Oooh, it's hard to decide on a kiln... I would like to spend the money and get a Paragon SC-3, but that is more than I want to spend. And for the type of work I'm likely to do, the Paragon SC-2 is more than fine.
http://www.riogrande.com/PMC/703-077.htm
The other kiln is a Sierra 360F, at about the same price (a bit more expensive), about the same size, and about the same capabilities.
http://www.riogrande.com/PMC/703-060.htm
Apparently, the Sierra was built by a designer who left Paragon, and it has some subtle design improvements that make it "better". It seems to be recommended more often than the Paragon, at least.
Both of them are sold by Rio Grande, my preferred supplier (see links above).
At lunch today, I hope to put together an order from the notes I currently have.... kiln, tools, materials...
Expensive!
And I don't have the cash on hand until the 15th, so I'll put it on the Visa and schedule a payment on the 15th to cover (almost all of) it.
I hope we find enough uses for it, to justify the expense! You can do all manner of activities in it -- precious metal clay, glass slumping, enameling, and probably even heat-treating. Small stuff. It's only 6" tall inside!
We have some friends who might be able to use it, too, so we can spread the joy around.