Maker machines for UK homes
The home maker's workshop, sized for a UK house.
Which machine fits your space, your socket and your budget, what each project really costs to make, and how to run it safely. Start with the workshop planner.
Specs from each maker's UK spec page, safety from official UK guidance, each with the date we checked it.
Workshop planner: which maker machine fits my home?
Worked example
For pottery and laser engraving in a garage with an outside wall, no window and two sockets:
- Electric pottery kiln: check first. Measure the maker's footprint plus the clearances in its manual against your space. Whether a kiln can use a normal plug depends on its power. Check it with the 13A plug checker. Keep the room ventilated while it fires, as the maker's manual says. Check the maker's noise figure if others will hear it. Running a supply out to a garage, shed or garden room is a job for a registered electrician.
- Pottery wheel: check first. Measure the maker's footprint plus the clearances in its manual against your space. The maker's spec says what supply it needs. Check the maker's noise figure if others will hear it.
- Laser engraver or cutter: check first. Measure the maker's footprint plus the clearances in its manual against your space. The maker's spec says what supply it needs. You have an outside wall for an extraction duct. Plan the route before you buy. Check the maker's noise figure if others will hear it. Running a supply out to a garage, shed or garden room is a job for a registered electrician.
- A kiln, or a supply run out to a garage, means a registered electrician.
- Building a base or bench in the garage? Plankley does the building maths.
Source: Electrical Safety First, awaiting check; HSE, awaiting check; Office for Product Safety and Standards, awaiting check; IET (BS 7671 Wiring Regulations), awaiting check
Tools and calculators
- Will this kiln run off a 13A plug?Type your kiln's power and see whether it's within a normal plug's rating or needs its own circuit, with who to ask next. No wiring advice, ever.
- Kiln firing cost calculatorWhat a bisque or glaze firing costs in electricity, per firing, per piece and per month, from your kiln's power, your firing schedule and your own tariff.
- Kiln size picker: what size kiln do I need?From how many pieces you make, how big they are and how often you'll fire, work out the chamber space and shelves you need, then compare kilns on the same terms.
Guides
- Kilns and potteryChoosing and running a pottery kiln at home in the UK: will it run off your socket, what a firing costs, what size you need and where it can go.
- Home workshopPlan a craft workshop in a spare room, garage, shed or garden room: which machines fit your space, your sockets and your ventilation, and what to check first.
How we compare machines
We haven't tested these machines; we compare published specs and official guidance. Specs come from each maker's UK spec page and safety advice from official UK bodies, with the date we checked them.