Our New Line Heat Treating Ovens Designed and Built Specifically for Bladesmiths!!!

Are you a hobbyist that is ready to work like the Pro's? 

Are you a Pro who wants to take their work to the next level?

If so, then we have the perfect line of ovens and furnaces for you! How do we know this?

It's simple...we went to the Pro's and asked them what they would want in a perfect heat-treating oven! We took all the insight and created a revolutionary new line of heat-treat ovens and furnaces that throws out the old thinking and improves your entire heat-treat experience!

Jen-Ken Proudly Presents the Revolutionary Vertical Air Bath Furnace!

Our Vertical Air Bath outranks other heat-treating furnaces in 6 ways!  

1.     Vertical Blade Suspension – Prevents Warping and has unparalleled Stress-Free Heat Distribution!

2.     Top Loading – Providing the BEST Heat Recovery for Full Loads!

3.     Power Interrupt Switch – Assures Workshop Safety! Blades Can’t Touch Live Elements!

4.     Rolling Stand with Casters – Offers Space Flexibility and Portability! Keeps Your Workshop Safe!

5.     Large Capacity – Holds a Dozen Blades or More in a Single Load!

6.     Configurable Baffle Design – Allows Blades of All Shapes to Process Together At the Same Time!

Here’s how other kilns work… 
Blades are inserted into a standard front-loading horizontal knife oven for normalization, hardening, or tempering. As oven temperatures increase, blades can bend and warp because of the stress of leaning on their sides. Another cause of blade warping in traditional front-loading kilns is uneven heat distribution. A standard front-loader heats from the sides and the back, creating more heat at the back of the kiln. This causes the front door area to get cooler and cooler. The uneven heating causes the tip and body of the blade to be much hotter than the tang, resulting in more internal stress and warp potential, not to mention that the blades in the middle of kiln get the least heat from the coils. When the front door is opened, and the red-hot blade is removed from its horizontal position, it is carefully transferred to the vertical position on the way to be quenched. During this transition further bending can occur, causing the blade-smith to spend valuable time reversing the warp and straightening blade after blade. The traditional long kiln design requires for deep tables or stands, taking up a ton of room in your workshop. With limited bench space, you may be forced to reach around a screaming hot kiln to reach tools, creating a potentially dangerous work-space.

Here’s why ours works so well… 
We’ve addressed the issue of uneven heating by designing the exciting new Vertical Air Bath furnace series. Our Vertical Air Bath furnaces deliver the best heat-treat possible because your blades are suspended vertically inside the chamber, allowing the blade to heat from all sides (360° heat), delivering completely uniform heat soaking at the desired temperature. The Vertical Air Bath is a refractory brick furnace with a specially designed baffle inside. Heat is absorbed into the brick of the kiln/furnace and is contained below the baffle when the lid opens. A unique cool touch handle extends out from the side and is reversible to either side of the kiln. When standing to the side of the kiln, the lid can be lifted without a blast of heat hitting the user. The blade can then be removed with tongs, and the lid is lowered. This quick motion allows for minimal heat loss and ease of use. The Vertical Air Bath chamber is heated from below the baffle and has another set of coils in the top section for quicker recovery as each piece is removed. The included power-interrupt lid switch de-energizes the oven, as you reach in to remove a blade. The Vertical Air Bath then begins heating again when the lid is closed. The kiln is designed to regain the full holding temperature, upon the users return from the quench. Blades never touch the kiln or each other, reducing the chance of heat sinks, cold spots, and warping. Spines remain straight because your knives are removed vertically, and then lowered vertically into the oil quench. This vertical suspension from the beginning of the process to the end allows for uniform absorption of heat and unimpeded movement while releasing internal stress.

Large capacity… The Vertical Air Bath chamber holds up to 12 blades of varying shapes comfortably.

Blades can be suspended several ways. We recommend a pin through the tang, a spring clasped to the tang, or you can simply turn the tang sideways between the movable ceramic rods, if the tang shape permits. Foil wrapped blades can be suspended by passing the support pin through the foil sheet or via the spring clasp method. This allows the vertical suspension format to be used with every technique. The process has zero interference, leaving your blades stress free and straight.

