Paragon MagicFuseMicrowave KilnInstruction &

Service Manual

You are about to enter the magical worldof accelerated high temperature glassfiring. To safely find your way around,read this manual. Save for futurereference.

IntroductionThank you for buying a Paragon MagicFuse kiln. You are about tobegin an adventure in creativity. Use the MagicFuse to make fusedglass jewelry of your own design. The MagicFuse uses advancedtechnology to fuse glass at spectacular speeds—all inside acommon microwave oven.

Mastering this kiln requires practice and patience. Please begin byreading the manual. The information here will save you much timeand is based on our own testing. Follow the manual and learn tocontrol the heat toachieve precise fusingresults.

The two mostcommon firing errorsare breaking andover-firing the glass.The manual will showyou how to avoid thoseerrors by pre-heatingthe glass and checkingit visually.

To expand yourknowledge of glass, visit www.paragonweb.com and select “Prod-ucts,” then “Books & DVDs” from the drop menu. You will find awide selection of recommended books that you can purchase fromyour favorite reseller.

Paragon makes a large selection of electric glass kilns for the hob-byist and professional. To make larger or more intricate pieces orto fire production loads of glass, please see our kilns atwww.paragonweb.com.

We wish you much success in glass fusing.

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IM-240/10-08©2008, by Paragon Industries, L.P.

Checking the glass visually.

Packed with the MagicFuseKiln top

Kiln base

6 - ½" ceramic posts

Glass separator

Instruction manual

Other Supplies NeededMicrowave oven with metal interior that is at least 8" tall inside

12" x 12" ceramic tile, ce-ramic kiln shelf, or otherheat-proof surface

Heat-resistant gloves

1" paint brush for applyingglass separator

Notebook for keeping fir-ing records

Glass cutter

Clear safety glasses

MagicFuse Kiln SpecificationsInterior: 4 ½" diameter firing surface x 1 ½" highExterior: 7" wide x 4" high1" thick ceramic fiber wallsMaximum temperature 1650°F / 898°C

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Safety Rules� Do not use extension cords with the microwave.� Wear clear safety

glasses whenever visu-ally checking the glassin a hot kiln. It is possi-ble for hot glass tobreak apart and fly outof the kiln during firingand cooling.

� Stay at arm's lengthfrom the kiln when youlift the top to check hotglass.

� Fire only glass in the MagicFuse. Do not fire marbles, pre-cious stones, ceramics, combustible materials, or metal in-side the kiln. These materials can explode due to the veryrapid heating rate.

� Fire only fusing-compatible glass, which is available from artglass suppliers. Incompatible glass will break, sometimesweeks after the piece is fired.

� Wear heat-protective gloves when removing the hot kiln fromthe microwave oven. Hold the kiln top and base with bothhands.

� Remove the kiln fromthe microwave ovenimmediately after thefiring is finished. Donot allow the kiln tocool inside the micro-wave.

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Wear safety glasses when visually checking theglass in the kiln.

Remove the kiln right after the firing is finished.Wear heat-protective gloves.

� Place the hot kiln on aheat-proof surface afteryou remove it from themicrowave. Place 3 - ½"ceramic posts under thekiln to separate it fromthe heat-proof surface.

� Do not place a hot kilnunder an overhead cabi-net. Keep the hot kiln 8" away from any combustible surface.

� Do not over-fire the kiln. Over-firing will damage the kiln andis not covered by warranty. If you are not sure how long to fire,then under-fire and gradually increase the firing time.

� After removing the kiln from the microwave, leave the kilnclosed for at least 45 minutes. Do not fire the kiln again until ithas cooled at least 45 minutes since the last firing.

� When opening the kiln af-ter it has cooled, lay the kilntop upside-down on a heatproof surface. Placing thetop with the open face downagainst the heat-proof sur-face may cause heat to buildup.

� Do not leave the kiln unat-tended around children orpets. The kiln interior canreach well over 1650°F (898°C)!

� Turn off the microwave if you see sparking inside.� Avoid breathing dust from glass separator or ceramic fiber

paper.� You can fuse painted glass (using paint designed for glass

fusing, available from art glass suppliers.) Painted glass mayproduce fumes, so operate in a well-ventilated area. Consultyour art glass supplier for more details.

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Cracks in the KilnSmall cracks will appear inside the kiln after you have fired it several

times. Do not be concerned with these. They are normal and do not af-fect the firing results. The kiln will make plinking noises as it cools.This is also normal and nothing to be concerned about.

