Fire Two or Three Times a Day. From a Regular Wall Outlet.
Most glass kilns are slow. They take an hour to warm up, hours to cool down, and they tie up your studio for the entire day for a single firing. The Jen-Ken AF3P Bonnie Glo Plus doesn't work that way. It's an all-fiber kiln that heats fast, cools fast, and lets you do 2 to 3 firings in a single day. Pendants can be in and out in under an hour.
The reason: fiber instead of firebrick. A traditional brick kiln spends most of its energy heating the brick body, then takes hours to release that heat. The Bonnie Glo's rigid fiber walls don't absorb heat the way brick does, so the energy goes into your glass instead of into the kiln. That's what makes the fast firing schedules possible.
The other thing that makes this kiln special: it opens two ways. Top-load like a normal kiln, or clamshell-open the whole front so you can build your piece directly on the kiln floor at table height instead of reaching down into a chamber. For jewelers, painters, and anyone doing detailed layout work, that changes the whole workflow.
It runs on a standard 120V wall outlet (NEMA 5-15) at just 1,560 watts. No dedicated circuit, no electrician, no special setup. Plug it into the wall and fire. At 35 pounds, it's portable enough to take to workshops, classes, or pop-up events.
No shelf needed (and that's intentional)
Fiber kilns don't use traditional clay shelves. You fire directly on the kiln floor with kiln wash and a piece of fiber paper, Kaiser Lee board, or lava cloth under your work. That's part of why it heats so fast — there's no heavy shelf to bring up to temperature. If you've only used brick kilns before, this is a different setup, but it's simple once you've done it once.
Who Is This Kiln For?
The Bonnie Glo Plus is built for a very specific kind of glass artist. Here's how to tell if that's you.
✓ Glass jewelers firing pendants, cabochons, and small pieces
Sub-hour firings means you can iterate fast. Make a pendant, fire it, decide what to change, make another one. The clamshell opening makes laying out small pieces dramatically easier than reaching into a top-loader.
✓ Glass painters and enamelists doing multiple test firings
Painting on glass means testing colors and firing cycles constantly. A fiber kiln that lets you do three firings in a day instead of one is a real workflow upgrade. You can actually develop a piece in a single session.
✓ Traveling teachers and workshop instructors
35 pounds, plugs into any wall outlet, fits on a folding table. You can teach a fusing class at a community center, a craft fair, or a friend's living room without needing special electrical or freight. The clamshell makes demos easier too.
✓ Artists with day jobs who fire on evenings and weekends
Start a firing after work, finish before bed, let it cool overnight. The fast schedules mean glass fits into a normal life instead of demanding a whole free day every time you want to fire.
✓ Apartment dwellers and renters with no 240V access
If you live somewhere you can't install a dedicated 240V circuit, this is one of the few real glass kilns that works for you. Standard wall outlet, low draw, no permanent install.
Included with every order
A heavy duty stand sized for this kiln, the full operator manual, kiln wash to get you started, the Orton AF3P 3-button controller, a 1 year limited warranty on the kiln and 2 year warranty on the controller through Jen-Ken, and free freight shipping to the US Lower 48.
About the name
The Bonnie Glo kilns are named in honor of Bonnie Glotfelty, mother of Jen-Ken Kilns owners Mike and Randy. Bonnie was a cornerstone of the fired arts community from the late 1960s onward, and this kiln line is Jen-Ken's tribute to her decades of dedication to the industry.
Recommended Add-Ons
Fiber Shelf
An optional fiber shelf sits on the kiln floor and gives you a working surface you can lay out at your workbench, then transfer into the kiln when you're ready. Protects the kiln floor too — better to damage a shelf than the kiln body. Use kiln wash and fiber paper either way.
Fiber Paper, Kaiser Lee Board, or Lava Cloth
You'll need a release layer between your glass and the kiln floor (or fiber shelf). Fiber paper is the standard cheap option. Kaiser Lee board and lava cloth are reusable and give you more flexibility for slumping work. Add one to your order so you can fire on day one.
Stand with Caster Wheels
The standard stand is stationary. Caster wheels make the kiln easy to roll around the studio, tuck into a corner when not in use, or move between teaching spaces. Light enough that it's not a must-have at 35 pounds, but useful if the kiln will live somewhere it needs to move regularly.