Kilns Across America
When hobby kilns were first introduced they offered some new features which allowed them to easily be used in the home and in schools. The fact that hobby kilns used lighter brick, were smaller than conventional kilns, and were sometimes sectional in design helped to make them portable. This changed the perception most people had of kilns. They moved from being permanent structures to movable appliances. They were now easy to ship and home friendly.
Their ability to be shipped fully assembled coupled with their frameless construction brought the price within the reach of the average consumer. Computers went through a similar transformation, and like home software sprung from the existence of computers in the home, home ceramics sprung from the existence of kilns in the home. The low price also made them very attractive to artists who were previously accustomed to making their own kilns.
By the late 70's there were thousands of hobby kilns in existence. Virtually every high school had ceramics as part of their art program and nearly everyone in America knew someone that participated in ceramics as a craft. However, hobby kilns did not yet have the sophisticated controls that could make them popular with the industrial market.
The standard control mechanism for hobby kilns and many earlier industrial models were the Dawson KilnSitter. Used in conjunction with switches, to control heating rate, the KilnSitter was strictly a mechanical device that shut off the kiln when the proper "heat work" was performed.
This was fine for many ceramic applications however when working with other materials such as glass and metal, users needed a control device that measured temperature instead of heat work. Other major drawbacks of the KilnSitter for the industrial market were it's inability to easily control firing rates and it's inability to soak materials at peak temperatures.

A New Generation of Hobby Kilns
In the late 80's the first generation of low cost temperature controllers were beginning to be used on Hobby Kilns. These new models allowed the users to control heating rates, soak at specific temperatures and even had programming that would simulate the “heat work” of pyrometric cones. Poor mounting designs that caused the circuit boards to overheat and fail accounted for the most of the problems with these first models.
By the early 90's hobby kiln manufacturers had a product that was pretty solid and could rival many industrial models for basic use functions. Multi-segment, storable programs are now a standard in hobby kilns and newer innovations such as Zone Control and the ability to interface with computers are now being introduced.
Now small to medium sized manufacturers are starting to take a second look at hobby kilns and recognizing some of the very real advantages they can offer their businesses.

Bigger Is Not Always Better
Pratt and Larson of Portland, Oregon is one of the early and most successful pioneers in a new generation of handmade tile companies that have recently made the big tile companies stop and take notice. They manufacture approximately 300,000 square feet of tile a year and do all of their glaze firings in thirty six 10 cu.ft. electric hobby kilns.
Pratt and Larson still use 2 large gas kilns to fire their bisque however they have found some distinct advantages to using the electric hobby kilns over the larger gas kilns for their glaze firings.

Faster Turnaround Times
One of the biggest advantages they found was that these smaller kilns can cool faster than larger kilns due to their smaller concentration of mass and thinner insulated walls. Having the capability to load, fire, cool and unload a kiln within a 24-hour period can sometimes double your production capacity.
Many times a company can find itself in a situation where their kiln is sitting idle while they are at work preparing the items with which to load it. When you have a number of smaller capacity kilns you can load and fire the product as it comes off the line and minimize idle kiln time.

Versatility
Having the ability to efficiently fire smaller batches gives you much more versatility in your scheduling, especially if your company fires a wide range of products. Colors can be grouped to avoid cross-contamination, products can more easily be batched by desired temperature and firing profiles, and rush jobs can more easily be accommodated.

Growth Friendly
Due to the smaller capacity of hobby kilns they can be added incrementally as production increases therefore the inefficiency gap between production and capacity remains small. Also it is easier to find space for a hobby kiln, which can be a lifesaver if you are trying to make it of the end of a lease. And when it is time to move to a new building, hobby kilns are much easier to relocate.
Smaller companies enjoy the small price tag as well. When a company is just starting cash flow is often times a problem and it is much easier to come up with the money for a $2000.00, 10 cu. ft. hobby kiln than it is to come up with $24,000 for a 100 cu. ft. shuttle kiln. Availability can also be a factor. Hobby kilns can be found in stock at distributors across the country whereas it is not uncommon for larger kilns to take 6 months for delivery.

Where from Here
Hobby kilns are obviously not for every business. For manufacturers that mass-produce commodity type items, large industrial furnaces are the most efficient vehicle. Natural Gas is generally less expensive then electricity and therefore represents a significant cost saving for large manufacturers. Another consideration can be that many glazes require a reduction atmosphere, which cannot be achieved in the oxidation atmosphere of an electric kiln.
In era characterized by cost cutting and emerging companies, hobby kilns will continue to thrive. Virtually everyone in America is exposed to one at some time in their life and more and more engineers, production managers, and buyers find themselves discovering that what they are doing is not too far from making little blue dogs.

What Is A Hobby Kiln
Temperature Range Max. 2350°F
Capacity Up to 12 cu.ft.
Construction Hobby brick is arranged in a multi-sided circular pattern and is held together by a stainless steel band.
Control Device Kiln Sitter, Automatic Solid State Controller