DO YOU HAVE TO USE A KILN?

I am very interested in starting to learn about poly clay crafts and am
wondering if a kiln is absolutely necessary. Would my home oven work as
well (it's electric, not gas).

--
To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.
Moderation is for monks!

For regular polyclay, of course your home oven is fine. One word of caution, though,
if you burn a batch, you'll need to clean the inside of your oven, because the fumes
are toxic. It would be better to invest in a cheap toaster oven, perhaps.

If you're getting into Precious Metal Clay...and anyone please correct me if I'm
wrong....but you'd need a kiln for that.
--
Jalynne - Keeper of the Quilt for ME club list
Queen Gypsy (snail mail available upon request)
see what i've been up to at www.100megsfree4.com/jalynne

"brat352" wrote in message
om...
I am very interested in starting to learn about poly clay crafts and am
wondering if a kiln is absolutely necessary. Would my home oven work as
well (it's electric, not gas).

--
To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.
Moderation is for monks!

You can work with Precious Metal Clay in a kiln, one of the new 'hotpot'
setups or with a butane torch and a firebrick/tile.


For polymer clay an oven or toaster oven is fine.


"Jalynne" wrote in message
nk.net...
If you're getting into Precious Metal Clay...and anyone please correct me
if I'm
wrong....but you'd need a kiln for that.

A toaster oven might be just the ticket, but no matter which of your home
ovens you use please invest in an oven thermometer. Keeping the oven
temperature just right will avoid those horrible moments when your house
fills with toxic smoke and your beautiful creations turn as black as
perfectly cooked marshmallows.
Happy claying!
Diana

--
Heart and soul can make up for technical lacking in any form of art, but let
the heart be lacking and all the perfection means nothing.
"Jalynne" wrote in message
nk.net...
For regular polyclay, of course your home oven is fine. One word of
caution, though,
if you burn a batch, you'll need to clean the inside of your oven, because
the fumes
are toxic. It would be better to invest in a cheap toaster oven, perhaps.

If you're getting into Precious Metal Clay...and anyone please correct me
if I'm
wrong....but you'd need a kiln for that.
--
Jalynne - Keeper of the Quilt for ME club list
Queen Gypsy (snail mail available upon request)
see what i've been up to at www.100megsfree4.com/jalynne

"brat352" wrote in message
om...
I am very interested in starting to learn about poly clay crafts and am
wondering if a kiln is absolutely necessary. Would my home oven work as
well (it's electric, not gas).

--
To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.
Moderation is for monks!

With PMC3, you can use a HotPot. You can fire it at a lower
temperature. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

Cheers,
Carla

Jalynne wrote:

For regular polyclay, of course your home oven is fine. One word of caution, though,
if you burn a batch, you'll need to clean the inside of your oven, because the fumes
are toxic. It would be better to invest in a cheap toaster oven, perhaps.

If you're getting into Precious Metal Clay...and anyone please correct me if I'm
wrong....but you'd need a kiln for that.

When you say "toxic" fumes...I have cats and am worried that this "toxic"
fume would be dangerous to them. The reason I am asking is once I had a
parakeet back when Teflon was very new and didn't know that if you cooked
something in Teflon at a very high temperature it gave off fumes. Needless
to say the parakeet died. I was devastated.

Thanks for your input!

brat352 (Deb)
"Jalynne" wrote in message
nk.net...
For regular polyclay, of course your home oven is fine. One word of
caution, though,
if you burn a batch, you'll need to clean the inside of your oven, because
the fumes
are toxic. It would be better to invest in a cheap toaster oven, perhaps.

If you're getting into Precious Metal Clay...and anyone please correct me
if I'm
wrong....but you'd need a kiln for that.
--
Jalynne - Keeper of the Quilt for ME club list
Queen Gypsy (snail mail available upon request)
see what i've been up to at www.100megsfree4.com/jalynne

"brat352" wrote in message
om...
I am very interested in starting to learn about poly clay crafts and am
wondering if a kiln is absolutely necessary. Would my home oven work as
well (it's electric, not gas).

--
To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.
Moderation is for monks!

If you burn the clay it gives off toxic fumes. So, dont let it burn! ;-) In
all seriousness, open a window, turn on your oven vent (if you have one) and
put your cat in another room if you are concerned that your oven might burn
the clay. Or, buy a toaster oven and do your clay work in the garage.
The fumes from curing clay are not toxic. I cure my clay without any
concern that it will give off any toxic fumes. Many people have reported
curing clay without any ill effect on their birds.
Buy an oven thermometer and keep your oven at the recommended
manufacturers temps and you have nothing to worry about.
Diana

--
Vote this November (U.S.A.)

"brat352" wrote in message
. ..
When you say "toxic" fumes...I have cats and am worried that this "toxic"
fume would be dangerous to them. The reason I am asking is once I had a
parakeet back when Teflon was very new and didn't know that if you cooked
something in Teflon at a very high temperature it gave off fumes.
Needless
to say the parakeet died. I was devastated.

Thanks for your input!

Hi brat352,

I tried to send you a personal e-mail with lots of info on baking polymer clay
and also the safety issues you asked about, but it was bounced back with these
messages:

`````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```
.. . . does not like recipient.
Remote host said: ... Addressee unknown

`````````````````````````````````````````````````` ````
If you see this message in the newsgroup and want the info I wrote, drop me a
private e-mail and I'll resend it to whichever address you'd like. (...see my
address in signature below... and please use the word polymer in the subject
line. TIA)


Diane B.
http://www.glassattic.com ...... polymer clay "encyclopedia"

.........if sending me e-mail, DO NOT USE MY AOL address (or I may never see
it!)
Use this address instead:






..