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neilestrick

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  1. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Pres in Used Brent Slab Roller   
    Most buyers of used studio equipment are hobby potters, and people looking for a used slab roller are looking for a deal. Unfortunately Brents are not one of the more desirable models due to the way you have to add or remove boards to adjust the thickness of the slab. It's also a very long, which can be difficult to fit in a lot of home studios, and the cable system is not fun to replace when they wear out. There are good new slab rollers with infinite dial adjustments and a smaller footprint like Shimpo or Northstar that sell for $1000-1500, so I think that realistically you need to come in under that.
  2. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Rae Reich in Used Brent Slab Roller   
    Most buyers of used studio equipment are hobby potters, and people looking for a used slab roller are looking for a deal. Unfortunately Brents are not one of the more desirable models due to the way you have to add or remove boards to adjust the thickness of the slab. It's also a very long, which can be difficult to fit in a lot of home studios, and the cable system is not fun to replace when they wear out. There are good new slab rollers with infinite dial adjustments and a smaller footprint like Shimpo or Northstar that sell for $1000-1500, so I think that realistically you need to come in under that.
  3. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Piedmont Pottery in Troubleshooting my L & L manual Econo Kiln J230   
    It's odd to have a gap between sections like that. It could very well be the cause of the problem down there, or at least a partial cause. There are ways to fix that with some work on the bricks, but the easy solution would be to lay a thin layer of fiber under the bottom row of bricks, to seal up any gaps. Lay it all the way around, full width of the bricks, and set the ring on it. It'll compress where the bricks fit tight, and fill gaps where they're not. I would not try to mortar the gap.
    Smear some mortar in the floor cracks. Not a big deal.
    Did you have a shelf at the bottom? You need one down there, up on 1/2" posts. Otherwise the bottom will definitely run cold.
    When you load the kiln, at the bottom you should put low mass pots like bowls or tall pieces, pack the middle section really tight, put whatever's left at the top, preferably semi-tight.
    Also check your elements with a meter to see if their resistance is correct. Could be the bottom is worn more than the others, which is not uncommon.
  4. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Piedmont Pottery in Kiln build from scratch   
    Unless you're really set on building your own, I would keep a lookout for a decent used kiln. From a time and money standpoint it would be the best way to go, even if you have to drive a bit to get it. The most difficult part is cutting the grooves in the bricks. Brick dust chews up anything it gets into, so know that any power tools you use may be sacrificed. Build the controller box so it can be wall mounted, not mounted to the kiln. Have a jumper cord coming off the kiln that plugs into the control box. The boxes I've built run about $200 for a 50 amp kiln, including everything but the controller. For a 20 amp kiln you could drop $30-40 off of that since you'd only need a small relay, outlet, etc. You can get a good 3-button kiln controller for $200.
    The big questions are how much work do want to do, and how quickly do you want to be firing? Building your own electric kiln is about 10 times as much work as a small gas kiln. There are a lot of little parts needed to make it work. A control box alone uses about 20 different parts if you count wire as one part. There's also all the little terminal ends, screws, nuts and bolts, etc. I'm not trying to discourage you, I just want you to realize what you're getting into. I'm assuming you know enough about electrical systems to do it all safely? Start making a list of everything you need. It will be lengthy, and sourcing all those parts in small quantities can get expensive.
  5. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Pres in Im desperate   
    What have you cleaned with this? Your floors? Your walls? I'm thoroughly confused about this. Sounds to me like you have a sewer gas leak. 
  6. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from LeeU in Im desperate   
    What have you cleaned with this? Your floors? Your walls? I'm thoroughly confused about this. Sounds to me like you have a sewer gas leak. 
  7. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Rae Reich in Im desperate   
    What have you cleaned with this? Your floors? Your walls? I'm thoroughly confused about this. Sounds to me like you have a sewer gas leak. 
  8. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Russ in Im desperate   
    What have you cleaned with this? Your floors? Your walls? I'm thoroughly confused about this. Sounds to me like you have a sewer gas leak. 
  9. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from PeterH in X14 kiln paragon   
    Serial plate is showing max temp of 2000F so it should be able to do cone 04. I have no idea how long the elements should last in that situation, but if it's similar to firing a cone 6 kiln to max temp then maybe 50 firings. It's a lot cooler than cone 6, though, so they may last longer. I really don't have any experience with maxing out low fire kilns.
  10. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from PeterH in X14 kiln paragon   
    You'll have to use witness cones and turn it off manually. Not the safest system in the world.
    With a meter you can check the element resistance and see if the elements are still good.
    You can replace the switches with general purpose infinite switches.
    120 volts, 30 amps with two power cords is a really strange configuration, and may or may not meet current code requirements. I'm assuming the 30 amp draw on the serial plate means the total draw of both sections since the other box doesn't have a serial plate, so to make it work you'll need two separate 120 volt circuits with 20 amp breakers. Each section will pull 15 amps, but code requires that kilns be on breakers that are 25% greater than the draw, but not more than 50% greater, so 20 amp breakers. So you can't just plug it into both sockets of a duplex outlet because those will be on the same circuit and overload it. You need two outlets on separate circuits right next to each other. Extension cords are not allowed. If it were my kiln, I would rewire it for 120/240 volt service with one 4-wire power cord that would be on a 240 volt 20 amp circuit, but that would require a new control box on the kiln or connecting the two boxes with conduit. It's an odd duck for sure.
  11. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Pres in Firing in my house - need to vent?   
    The cone you fire to doesn't really make a difference, because things start burning out as low as 500F degrees and is pretty well complete by 1900F degrees. Bare minimum you want a fan in the window pulling air out, and sufficient makeup air. If you find that doesn't work, then I recommend getting a downdraft kiln vent.
  12. Like
    neilestrick reacted to Ryleigh in Broken belt on wheel ruining work   
    Finally got the new belts and it was definitely the issue! I read that you can still throw with broken belts but it was messing me up big time so I don’t recommend. 

