Paragon KM45T Furnace W5.5"xD45"xH4.25" Touch Screen Controller

IMPORTANT NOTES ON ORDERING:

These are shipped directly from Paragon. Lead time is 3-5 weeks.

Paragon Kiln Free Shipping Terms

Test Exotic Heat Treating Formulas

When your Paragon KM-45T furnace arrives, you will begin to live the knife making adventure more fully. Now you can join that elite corps of knife makers who witness the birth of the knife. In the bright red heat of the furnace, the soul of the knife is born.

Many furnace owners revel in testing. They put blades through tests more severe than any knife owner would dare. They test for Rockwell hardness, but they don’t stop there. They count the number of cuts a knife makes on hemp rope. They measure the foot-pounds of torque required to bend the blade to 45° or even 90°. Then they straighten the blade, slap on a handle and test it in the real world.

The knife maker with a KM-series furnace can try exotic heat treating methods at his leisure. Does quenching in dry ice improve blade performance? What happens when 52100 steel is triple-quenched with a one-day wait between each quench? After this treatment, will a 52100 blade bend to 90° without chipping? What if you freeze the steel between quenches?

With a Paragon furnace in your shop, all questions about heat treating formulas are settled. You find out for yourself what works and what doesn’t. Testing and heat treating is at the heart of the knife making adventure. Here is where your confidence as a knife maker takes root.

A message from Ed Fowler, Master Blade Smith, (Member, American Bladesmith Society)

“Paragon offered me no financial rewards or free equipment for this endorsement. I recommend Paragon furnaces only because they make an excellent, reliable product.

“I've made knives off and on since the sixth grade. I enjoy every second in the shop making knives. I used to harden and temper with a torch. As my skills increased, my testing of knives revealed the benefit of longer and more uniform soak times during the annealing and tempering cycles than were possible with a torch.

“I finally bought a Paragon furnace. It is extremely beneficial to bladesmithing, because it allows us to do things with our blades we couldn't do otherwise. If I had known how good they are, I would have bought one years before I did.

“You don't want to introduce any variables into your blades by accident, and temperature is one such variable. With a Paragon, you know exactly what causes what and why. My advice to beginning knifemakers is to use the best equipment you can as soon as you can add it to your shop. I wasted a lot of time and energy trying to make knives with less than the best equipment for the job. Invest in quality equipment, learn how to use it right, and use your time seeking the best knife you can make.

“Without my Paragon oven, I would have never made the discoveries about steel that I’ve made. I love my Paragon. That Paragon sure made a big difference in my knife making. Any experiment I want to run is right there. If I want to change a heat treatment, I know exactly how. With every knife, I learn more.

“Thermal cycles, commonly known as heat treating of blades, are the most significant single aspect contributing to the quality of a knifemaker’s blade. Knifemakers who wish to explore the absolute frontiers of the world of knives in search of the Excalibur of their dreams must have the ability to design thermal treatments specifically intended to push their steel to the highest limits of performance. Absolute control of the temperature of their blades is absolutely essential to success.

“Paragon makes a nice piece of equipment. I recommend it very highly to anyone who asks and to many people who don't ask. In order to make knives that my customers can depend upon, I have to be able to count on my equipment to provide consistent performance. My Paragon heat treating oven has always provided the degree of dependability I can count on to support my commitment to provide my customers the best functional knife possible.

“Believe me, I'm much richer knowing I'm making the best knife I can. I'm much happier with myself.”

A bond of trust

The knife maker’s credo is simple: to create a knife that represents the knife maker himself. Quality of work is not just a fad for him. It is a passion. Anything less than one’s best is unthinkable.

The buyer of a custom knife appreciates fine detail. He or she marvels at the lines and curves the maker coaxed from the steel with such patience. There is a bond of trust between the owner of a fine knife and its maker. This is why the knife maker sleeps better when he controls every step in creating a knife.

The knife maker derives joy from working with his hands. He makes knives that are not merely prized, but treasured. When the knife owner wipes a rag across such a knife, he is caressing as much as cleaning it. Part of this spirit of knife making is lost when you send the blade out for heat treating and await its return. Every time you, the maker, release one of your knives to the world, your reputation goes with it. This is why makers feel compelled to control every step in the blade’s journey from initial design through final polishing.