The Microwave OvenTo fire your new MagicFuse kiln, you will need a microwave oven

with metal interior that is at least 8" tall inside. After firing the kiln, youcan still cook food in the microwave. But you should clean it first. (Seeyour microwave manual for cleaning instructions.)

Note: Some older microwave ovens are not able to fire the kiln.If the kiln does not get hot, try a newer microwave. Some mi-crowave ovens heat the glass unevenly. In this case, try a differ-ent microwave, or fire only one piece of glass at a time.

Basic Glass CuttingCaution: Always wear clear safety glasses while cutting glass.Small slivers of glass can become airborne.

Lay the glasson a clean, flatsurface. Markoff the cut witha grease pencilat each end ofthe glass. Lay astraight edgeover the glassand line it upwith the marksyou just made.

Hold the straight edge firmly and score the glass with a qualityglass cutter (preferably one with an oil reservoir). Hold thecutter vertically and not slanted. Press hard enough so thatthe scoring noise sounds steady and unbroken. But don'tpress harder than you need to.

Place the straight edge under the glass so that an edge of thestraight edge is lined up with the score line you just made.Press down on the glass to break it on the score line.

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Note: A quality glass cutter with oil reservoir, available from artglass suppliers, is much easier to use than the inexpensivecutters sold in hardwarestores. A good cutter willsave enough glass to payfor itself.

A Fast Way to Cut SmallPieces

First make all your scorelines on the glass. Then turnthe glass over and tap out thepieces. This is an easy, fastway to cut many pieces.

Glass FusingThe maximum size of glass fired in the

MagicFuse is 2" square, and the maximumthickness is 2 layers of 1

8" or 4 layers of 116". Two

layers of 18" x 1" x 1 ½" is a good average size.

Larger or thicker projects may break fromheat shock due to the very fast firing rate. Youcan successfully fuse dichroic glass in theMagicFuse.

Note: For pieces larger than 1" or formore than 2 layers, pre-heat the glass at50% power for 5 minutes. See your mi-crowave instruction manual for adjustingthe power.

Sometimes a finished glass piece isunderfired and needs additional fusing. Afterlayers of glass have been fused together, the glass becomes one thickmass and is more likely to break from heat shock if fused a second timein the MagicFuse. However, you can usually succeed with a second fir-ing if you pre-heat the piece at 40 - 50% for 5 - 10 minutes.

Fire fusing-compatible glass purchased from an art glass supplier.The glass that you fuse together must be rated to the same coefficientof expansion (COE). A piece made from glasses of different COE rat-ings will likely break as it cools. Your supplier can give you the COErating of your glass (usually 90 or 96).

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See your microwave man-ual for instructions on re-ducing the power to 50%.

Note: Glass of different COE ratings must be stored sepa-rately in clearly marked containers, or use glass of only oneCOE rating.

Before assembling glass pieces, cleanthem with water or alcohol to remove fin-gerprints and dirt, which may otherwisebecome permanently etched into thefired glass. A greasy fingerprint can alsocause the glass to break during firing.

Do not glue the glass pieces that youare about to fire. Glue between layers ofglass increases the chance of breakage. Because the kiln fires so rap-idly, glue doesn't have time to burn out completely and discolors theglass, especially dichroic.

Protect the Base withGlassSeparator

Coat the circular firing areaof the kiln base with glass sep-arator. This prevents hot glassfrom sticking to the base. Ap-ply 2 - 3 thin coats with a brush,and dry before firing the kiln.Follow instructions on theglass separator package.

Note: You can dry the glass separator with a hair dryer or placethe kiln base inside an oven at 200°F (90°C).

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Clean the glass before firing.

Sand off a damaged coat of glass separa-tor before applying a new coat.

Drying the glass separator with a hair dryer.

Apply more glass separator to areas where the coating flakes off orcracks with use. Gently sandpaper the base and apply another coat.

Note: Before applying a new coat of glass separator, removeonly enough of the old separator to smoothen the surface. It isnot necessary to remove all the separator.

Shelf paper, sold by art glasssuppliers, does the same thing asshelf separator: It prevents theglass from sticking to the kilnbase. The shelf paper is placedbetween the glass and the kilnbase. But if you use glass separa-tor, you do not need shelf paper.

Some brands of shelf paperproduce an odor. For this reasonwe recommend only glass separa-tor when working in a kitchen area.

Note: Even if you use shelf paper, the kiln base still needs acoating of glass separator.

