We hope 2026 has been amazing for you so far! But before we leave 2025 totally in the past, we wanted to share some of the strides we made for artists everywhere in our SDS Industries 2025 Year in Review.
This past year was a major year for us – including new products, new partnerships, major milestones, and more!
We couldn’t have done it without your support. Thank you for making your voices heard, for sharing your feedback, and for helping us continually improve!
Major Milestones We Hit in 2025
In 2025, we celebrated our 10-year anniversary since we started SDS Industries and launched the original TAP Kiln Controller. In a lot of ways, our tenth year was our most exciting year yet as we continued our mission to create our dream controller and provide the most advanced, easy-to-use kiln control technology possible.
Below is a quick recap of milestones we hit last year:
- 1x brand-new product launch (with another on the way!).
- 1x new partnership with one of the industry’s most storied brands.
- We shipped our 10,000th controller.
- TAP hit 700,000 hours (or about 80 cumulative years) of recorded firing time.
- We recorded our 490,000th successful firing – that’s 490 projects, on average, for every artist who owns TAP!
We’ll be sharing more in-depth insights about all of these and more in our SDS Industries 2025 Year in Review!
SDS Industries Released the TAP II Pro
Since 2022, we’ve expanded our kiln controller lineup from a single controller to 5 different kiln control products. This diversification allows us to serve the needs of a variety of artists and kiln operators at a variety of budgets.
In 2025, the TAP Ecosystem got bigger, better, and more accessible for more artists with the release of the TAP II Pro.
TAP II Pro, our new premium flagship controller, is our answer for artists who want the best of the best – with multi-zone control, snappier controls, better viewing angles, integrated WiFi, and an exclusive Cone Fire Mode to make ceramic firing faster and easier than ever.
However, we also understand that some artists are on a budget or may not need so much advanced functionality. So, we’re working on an answer for them too!
In 2026, we’ll be shipping TAP Micro, which gives artists access to intuitive controls, unlimited firing schedules, and remote kiln control at a fraction of the cost of our fully featured process controllers.
While TAP Micro has a 2.4” touchscreen with some control functionality, it’s primarily designed to be controlled through TAP Kiln Control Mobile. This mobile-first approach allows us to drastically reduce costs. However, due to its smaller dimensions and unique wiring, TAP Micro is designed for DIY install for new kiln and oven builds rather than a drop-in replacement for existing automatic controllers.
Retailing for just $199, TAP Micro is the perfect solution for artists on a budget that still want access to many of the advanced features of TAP!
TAP Partnered with Paragon Kilns
Another way we aim to make TAP more accessible for more artists is to expand the number of kiln manufacturers who provide TAP as a default controller option on their kilns.
This past year, we announced that TAP II and TAP II Pro will soon be available as out-the-box controller options on Paragon Clamshell Series Kilns. If you’re familiar with Paragon Kilns, you know why this is a big deal.
Over the last 77 years, Paragon has forged a reputation for themselves as one of the world’s top kiln manufacturers – with over 200 distribution partners in 17 countries. We’re excited and honored to partner with them!
Plus, it only makes sense that the brand that built one of America’s first electric kilns partners with the company that pioneered the world’s first touchscreen kiln controller! Over the coming months, Paragon will be expanding this integration to additional models – so be on the lookout.
Check out this article in CompanyGlance to learn more about the partnership!
SDS Industries Made Appearances at the Glass Craft & Bead Expo & Blade Show Atlanta
At the end of the day, we got into this to help individual artists and give them a better kiln firing experience. We had a chance to connect with some of these artists last year at the Glass Craft & Bead Expo (GCBE) in Vegas and at Blade Show Atlanta.
Collaborating with our partners at Evenheat, Hot Shot, and Jen-Ken, we had the chance to power instructor classrooms, talk to craftspeople and artists, and collect some firsthand feedback.
At both events, we were overwhelmed and humbled by the positive feedback we received from artists and studio owners and excited to see a major boost in brand recognition!
Thanks for helping us spread the word, for mentioning TAP on forums and Facebook groups, and for doing your part to take us from a dream and a Kickstarter campaign to a household kiln controller brand!
These events were both a blast. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the Glass Craft & Bead Expo (GCBE) or Blade Show Atlanta, we encourage you to check them out in 2026!
Study Found That Over 80% of Heat Treat Artists Choose TAP Over the Competition
Speaking of brand recognition, we also received some exciting news from our partners at Evenheat.
When analyzing their customers’ shopping habits, they found that when given the choice between TAP and the competition, 80% of customers chose TAP when shopping for heat treat ovens!
Why is this the case? Here’s a couple reasons:
- Compared to other media, knifemakers and heat treat artists tend to be significantly younger and more tech savvy, so they have higher expectations for their temperature control method.
- Knifemakers and heat treat artists appreciate the convenience and consistency of being able to save unlimited firing schedules – so they can have all of their processes for all of their alloys just a couple finger presses away.
- TAP Kiln Control’s Mobile’s remote kiln temperature monitoring and kiln control enables heat treat artists to multi-task more efficiently.
When you consider that other temperature controller manufacturers have been on the market for nearly 80 years, this level of brand preference is huge! Extrapolating another 5-10 years, we fully believe that kiln manufacturers will need to offer TAP to be competitive.
Saying Goodbye to the Original TAP
Finally, 2025 marked 10 years since we released the controller that started it all: the original TAP Kiln Controller.
When it was released, the original TAP was a revolutionary piece of hardware that introduced touchscreen controls, graphical displays, and unlimited firing schedules to an industry that still relied on fumbling with keys and user manuals. The competition has been trying to catch up ever since!
But after a decade, we knew it was time for an upgrade to our flagship multi-zone controller to bring it up to the technological, design, and UX standards of the rest of our kiln controller lineup.