No more waiting

A Paragon KM-series furnace sets the knife maker free. No more wrapping blades and shipping them to your heat treater. No more waiting until you have a dozen blades to get the best price on heat treating. No more turning away orders for last-minute gifts.

While your furnace is hardening and tempering blades, you can busy yourself grinding more knives or fitting handles. After you’ve used your Paragon furnace awhile, you will wonder how you ever got along without it. When asked to make a knife on short notice—whether for a Marine Corps awards presentation, a soldier’s pre-deployment party, or an archaeologist on his way to Africa—you will be ready. When a custom knife is needed as a going away gift, and the recipient is leaving in three days, you will be ready. Your KM-series furnace might even pay for itself on rush orders you would otherwise have missed.

Own a furnace and you alone decide when you will complete a knife. If you stay up one Friday grinding a knife, you can heat treat it that evening and deliver it Saturday morning. Just in time for a grateful wife to present to her husband on his birthday.

Finishing a knife whenever you want will excite you. You will find yourself working into the night to complete a new design. When you send the blade out for heat treating, the excitement of making it is forgotten. By the time the blade returns, you hardly remember it.

The KM-14T, KM-24T and KM-36T & KM-45T

The KM-series furnace comes in four interior sizes:

• KM-14T: 14 ½” long, 5 ½” wide, and 4 ¼” high
• KM-24T: 24” long, 5 ½” wide, and 4 ¼” high
• KM-36T: 36” long, 5 ½” wide, and 4 ¼” high
• KM-45T: 45” long, 5 ½” wide, and 4 ¼” high

Even if most of your knives would fit inside the KM-14T, you may ultimately be happier with the KM-24T, the most popular size. Too much capacity may be better than too little. After all, it doesn’t hurt to heat shorter blades in the longer KM-24T; electrical consumption is minimal. The KM-24T is priced only slightly higher than the KM-14T. Just knowing you could make a larger blade when you wanted may be worth the extra cost of the KM-24T.

Solid construction

The door swings open with one-handed operation. A counter-weight handle holds the door securely closed. The furnace is insulated with refractory firebrick. The elements are mounted in dropped, recessed grooves machined into the firebrick. Paragon invented this type of groove in 1952. This groove protects the element for long life and low maintenance. Elements are simple to replace because they’re exposed rather than embedded. You can thread new elements into place following clear instructions in the manual.

The firing chamber is protected by a steel case painted in high temperature blue. A built-in stand lifts the firing chamber safely off your worktable, so no extra stand is needed. The door is mounted with a heavy-duty hinge for smooth opening. A micro-switch shuts off the power to the elements when the door is opened. We use high temperature wire in the switch box for long life. A heat shield, mounted between the switch box and furnace, helps keep the switch box components cool even during extended operation. To further dissipate heat, the switch box is extra large and generously louvered. Each furnace comes with a cord and plug for immediate installation, and a one year warranty.

Complete instructions

Your furnace includes a wiring diagram, programming instructions, and heat treating manual. The manual gives you basic heat treating instructions for D2, 440C, ATS 34 and 154 CM. The manual is written in plain English for the beginner.

Optional Gas Injection Flow Meter

During heat treating, scale forms on the surface of the steel. One way to eliminate most scaling is to wrap the steel in stainless steel foil. Another way is to install the gas injection flow meter on your furnace. It is available as either an add-on kit, or you can order the furnace with the meter installed.

The meter regulates the flow of an inert gas, such as argon, inside the furnace. The gas displaces the oxygen to prevent most scaling.