Position the KilnInside the Microwave

Firing the kiln on the mi-crowave's food rotator trayproduces better heat distri-bution inside the kiln. How-ever, in some microwavesthe rotator tray jerks as itturns, moving glass piecesout of position. If this is aproblem with your micro-wave, either use a differentmicrowave, or remove therotator tray and rollers fromthe microwave. If you cannotremove the rotator parts,then turn the rotator tray upside-down, and place 3 of the ½" ceramicposts that came with your kiln on the tray. If there is enough space, itmay also be possible to remove the tray and place the posts in the bot-tom of the microwave near the rotator parts.

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Shelf paper under the glass.

Removing the rotator tray and rollers.

Note: Clean the rollersand area under the ro-tator tray for thesmoothest rotation.

Note: Always position 3- 1/2" posts under thekiln inside the micro-wave oven. The postsprevent the kiln fromoverheating the bot-tom of the microwave.

The Firing TimeAll microwave ovens fire differently. The firing time varies from one

microwave to the next, and a kiln that is still warm from a previous fir-ing takes less time to fire than a cold kiln. A fluctuation in voltage canalso change the firing time.

Five minutes is the recommended minimum firing time. Use a re-duced power setting on your microwave if it fires in less time than 5minutes. This will lengthen the firing time to give you finer control.See the microwave manual for instructions on reduced heat settings.

The easiest way tofire the kiln is to fire aglass piece in severalstages, visually check-ing the glass at eachstage. Each time youvisually check theglass, fire 30 - 60 sec-onds longer until the glass has fused to your satisfaction. Start outunderfiring a test piece, and gradually add more firing time.

Note: The glass begins to fuse during the last 30 seconds offiring. This is why precise fusing is much easier with visual in-spection of the glass.

Keep a detailed firing logbook to record the firing times for eachtype of project. Write down the following:

Date

Type of microwave oven

Brand, color, and size of glass

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Left to right: tack fuse, medium fuse, and full fuse.

Clean the rollers and track for the smoothest rota-tion of the tray.

Pre-heating time, if any, and pre-heat microwave power setting

Power setting during firing

Firing time

Whether the kiln was still warm from the previous firing

Firing results and what you learned from the firingSuggested Firing Times

These times are approximate and are based on the microwave ovenwattage.

800 watts: 6 minutes1000 watts: 5 minutes1200 watts: 4 minutes (Remember, use a reduced power setting

when the firing time is under 5 minutes.)

Fire the KilnPreparation

Before firing the kiln, make sure the glass separator that you ap-plied to the base has dried.

Decide where you will place the hot kiln when you remove it fromthe microwave. Three ½" ceramic posts on a 12" x 12" ceramic tile orceramic kiln shelf are good choices. The 3 ceramic posts will separatethe hot kiln from the ceramic tile or shelf. The posts prevent heat fromtransferring to the table or counter surface under the tile.

Caution: Avoid placing a hot kiln on Formica, wood, or plasticsurfaces. Do not place the kiln on top of the microwave to cool.

Load the MicrowavePlace 3 - ½" ceramic posts in the microwave.

Center the glass you are firing on the kiln base.

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Position the kiln base on top of the posts so the base is cen-tered inside the microwave.

Place the kiln body on top of the base.Fire the Kiln

Close the microwave door gently to avoid jarring the glass in-side the kiln.

Until you know how long to fire the kiln, start out under-firingthe glass. Set the timer for 3 minutes or less. Turn on the mi-crowave oven.

Open the microwave door when the timer goes off. Leave thekiln inside the microwave. Wearing heat-protective gloves andclear safety glasses, lift the kiln top about an inch and checkthe glass. Look for only a second or two. Lower the kiln top.

Note: Wear safety glasses and stay at arm's length from the kiln(at least 15") whenever looking at the hot glass.

If the glass needs to fire longer, close the microwave door, pro-gram another 30 - 60 seconds, and fire again. Then visuallycheck the kiln again as in Step 3 above. Keep adding firingtime and checking theglass until the glass isdone.

When the firing is com-pleted, remove the kilnfrom the microwave wear-ing heat-protective gloves.

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Wear safety glasses and stay at arm’s length when checking the glass visually.

Be careful to hold the kiln by the base. Keep the kiln top on thebase so that heat does not escape the kiln.

Note: The easiest way to figure the total firing time is to pro-gram a longer firing than is needed. Then subtract the timeshown in the display at the end of the firing from the time en-tered at the beginning. Example: Enter 10 minutes at the be-ginning. The timer shows 4 minutes, 30 seconds when you re-move the kiln from the microwave. 10 - 4 minutes, 30 seconds= 5 minutes, 30 seconds total firing time.

