Hot! Hot! Hot!

So, ever since I got the new kiln, I’ve been waffling on what to do with G-ma’s old kiln. In addition, when I got my new kiln, I had to ask Jenn to move her old kiln off my porch, because I didn’t have room for three (especially when two weren’t being used).

G-ma’s kiln is a few years older than I am. She got it new in 1965. Daddy rewired it at least once, and resurfaced it at least twice. The cone holder didn’t work any more, parts were falling off, the extension piece had long since broken into a million pieces, and Tim had to get me a new lid custom made a few years ago.

But I didn’t know what to do with it. It still… mostly… worked. It fired a little hot, and you had to keep looking through the peephole at the cone to see if it had dropped, but… I don’t know. Taking it to a landfill just seemed… sacrilegious. (And I totally get that the OBJECT is not the PERSON, that throwing away the THING doesn’t mean you’re throwing away your love for the PERSON WHO OWNED THE THING.)

And then… Isaac took up beadmaking. He’s been making lovely glass beads with a blowtorch, but is getting to the point where he needs to keep things hotter, longer, and is looking for a kiln.

SCORE!

I gave him both, mine and Jenn’s (which was in our backyard neighbor’s yard, and had been since I got my new kiln, and yes, I checked with her first and she was fine with it going away to a good home!). He doesn’t know yet if he can get either kiln to do exactly what he wants, and he’s going to need an electrician friend to help, and he may wind up dismantling them both and building something new from the parts (which I think is awesome).

Reuse! Recycle! Make!