kiln related tools and accessories

[coppercone2]

If anyone has a muffle furnace or kiln they use in the shop do you have any tool recommendations to use with it? My kiln is small (5 inch cube interior).



I got
- crucible tongs for my little crucibles (nickel, silicon carbide and quartz) from fisher
-ITC 100 and ITC 296 coatings so I can put coatings on structural stuff to put in the kiln
-extra fire bricks so I have a place to set possibly hot objects


 I made a little grooved fire brick cut to 1/2 inch thickness with grooves on the top and bottom that I smoothed out with furnace cement to act as a build platform. It seems to lap OK on silicon carbide paper on a piece of glass so it does not wobble. I think its basically a heath plate, I hope the ITC 296 coating works for making it durable as a melting platform.


If I am interested in maybe small scale smelting, heat treating metal and possibly making ceramic PCB (thick film) and prototype brazing. are there any specific tools that would help with kiln us in a lab environment?

also, anything for making springs. I wanted to be able to make springs that need the heat.



Some stuff I was thinking about was
- maybe building a little shelf, with some ceramic rods and maybe alumina strips.
-A small cooling chamber made out of two fire bricks that are coated, with the top one being hollowed out, so if I have a small part that I take out of the oven, I can put it on top of a fire brick with a lid made out of another brick. Kind of like how food is served in a platter with a lid in a fancy place (big turkey)

still on the project even thought it cost me a financial shanking with the blown heater