In 2025, we announced that we’d be sunsetting the original TAP. While we’re super excited to roll out the vastly improved TAP II Pro, we wanted to take a moment to say goodbye to our original controller model. We spent years working night and day to design the original TAP, overcoming tons of engineering challenges, figuring out funding, supply chains, and manufacturing.
We want to say thank you to the early adopters and to all the artists and manufacturers who shared our vision and trusted us to power their craft. Here’s to the memories, the amazing artwork, and the lessons we learned to take SDS Industries where it is today 🥂
TAP II Pro upgrades our flagship multi-zone kiln controller with more responsive controls and exclusive Cone Fire Mode.
Our Favorite Blogs of 2025
Last year, we published 22 new blogs to our TAP IN Blog. Additionally, we’ve been systematically going through our existing content to add new insights, FAQs, and to make sure everything is completely up to date.
Our goal is to provide the most definitive, high-authority kiln firing resources available anywhere!
These were our favorite new blog articles of 2025:
Firing Schedules for Bisque
From Cone 06 to Cone 12, get theschedules you need for
firing ceramics.
9 Steps for Glass Firing Art
Get in-depth steps and insights forfiring glass – including a
firing chart!
Perfecting Bladesmithing
Master the millennia-old traditionof bladesmithing with this
how-to guide.
Check out our TAP IN Blog for more insights, tips, and firing schedules!
Level Up Your Kiln Control in 2026
In 2026, we think it’s time to say goodbye to complicated controls, memorizing key combinations, and digging through your kiln notebook to find the right schedule!
Streamline your firing experience with the convenience, flexibility, and precision of the TAP II (single zone) or TAP II Pro (multi-zone) controllers. From programming your kiln to remotely managing your firings, TAP Controllers make it easy with intuitive touchscreen controls, unlimited schedules, and remote monitoring, control, and notifications through TAP Kiln Control Mobile.
You can also explore the TAP Ecosystem for single setpoint controllers, as well as an advanced digital pyrometer that adds remote temperature monitoring and enhanced safety for any electric kiln or oven with any type of kiln controller.
If you’re looking to buy a kiln where TAP comes included, check out one of our partners below:
- Evenheat
- Hot Shot Oven & Kiln
- Paragon Kilns
- Mobile Glassblowing Studios, LLC
- Jen-Ken Kilns
- Kiln Frog
- Sheffield Pottery
- Delphi Glass
SDS Industries 2025 Year in Review FAQ
How did our TAP II 3.0 Software Update improve the kiln firing experience for artists who already use TAP II?
The SDS Industries 2025 Year in Review wouldn’t be complete without talking about how we helped improve firing experiences for the artists who already use TAP!
One of the benefits of building our entire control ecosystem on software-based kiln controllers is that we’re able to continuously update our kiln controller software – on our controllers and mobile app – to roll out improvements, fixes, and new features.
In 2025, we released a huge update for our TAP II Controller. The TAP II 3.0 Software Update introduced new features to make TAP II even more convenient, intuitive, and easy-to-use. These include:
- QR Code App Download: One of the best features of TAP is the ability to remotely monitor and control your kiln through TAP Kiln Control Mobile. Now, it’s easier to find and install the app with a new QR code on the Network Settings screen of your controller.
- Mobile Time Zone Settings: In the past, we had issues with controllers remembering time zone settings. We’ve fixed those and given you the ability to edit your time zone straight from the mobile app.
- Ability to Turn Off Delay Start: We get it: Not every artist needs or wants the ability to Delay Start. Now, you have the option to turn off Delay Start settings to start your firings with even fewer clicks!
With the release of the TAP II Pro, now all of our controllers have integrated WiFi and automatically update when connected to the internet. However, you may want to periodically reboot your controller and follow the onscreen prompts to make sure your controller is always up to date with the latest software.
You can find more in-depth instructions here.
How did kiln prices and firing costs change in 2025?
Are you shopping for a new kiln in 2026? It’s important to have up-to-date information about kiln prices – both in terms of purchase price and ongoing costs – to make sure you’re getting a good deal and staying within your budget.
Check out How Much Do Kilns Cost? The True Costs of Owning a Kiln [2025 Update] for complete, in-depth information. But we want to take a look at how kiln prices have changed over the past year. From September 2023 to October 2025, we noticed the following changes in kiln prices:
- Average price for Compact Kilns went up 15.03%.
- Average price for Medium Kilns went up 16.54%.
- Average price for Large Kilns went up 11.87%.
- Average price for X-Large Kilns went up 7.78%.
Like many other industries, kiln costs were impacted by tariffs. Even though most of the kilns we tracked prices for are manufactured in the U.S., a lot of the parts and raw material aren’t. Additionally, energy costs in many municipalities have risen during that same time period, which makes tracking firing costs more important than ever.
To make sure you’re getting the best deals, we encourage you to shop sales and specials from retailers like Kiln Frog. Or if you don’t mind a little superficial cosmetic damage, shopping “damaged in shipping” specials is a great way to land an otherwise brand-new kiln at a fraction of the price.
What does SDS Industries have planned for 2026?
In 2026, we’ll be shipping TAP Micro – our most affordable process controller yet! While it won’t be able to take the place of TAP II or TAP II Pro, TAP Micro will give artists the chance to experience many of the advanced features of TAP at a fraction of the cost.
Behind the scenes, we have some other exciting things in the works – but we’re not ready to make any official announcements about those just yet!
However, we encourage you to stay tuned! Or, if you have any ideas about features or improvements you’d like to see, we’d love to hear from you! We wouldn’t be where we are today without feedback from artists like you – and we’re not done improving yet!