  13. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Callie Beller Diesel in Extreme Cracking/Shrinkage in Tiles   
    A waster slab should do the trick, or put some silica sand on the shelf. Make sure you put kiln wash or alumina wax on the waster slab so the tile doesn't stick to it. If you need a cooling ramp it would be during quartz inversion, so from about 1100 to 900, but it's rare that you would need that.
  14. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Callie Beller Diesel in Obvara in same firing as raku   
    What type of kiln is it? If it has a door, just pull the obvara and then close it up and finish the raku pieces. Otherwise I think you'd probably be fine just firing up to raku temps and pulling the raku pieces first while the obvara cools a bit. It's not an exact temperature anyway, since the pieces cools some between the kiln and the bucket, and the last piece is always a lot cooler than the first.
  15. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Callie Beller Diesel in Cracks when double-bisquing large work ?   
    I believe that recommendation is to prevent the material from getting into the element grooves. I don't think that switching to another material is necessarily any better in that regard. If you're going to do it, use the material that works the best which would be silica sand, and just be sure not to get any into your elements, and vacuum them out after firing.
    There is very little shrinkage in a bisque firing, so it's more about even heating/cooling and/or expansion/contraction during the heating/cooling.
  16. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Hulk in why did my plaster set so suddenly and unevenly?   
    I think maybe you're working too slowly. It should only take a minute max to sift the plaster into the water, another minute at most to gently hand mix. Then lit it sit for a couple of minutes and then power mix.
  17. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Babs in Cracks when double-bisquing large work ?   
    I believe that recommendation is to prevent the material from getting into the element grooves. I don't think that switching to another material is necessarily any better in that regard. If you're going to do it, use the material that works the best which would be silica sand, and just be sure not to get any into your elements, and vacuum them out after firing.
    There is very little shrinkage in a bisque firing, so it's more about even heating/cooling and/or expansion/contraction during the heating/cooling.
  18. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Rae Reich in Extreme Cracking/Shrinkage in Tiles   
    A waster slab should do the trick, or put some silica sand on the shelf. Make sure you put kiln wash or alumina wax on the waster slab so the tile doesn't stick to it. If you need a cooling ramp it would be during quartz inversion, so from about 1100 to 900, but it's rare that you would need that.
  19. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Rae Reich in Clay Shrinkage   
    There are always exceptions to the rule, but I would not recommend trying that again. Glad it worked out for you!
  20. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Rae Reich in Clay Shrinkage   
    Those shrinkage rates are more than close enough for what you're doing, and those numbers are way too precise. There will always be slight differences in shrinkage depending on the  accuracy of the firing, the thickness of the pieces, etc, so for them to give a number that precise is totally unnecessary. They basically have the same shrinkage rate.
  21. Like
    neilestrick got a reaction from Rae Reich in Never used Brent C, no noise in forward, noise but no spinning in reverse   
    Take off the bottom cover and see if the belt came off or broke. 
  22. Like
    neilestrick reacted to jcwilson in Kiln switched itself off   
    Thank you for answering. The kiln is very basic, no kiln sitter, just the controller shown in the attached phot. I changed the fuse which has fixed it, but I don't know why the fuse would have blown - maybe it was just old. I waited until it had cooled and had a look inside - everything looks ok, just half-fired! I have now turned it on again and will just watch to see if it happens again.
    Julie
     
     

  23. Like
    neilestrick reacted to PeterH in Obvara in same firing as raku   
    An relevance? https://www.lickinflames.com/obvara_june_2021.html
    Generally speaking, the hotter the pot going into the mixture, the darker it will be. Nearly glossy black pots are from the hotter side of the firing range and tan pots are usually from the cooler side of the range. Really hot pots held in the mixture longer will yield fewer patterns. Cooler pots held in the mixture longer will possibly not carbonize as they cool below the threshold where carbonizing can take place.
  24. Like
    neilestrick reacted to Potpotpotter in Drop and Soak program for Cone 6 in Skutt   
    It lets you copy, you need to go till the last screen to get into temperatures to get that option.
  25. Like
    neilestrick reacted to Dick White in Drop and Soak program for Cone 6 in Skutt   
    Dunno, I don't have a Skutt Touchscreen, and the "user manual" is a help screen embedded in the controller. All I know is what I hear from others who are struggling with it.
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