I have one…
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katkramerI have a little microwave kiln, and it’s a lot of fun for making small things. You don’t have a lot of control over the firing, so everything will probably come out full-fused and rounded. But I’ve made some pretty things.
You can definitely use 96 glass with it. 96 is slightly softer than 90, so it should fire a little more quickly, but not much.
It is GREAT FUN for holiday events with the kids. I keep nieces and nephews busy with my scrap glass and the microwave kiln. We glue on a bail, and voila! They have a pendant to take home.
I also use it quite a bit to test glass reactions. Some glass gets a cool dark line between pieces if fired together…like aqua blue and french vanilla. If you put cranberry over french vanilla it might turn dark brown or plum. It’s also good for testing random pieces of glass that are “striker” colors if you forget to label them…you never know what color they might turn and can be a surprise in your masterpiece!
But if you really want to enjoy fused glass, splurge for a small kiln…even a little 9″ kiln that plugs into regular electric outlets will take you far (I have several kilns, and I still use this one more than any other kiln I own). They even make smaller beehive-looking kilns that are relatively inexpensive if you only want to do jewelry.
And if you’re retired, you will have many happy hours of fusing and it will be well worth it. You can justify it in several ways…do you have a better half who likes to play golf or who has a woodworking tool habit? Those can be valuable bargaining points when justifying the cost of a little kiln!!