Here’s why you’ll love it… The Vertical Air Bath is a smarter, safer, and more portable design, made to optimize your efforts, and make your workshop safer. The furnace comes with a rolling stand which allows you to move the Air Bath out of the way when it’s not in use. Think of the bench space you’ll save! You’ll save time and effort due to the reduction of warps and waves in your knives. The power-interrupt lid switch prevents your blades from touching live elements, keeping you safer in the workshop. The Vertical Air Bath comes equipped with a standard 3-button controller that can loaded with the most popular normalizing, tempering, and heat treatment schedules. You can choose to upgrade to a 12-button controller for ease of programming or choose the popular TAP smart touch screen controller. All of our kilns, ovens, and furnaces come equipped with standard mechanical relays, or you can choose to upgrade to solid state technology.

For more information and pricing go to https://knifekilns.com/

Join me next time when I discuss the new Fiber Front Loader Kilns for heat-treating!

Happy Firing,

Cricket Chirps

Solid State Relays – Why they are the best choice for your kiln!

Relays are switches that turn the heating elements on and off in your kiln. Solid state relays deliver precision power control and output thereby extending the life of your kilns heating elements. They do this by only allowing the heating elements to switch on and off when the AC voltage is at 0V. Because they contain no moving parts solid state relays can turn the heating elements on and off up to 60 times per second, much faster than mechanical relays, and with no moving parts there is nothing to wear out and replace. This results in longer element life and enhanced performance through reliable and precise temperature control. They are also completely silent, no annoying clicking noise constantly going off when you are teaching or working in your studio!

If you live in a hot climate or are working in an non-air conditioned area such as a garage or outside you will need a heat sink to keep it cool, a heat sink is device for absorbing or dissipating excess heat; for example a small desk fan blowing into the relay box. These tiny 4-inch desk fans work great for keeping relays cool while still allowing your kiln to reach proper temperature! If you fire often, then solid state relays really are the best choice for you and by maintaining the proper environmental conditions they can last the lifetime of your kiln!

Solid State Relays are available on most of the larger kilns. Contact us today to see if we can add one to your kiln order!

Join me next time when I discuss our new line kilns for heat-treating knives!

Happy Firing, 

Cricket Chirps

BEWARE OF THE COMING STORMS! 

PREPARE YOUR LOVED ONE (YOUR KILN) FROM STORM RELATED DAMAGE!

It's that time of year again, it's storm season in various parts of the country. 

During this time, we start getting "those" calls...... 
"My kiln was fine and now it wont come on!""I was firing, and all of the sudden I smelled something electrical burning!" "My display just flickers and beeps!" These are just a few of the typical issues. Over the years, we've seen the pattern and we've found the one common thread.  It's storm season. We take so many calls like this a year, and every time we trace the symptoms back to one thing: LIGHTNING!  When lightning strikes nearby, it sends a very HIGH VOLTAGE SURGE throughout the entire electrical system in your house. Unfortunately, you just can't plug your kiln into a surge protector to prevent the surge from zapping your kiln. The circuit board is the most expensive part on your entire kiln, and a good power surge will knock it out faster than anything else!  It can also cause other problems, like burning out relays, and damaging your transformer.

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?

We know you love your kiln, and we want you to protect your baby!  

So.....If you have a digital kiln, 

• PLEASE UNPLUG IT when it's not in use.  Just like your computer or other expensive electronics, your kiln needs protection especially during storm season.  
• Never fire a kiln when lightning is nearby.  
• If your kiln is firing and a storm comes up, end your program as soon as you can and unplug the kiln. Don't just hope for the best!

Don't let your kiln be the victim of mother nature!  If need us, as always we're here to help.  

All the Best and Happy Firing,

Jenn
The Jen-Ken Tech Girl

Fine Arts Wheel Throwing Class at Jen Ken

 
    We are very excited about the upcoming pottery classes beginning Tuesday, September 24th, and continuing for four weeks, every Tuesday night from 6pm-9pm.   The class will be a basic introduction to Fine Arts Wheel Throwing, and is perfect for those who have never tried their hand at it or have simply been away from it for years and want to get their hands back in the mud.  Our class is unique in that we keep our class size small, so that each student can get the attention they need and use of their own wheel for the duration of the class.  No waiting your turn to put your hands on the clay! By the end of the class, each student will have successfully completed around 12 projects, which will be bisque fired and ready to pick up a few days after the class is over.  We will be offering surface decoration classes in 2014, and are working on a partnership with our neighboring pottery painting studio where students may purchase an optional voucher to decorate their pieces with them.  Pre-register today to reserve your space!

For more information, and to pre-register, click here

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Fun at Jen-Ken

Come Join The Fun!