Caution: Always remove the kiln after firing is finished. Leav-ing a hot kiln inside the microwave to cool would cause the mi-crowave to overheat since the heat released from the kilnwould build up in the enclosed space.

Cooling the KilnPlace the kiln on top of 3 - ½" ce-

ramic posts that are on aheat-proof surface such as a ce-ramic tile. Allow the kiln to cool forat least 45 minutes before liftingthe kiln top.

Caution: Do not speed up thecooling by lifting the kiln topor using a fan. Allow the closedkiln to cool for 45 minutes.Opening the kiln too soon could crack glass pieces from ther-mal shock. The larger the glass, the longer it takes to cool be-fore opening the kiln.

Note: While you wait forthe kiln to cool, cut andassemble the next pieces.

When opening the kiln af-ter it has cooled, lay the kilntop upside-down on aheatproof surface. Placing thetop with the open face downagainst the heat proof surfacemay cause heat to build up.

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Place 3 ceramic posts between the kilnand a heat-proof surface.

Place the warm top upside-down after removingthe glass from the base.

Sample Pendant ProjectAfter firing, the pendant is done. You do not need to glue a jewelry

finding to the back, because the design includes a channel that isfused into the glass where you can string a cord or chain. Use glass thatis rated fusing compatible.

Note: This delicate pendant requires a microwave oven thatdoes not vibrate during operation.Vibration will cause the top piece ofglass to move out of place. It may benecessary to remove the micro-wave rotator tray.

Cut 2 pieces of 34" x 1 1

2 " glass.

With scissors or razor blade, cut astrip of 1

8" thick fiber shelf paperto form the channel for the cordor chain. Size: 1

8" thick x 18" wide x

1" long.

Clean fingerprints from the glass.Then handle only by the edges.

Lay the fiber paper across onepiece of glass so that it is parallelwith the 3

4" side and 38" from the

edge.

Gently lay the second piece ofglass over the first.

Sprinkle broken pieces of dichroicglass over the top piece of glass.

Load the piece onto theMagicFuse kiln base. (The basemust first be coated with glassseparator.)

Fire the glass until the glasspieces have fused together andthe top piece has curled aroundthe fiber paper scrap. Stop the fir-ing before the dichroic glass flat-

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tens into the surface. This particular piece should receive onlya light-to-medium fuse.

Allow the kiln to cool for at least 45 minutes.

When the glass is cool enough to touch, remove the fiber paperwith a tooth pick and thread a cord or chain into the channel.

Glass TroubleshooterPoints on the edges of the glass

The glass was fired too hot. Grindthe edges of the glass with a sheet offine sandpaper or emery cloth. Lay thesandpaper on a flat surface and rub theglass over the sandpaper.Cracks

The piece was too large or had toomany layers. Or you fired a piece a sec-ond time. Next time, fire smallerpieces, pre-heat the glass, or fire at alower heat setting on your microwaveoven.

The glass was removed too soonfrom the kiln. Allow the glass to cool atleast 45 minutes before lifting the kilntop and removing the piece.

The glass pieces that fused togetherare incompatible. This means they expanded and contracted duringfiring at different rates. Buy glass that is rated fusing compatible froman art glass supplier.

Maintenance InstructionsRepairing Cracked or Flaked Black Coating

To repair the silicon carbide coating, you will need the coating(available from Paragon), sandpa-per, and a 1” paint brush.

Lay the kiln top on its side.Sand the black coating on theinner surface with a piece ofsandpaper. Rotate the kiln topas you sand. You do not needto remove all the coating.

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Removing pointed corners from theglass.

Sand until the interior iswhite to gray in color.

Apply a new coat with a 1"paint brush.

Apply a second coating after24 hours.

Allow the kiln to dry com-pletely before firing.

Removing EmbeddedGlass from the Kiln

Hot glass can break duringfiring and fly against the kilntop and base. After the kilncools, remove the embeddedglass. If necessary, dig the glassout of the ceramic fiber using apocketknife. Repairing smalllow spots in the fiber is usuallynot necessary.Repairing Gouges in the Ceramic Fiber Base

Turn the base up-side-down on a sheet ofsandpaper and rub in a cir-cular motion. Remove as lit-tle material as possible fromthe base. Then recoat thebase with glass separator.

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Use a pocket knife to remove embedded glassfrom the base.

2011 South Town East Blvd.Mesquite, Texas 75149-1122800-876-4328 / 972-288-7557Toll Free Fax: 888-222-6450info@paragonweb.comwww.paragonweb.com

Sanding the base to remove minor gouges.