hard black glassy type of stone.

Dichroic glass has two different colours: a transmitted colour and a reflective colour, both of which change depending on the angle of view. For example blue-red will be blue in transmission and red in reflection.

During manufacture, quartz and metal oxides are vapourized onto the surface of the glass using a vacuum deposition process, forming a multi-layer crystal structure.

The Paragon MagicFuse is a small, low-cost, glass fusing microwave kiln. It reaches 815°C in about eight minutes in a typical 650W microwave.

You can try fusing glass, dichroic glass, and stained glass, and even try small-scale raku. To learn more about raku, use the raku link below the menu bar near the top of the page.

The microwave needs to be rated at more than 650W, so it can use a regular mains socket. It's small enough to use in your home, school, craft workshop, jewellery studio, or course venue, as it only weighs about 1Kg.

The outer ceramic case measures 176mm x 100mm. It's in two parts: a ceramic base and a lift-off cover. You'll need a 30cm-square ceranmic tile to put the hot lid on.

The ceramic firing chamber measures 126mm x 45mm internally. It has a special coating which allows the microwaves to heat the whole top.

The MagicFuse doesn't have a temperature controller, except the settings on your microwave. However, after a few tests, you'll soon learn how long the fusing process takes.

There's no included recommended furniture kit. However, the kiln comes with six 12mm posts to support the kiln and your work, and a bag of glass separator. Comprehensive instructions are included with the products, although you could do a one-day course at The Kitiki Studio. instructions.

It's very important to understand that the MagicFuse doesn't have a tempertaure controller, except the settings on your microwave. There are limitations, although you may be perfectly happy with what it can do rather than unhappy with what it can't.

The MagicFuse Glass-Fusing kiln does what it says on the box: it fuses glass. If you want to work with other materials, you'll need a programmable electric kiln. Here are some of the materials you could try: Art Clay, Bronze Clay, Copper Clay, Glass Clay, Ceramics.

To learn more about Art Clay, Bronze Clay, Copper Clay, and Glass Clay, use the appropriate links below the menu bar near the top of the page. You can buy bronzeclay, copperclay, glass clay, silver clay, the stainless steel container, charcoal, and related products in the on-line shop.

Anything that gets red hot has potential safety issues. It's important to wear heat-resistant gloves and use protective glasses. Just as some foods can explode if you don't follow the instructions, some glass pieces could shatter: if you don't follow the instructions.

Kilns, clays, stainless steel containers, charcoals, masks, protective glasses, and other tools and materials, are in the on-line shop: use the shop link below the menu bar near the top of the page.

Eventually, with normal use, kilns discolour slightly, inside and outside, and the ceramic fibre might develop hairline cracks. Your kiln is a versatile, robust, red-hot tool: not an ornament.

Using your kiln successfully needs careful research and frequent tests, especially as things that work for your friends or teachers might not work in the same way for you. It's also very important to learn how to creatively use unexpected effects. So, keep a firing log:

Buy a durable notebook. Use a new page for every firing, and draw diagrams of the shelves, their vertical spacing, and the position of your work on the shelves. Along with your work, put a few scraps at different places on the shelves to learn how things fire or change. 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, glazes, or paints, and a skilled artist will use the kiln log to advantage to re-create effects.

It'll be particularly useful if you have to repeat a commission, or if you have a long break before returning to your kiln work.

The Kitiki Studio provides a comprehensive Art Clay educational programme as classes, masterclasses, workshops, and Art Clay Level 1 and Level 2 teacher-certification courses, as well as classes for related materials and techniques.

Arts and crafts events, introductory workshops, studio open-days, guest-teacher masterclasses, and general jewellery courses, are often added. If you're interested, mail or call.

This is a Cherry Heaven on-line shop and an EU distributor, sales, support, spares, and repair centre for kilns: it's not a bead, ceramics, crafts, glass, or metal-clay shop, selling a few kilns to a market niche.

Although it's an internet resource, you can still mail or call an engineer about kilns, power supplies, home diagnostics, repairs, spares, safety issues, a special project, or reselling opportunities.

This internet resource belongs to Cherry Heaven, a shop in Corfe Castle village near the National Trust Estate. Cherry Heaven sells a diverse selection of exclusive essentials and luxuries.

Cherry Heaven is an EU distributor for Paragon Kilns made in Texas USA, Advance Kilns made in Canada, Efco Kilns made in Germany, Kitiki Mini-Kilns made in Turkey, and UltraLite Kilns made in the US.

Cherry Heaven is a UK distributor for Art Clay made by Aida Chemical Industries in Japan, BronzClay and CopprClay, both made by Metal Adventures in the US, and GlasClay made by ClayMania in the US, and an EU distributor for AccentGold For Silver paint and Metal Clay Veneer, both made in the US.

Cherry Heaven has been commended for an outstanding performance as one of Paragon's top-selling distributors over 2007 to : a pleasing outcome since the UK is one third the area of Texas and one fortieth the area of the US.

Founded as a family business in 1948, Paragon Industries is now the world's leading manufacturer of electric kilns and furnaces, and has built over 380 000. The 4 830 square metre site, in Mesquite, Texas, employs over 70 full-time staff.

Paragon continually monitors design and manufacture, leading to versatile, practical, safe kilns. Every kiln goes through a fifteen-step quality check, with a technician following the build, and is inspected before shipping. Paragon kilns are thoughtfully and robustly engineered, so you're buying a kiln with a future.

Paragon kilns conform to the demanding UL 499 standard in the US, and are CE Marked for the EU. Paragon is Greek for Model Of Perfection.

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

The on-line shop link is below the menu bar near the top of the page. You can buy kilns, kiln shelves, shelf paper, metal clays, glass clays, ceramic blocks and cloths, reminder timers, digital pyrometers, glare-resistant glasses, heat-resistant gloves, fire extinguishers, spare parts, and accessories. Alternatively, visit Cherry Heaven in Corfe Castle village.

Unlike most internet shops, you won't have to create an account, log on, register, remember a password, sign up, join a club, or volunteer all your personal and debit card details to discover that, at the last moment, the total is more than you expected because the VAT and a delivery charge were obscured.