We had a blast at the first glass class of 2013! 
We've still got two beginner classes left this Summer, and some very exciting classes with Gail Stouffer (http://gailstouffer.com/home.html) on Enameling and Image Transfer.  

  
There are more classes in the works for the Fall. You can look forward to Pottery, 1st and 2nd Level Fused Glass,  Kiln Classes, and many more fun smaller workshops.  

Be sure and add us on facebook for the latest!

Jen Ken Kilns
863-648-0585
http://jenkenkilns.com/

Summer Classes 2013!

   We are very excited to announce new classes starting this summer!  This will be the beginning of more great things to come. Our large, beautiful classroom is finished, and we are committed to being a resource center accessible to hobbyists, artists, and aspiring artists.

   There are three one day beginning glass fusing classes.  In these classes, we will cover glass cutting, glass compatibility, firing schedules, cold working glass, and programming kilns.  We are also offering kiln education workshops, and soon we will be bringing in national instructors for intermediate and advanced students.   We are really looking forward to seeing lots of excited faces!

   Jen-Ken kilns is located in Lakeland, Fl, convenient to the Tampa and Orlando airports.

   For more information, go to:
http://jenkenkilns.com/classes-glass.aspx

Call us at:
863-648-0585

Email:
mike@jenkenkilns.com
jenkenkilns@gmail.com

A New Kiln! A New Technology Breakthrough!

We are proud and excited to announce another innovation from Jen-Ken Kilns!

We asked our customers to share the things they love about the kilns in the ProFusion Series ALL FIBER line; including the 15" "Bonnie Glo", the 11" Fiber Fuser, and the 36" ProFusion Platinum model. After a year of raves about SUPER FAST HEATING AND COOLING TIMES, RELIABILITY, PORTABILITY, EASE OF USE, AND LOWER ENERGY COSTS, we decided it was time to add a new mid-range size to the line!

Introducing the ProFusion AF3P 16" Square! 

This all new fiber kiln has been in extensive testing for the last 3 months and does some pretty miraculous stuff. We know you're going to love it!

The design is totally innovative!

• Wow, it's big! 16" x 16" x 5" deep! This is the largest firing area for its size and weight in the industry! You don't need to clear a large area in you studio/home to fire this kiln. It reaches fusing temps in less than 90 minutes! 
• All new clamshell design. There has never been an all fiber kiln this size with a design like this! This clam shell design allows users to load right on the raised firing surface, enabling easier damming of glass projects, easy access for roll-ups, combing, high-fires, great set ups for metal clays, glass painting, and more. 
• Another unique design element is the introduction of the table side controller. The removal of the controller box from the firing lid means longer life for the electronics, as they are removed from the heated area. The weight of the box is eliminated from the lid allowing for easier operation, and easier programming.
• In addition, we added quartz encased elements that produce even, direct heating using infra-red technology. This design bonus delivers the added benefits of longer element life and unparalleled heat penetration through the glass and speed, giving you more heat for less money.
• The all-in-one stand with adjustable leveling feet built into this all fiber design makes this kiln really light and portable. At only 45 pounds, you can take this kiln anywhere. Plus, since it's so lightweight this kiln ships UPS right to your door, keeping your shipping costs low.

Best of all, this model was developed to run on just 120 volts, and draws just 15 amps. This major benefit delivers a spectacular advantage...

• Professionals and hobbyists alike can plug this into a regular studio/household 20 amp plug without needing to have an electrician rewire anything. So professional artists can add this to their studios without any major adjustments, and hobbyists can move this to any room in their house; set up, work, fire, and then store it away.

OK, so we're enthusiastic! 

This kiln includes our most reliable AutoFire 3 Button Digital Controller that comes preprogrammed with 40+ firing schedules and the additional back-up safety relay. You'll be able to get started even faster than before!

There are even additional options you can order. 

• An upgrade to 17 amps will super charge the speed and get you to fusing temps in under 60 minutes...zoom!
• Bump up to a 12 Button AutoFire Digital Controller for faster, professional level programming.
• Like a ceramic shelf experience? Add one with some matching posts!
• Want fiber shelves? We can do that too!

As always, all Profusion Series kilns come with our 1 year limited warranty

Here's the bottom line! $1300 plus UPS shipping, which we anticipate to come in between $65 - $90 depending on where you live. Contact your Jen-Ken Kilns retailer or online dealer to get one NOW!