The UltraLite Kiln is the smallest kiln in the UK: it's not much larger than a sugar bowl. You can do enamelling, fuse glass, fire silver clays, and try keum boo, so it's ideal for your home studio, craft workshop, or course venue. It weighs just 1kg, so is easy to take to craft fairs, demonstrations, and exhibitions.

The UltraLite Kiln is suitable for low-budget small-scale work: drying and firing Art Clay and PMC metal clays, enamelling, glass fusing, making jewellery, and keum-boo.

The UltraLite Kiln is an 845°C, round, open-top, ceramic-fibre kiln, with a heating disc, a firing disc, and a lift-off metal lid. It's not programmable: just on or off. However, the firing characteristics can be modified by moving the lid off-centre.

The Ultra Lite Kiln is sometimes called an Art Clay kiln, a craft kiln, an enamelling kiln, a glass-fusing kiln, a jewellery kiln, a hobby kiln, a keum-boo kiln, a metal clay kiln, a PMC kiln, a silver clay kiln, a small kiln, or a trinkets 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.

To look at a larger photo, hold your mouse over the zoom button below. The photo is 480px x 360px and about 69KB so, if you're not on a fast internet connection, it'll take a short while to download.

Zoom: The UltraLite.

The UltraLite is a small, fast-heating, ceramic-fibre kiln, with one embedded heating element in the bottom. It has firing characteristics you need to be aware of:

The maximum temperature, about 845°C, is a function of the kiln's design: it stabilises when the heat being supplied is equal to the heat being lost. Moving the lid off-centre will allow heat to escape and reduce the temperature. You can't over-fire silver clays as silver doesn't melt until about 962°C.

For firing Art Clay and PMC use the firing disc insert, and for keum-boo work use the red brass tops. You can work with dichroic glasses, enamels, and fused glass, but will need to experiment: try shelf paper instead of the firing disc.

If you want to know the exact temperature you'll need a pyrometer. You can buy a digital pyrometer in the on-line shop.

Working successfully with a kiln involves careful research, planned experiment, and repeated testing. It's important to learn how to creatively use unexpected effects, as things that work for your friends or teachers might 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 firing disc and the position of your work on the disc. Put a few scraps at different places on the disc 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, and a skilled artist will use the log to advantage to re-create effects.

The UltraLite Kiln is the smallest kiln in the UK: it's not much larger than a sugar bowl. It's suitable for low-budget small scale work: drying and firing Art Clay and PMC metal clays, enamelling, glass fusing, making jewellery, and keum-boo.

The UltraLite Kiln is an 845°C, round, open-top, ceramic-fibre kiln, with a heating disc, a firing disc, and a lift-off metal lid. It's not programmable: just on or off. However, the firing characteristics can be modified by moving the lid off-centre.

The UK kiln is rated at 230V 250W, so it can use a regular mains socket. It's small enough to use in your kitchen, craft workshop, or jewellery studio, or take to a course venue, as it only weighs about 1Kg.

The US-made kiln has been modified for EU voltage, meets EU safety standards, and is CE marked. The 2.0m power cable has a regular UK plug.

The ceramic-fibre body measures 127mm x 65mm externally, and is fixed to a 62mm high metal stand. There's a front cut-out for access which also acts as a peephole or a vent for any processes that release fumes.

The ceramic-fibre firing chamber measures 76mm x 38mm internally, and heats from the bottom, with the fast-firing element safely embedded in the fibre. Moving the lid off-centre will allow heat to escape and reduce the temperature.

The recommended firing kit for the UltraLite, included in the price, consists of one 77mm x 4mm cordierite firing disc for Art Clay and PMC metal clays. Cordierite is a magnesium aluminium silicate that resists thermal distortion and fracture.

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

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

Because the kiln heats from the bottom, you can't stack firing discs. However, two extra discs allow you to put one on the metal lid to dry metal clays and use the other to lay out your next pieces for drying or firing.

The two red-brass hot-lids, one of which has a shallow hollow for round pieces, are generally used for keum-boo work, and are described below.

The Ultra Lite Kiln is popular with silver clay and keum-boo artists. Apart from its internal size, and the lack of a controller or programmer, the only other limitation is that 845°C isn't hot enough for gold metal-clays, ceramics, porcelain, pottery, and stoneware.

The element is embedded in hard ceramic, an important safety feature if you need to work on anything inside a hot kiln. However, never get careless: kilns are hot and connected to the mains.

THE CORDIERITE FIRING DISC

For firing Art Clay and PMC, the UltraLite doesn't use a conventional kiln shelf, on short posts. Instead, it uses a firing disc made from cordierite: a magnesium aluminium silicate that resists thermal distortion and fracture.

Because the kiln heats from the bottom, you can't stack the discs. However, two extra discs allow you to put one on the lid to dry metal clays and use the other to lay out your next pieces for drying or firing.

If your pieces are delicate or irregularly shaped, you could rest them on a ceramic-fibre cloth so they're supported during drying and firing.

As with any kiln, it's important not to fire anything on the unprotected floor of the kiln: always use the ceramic firing disc.

KEUM-BOO HOT-LIDS

The red-brass hot-lids are used for keum-boo work. There are excellent descriptions of keum-boo on the internet so, rather than repeating them here, you'll need to research the subject. However, here's a brief description:

Keum-boo is a simple technique that bonds pure gold foil to another pure metal, such as fine silver, producing a rich gold colour. Because the gold foil is thin, the cost of adding pure gold to your work is low.

When pure silver and pure gold are brought to the correct temperature, under pressure, the molecules mesh easily to create a permanent bond. This diffusion bond occurs well below the soldering temperature for either metal.

Pure silver usually needs no preparation. Sterling silver needs treating to remove other metals from the alloy, to leave a layer of pure metal on the surface.

It's important to understand that the UltraLite isn't programmable: just on or off. However, the firing characteristics can be modified by moving the lid off-centre. However, you may be perfectly happy with what it can do rather than unhappy with what it can't.

The Ultra Lite heats to a set temperature and stays there: until you turn it off. For many people doing small-scale work, that's enough, although it helps if you buy a small digital timer to remind you that time's up. You can buy a digital timer in the on-line shop.

To learn more about the UltraLite Kiln, and how to use it, you can transfer to a dedicated resource, The UltraLite Kiln, using the UltraLite link above the menu bar.

To learn more about larger kilns, such as the Paragon Fusion, GL, and Pearl glass kilns, the KM knife-making 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 near the top of the page.

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 Kilns 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.