Specifications

Max. Temperature 2350F 1287C Amps 19 Phase 1 Watts 4560 Nema 6-20P Breaker Size 20 Circuit Wire Size 12 gauge TUV tested to CSA and UL Standard 499 N CE N IMPORTANT: Some areas such as Canada and Europe require a lid or door safety switch on kilns. Control Type Sentry Digital 12-key Non-Ceramic Voltage 240 Hertz 60 Disclaimer: The specifications above assume that the kiln will be plugged into a dedicated circuit. Local electric codes supersede our recommendations. The pricing and electrical specifications for the above products reflect their design for use in the United States. The International versions of most models will have variations in electrical specifications and price due to consumer safety requirements or electrical regulations. Sentry Digital 12-key Non-Ceramic Control Type   Paragon digital kilns are powered by either the 12-key Sentry micro processor or the smaller 3-key Sentry Xpress. These micro processors are the result of intensive effort between Paragon Industries, L.P. and Orton Ceramic Foundation. The controllers add convenience and accuracy to your firings.  Owning a Sentry is like hiring an assistant to watch your kiln. Nevertheless, please remember that you should monitor the kiln occasionally during firing, especially near the expected shut-off. (We do not warrant against over-fires.)  Sentry 12-Key 2.0  Most Paragon ceramic kilns use the Sentry 12-key. Some of its exciting features:  Temperature Display throughout firing and cooling in your choice of °F or °C  Firing Cost Enter the cost of electricity and kiln amperage in Options. After the kiln fires to completion, press the 8 key for the cost of electricity to fire that load.  Rate At the factory, we can configure a controller for you to show rate as degrees of temperature change per hour (the default), degrees of temperature change per minute, or elapsed time needed to reach a temperature.  Stop/Back Key goes back one step with each key press during programming. Use this feature to correct programming errors.  Add Time Key adds five minutes to a temperature hold with each key press during firing. Helpful for glass with holds.  Program Review lets you check that the program you are about to fire is correct.  Audible Temperature Alarm to remind yourself to close a vented lid or to check the kiln near firing completion.  30 Month Warranty  Thermocouple Selection The Sentry 2.0 can operate types K, S or R thermocouples.  Error Messages report mechanical problems such as a disconnected thermocouple, bad voltage, temperature deviation.  14 Segment Display is easier to read than the previous 7 segment.  Program Safety Lock for the program in active memory. Gives you peace of mind.  Delay Fire Set the time that the firing is to start. The kiln will turn on at that time.  LED Lights show when the relays are powered.  Quick Release Molex Connectors permit fast removal of the controller. Replacing the Sentry 2.0 or Sentry Xpress takes only minutes.  The Sentry 2.0 can be installed on all existing Paragon 12-key digital kilns. It uses the same size faceplate as the earlier DTC 100 - 1000 series. Upgrade a switch-operated kiln with the wall-mount version.  Thermocouples  The thermocouple senses temperature inside the kiln. The standard thermocouple on most Paragon kilns equipped with the Sentry 2.0 is the ¼” Type-K. It is hermetically sealed in a metal sheath for long life. It replaces the earlier 1/8” thermocouple.  Though a precision instrument, the thermocouple wears with use, resulting in a gradual shift in temperature readout. (This wear occurs mostly above 2000°F.) If you fire pottery, consider the deluxe Type-S, noted for its extreme longevity.  Ramp-Hold Custom Programming  Ramp-Hold allows you to infinitely adjust each part of the firing cycle. Vary the firing to obtain different effects from the same glaze.  Ramp-Hold programs are made of segments. Each segment has a temperature, firing rate, and, if desired, a temperature hold.  Skip Segment skips past any segment.  Store Nine Programs: One 18-segment and eight 10-segment programs remain in memory even when the kiln is unplugged.  Present Status shows which segment the kiln has reached during firing.  Cooling Control both heating and cooling. For deeper colors, especially iron reds, experiment with slow cooling.  Hold is available in every segment.  AOP Vent  The “Auxiliary Output” is available on most Paragon TnF kilns. The AOP is a relay-powered electrical receptacle mounted to the kiln. You can plug an Orton KilnVent into the AOP to control when the vent operates during firing.  Three Zone Firing  Standard TnF kilns are single zone; 3 zone is optional on 10- and 12-sided TnF kilns. Three zone is now faster and more accurate than on previous 3 zone controllers because of the Sentry’s time-temperature algorithm. This eliminates the temperature lag adjustment.

Kiln Type Front Loading Square Sides 4 Understanding Chamber Measurements Chamber Volume 0.61 CU.FT. 17.27 litres Chamber Width 5.50 IN 140 mm Chamber Depth 45.00 IN 1143 mm Chamber Height 4.25 IN 108 mm The Outer Size of the Kiln and the Shipping Size: Width = Left to Right; Depth = Front to Back; Height = Top to Bottom Outer Size 23.00W x 50.00D x 14.50H Inches 584W x 1270D x 368H mm Ship Size 28.80W x 52.00D x 23.00H Inches 732W x 1321D x 584H mm Ship Weight 210.00 Lbs. 95.26 Kg. Ship Method & Notations This Kiln Ships Via Truck         Part Number KM45D   * Base Model

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