neilestrick

Pack the middle the tightest. Have you tried just using the cone 08 preprogrammed firing schedule?

Test the element resistance, it's the best way to know for sure. But with 15 minutes longer and 75 firings they're probably still good. Resistance per section for 240V1P should be about 14.45 ohms.

What model kiln is this? Serial number? What cone are you glaze firing to? What schedule do you usually use for glaze firings? Do you have a meter so you can measure the resistance of the elements? https://hotkilns.com/test-resistance-ez How much longer are the firings taking?

@Carols Ceramics Where is Lemon Grove? Also, it would help to post a list of what you have.

Thanks @Babs! My bread game drastically improved during Covid lockdown. My 2 teenage boys and I were home every day for 3 months, and we went through 3 loaves a week. I figured out a lot with all that practice.

Did it come with a manual? Programming is generally done by setting a series of steps where you set the rate of climb (degrees per hour) and target temp for each step. Are you needing to know how to program your specific controller, or are you looking for a firing schedule? Do you know how many steps your controller allows?

Hi @Biglou13 A flameware body would be your best bet for this. 500F is pretty hot for a clay dish, especially since you'll be dropping wet, room temp dough onto a hot, flat surface. It's a lot to ask of any clay body besides flameware. The other option is to just buy a cheap cast iron dutch oven on Amazon. It works great, and you don't have to worry about it cracking. My dutch oven is preheating in my oven as I type this! My loaf from last week. 25% whole wheat, 80% hydration:

Several of my students use the Xiem tool bag. It get's pretty filthy and doesn't clean very easily since it's canvas, but they seem to like it. I think that open bags are best, because it allows for easy access when your hands are dirty, and it allows the tools to dry after washing them and putting them away. The worst thing you can do is close up your wet tools and sponge in a plastic tool box because they'll just grow mold and mildew.

That's a really old Skutt, probably a 181. Send the pics to Skutt to confirm. The center ring will probably have to be removed if you want to fire above cone 1. Do you have a stand for it? It must be on a stand when firing.

Post a picture.

Since there is a high fire model of this kiln available, you may be able to retrofit it to use those elements so you can fire at cone 10. At minimum it will require new elements and a new power cord. Wiring inside the kiln may or may not need to be changed, too. Talk to Evenheat about what's needed, and what the electrical service requirements will be. Otherwise you've got a low fire kiln there that won't be of much use at all unless you're doing China paints.

If the weight dropped and turned off the kiln, then it reached the proper cone at that point regardless of how long the firing took. When you restarted it, it fired beyond that cone and melted the cone. Depending on how badly the cone melted to the arms, you may be able to clean up the cone support arms with a Dremel, but if not you'll need to replace them.

The grooves are probably not the issue, and also probably not doing much to prevent warping. Waster slabs can be very thin, and can even be broken/in pieces, but should fully support the piece on it. It's just something that will shrink with the tile and keep the tile from catching on the kiln shelf. Put some kiln wash or alumina wax on the slab so it doesn't fuse to the clay. Waster slab does not need to be bisque fired. No guarantee it won't crack in the second low-fire firing, but it's worth a shot if you don't need the durability of cone 5. It's also possible that your tile is cracking from cooling too quickly, and therefore unevenly, through quartz inversion. You could try a controlled cooling from 1100F down to 850F.

Well done! Don't be in a hurry. If you burn larger pieces of wood, you won't have to stoke as often and it won't clog up the ash pit. Ideally you should be able to fire without having to scoop out the ash pit much at all, if ever. This type of kiln it not at all efficient, so let it go slowly, take your time, enjoy the process. Remember that you're also heating up all those bricks and shelves, which is a lot of mass.

I've also found that many of their greens go brown with a clear glaze.