Item Name: Paragon Parts - Caldera Bead Collar Extender with Door SKU: CALDERA-BC Description: The Caldera Bead Collar Extender w Door is a kiln collar section built to stack on top of a Caldera or Caldera-S kiln to increase usable chamber height for bead annealing work. It is constructed from 2-1/2 inch insulating refractory firebricks and contains no heating elements, so it relies on the kiln body below to maintain temperature. A bead working door is built into the side of the collar so lampworkers can introduce hot beads into the kiln while keeping heat inside the chamber. This style of collar is used when you want more vertical space for garaging multiple mandrels, working with longer beads, or simply improving access and workflow during production beadmaking sessions without changing the firing capability of the kiln system. How it is used: The collar is placed on top of the Caldera or Caldera-S kiln base before firing, creating a taller chamber. Once the kiln is at annealing temperature, the side bead door is used as the working port. You open the door briefly, insert the bead on the mandrel into the hot chamber, and close the door to minimize heat loss. This allows you to garage beads between torch cycles and then complete a full annealing schedule at the end of the session. Because the collar has no elements, it is especially important to keep door-open time short so the kiln can recover temperature quickly and maintain stable annealing conditions. Dimensions: Bead door opening is 7-1/2" wide by 2" tall Collar adds 4-1/2" of height to the kiln Ship weight is 14.00 pounds
