hershey8 Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 I just acquired a 10-year-old, Olympic raku kiln that has only been fired three times. The body of the kiln raises off the base with a hand-winch and cable. I've never done raku and plan to use it to fire cone 6 stoneware and other clay. The kiln has a 6-key controller (never used one before). Pretty Pumped! This rig lets you set up and align all of your shelves, posts and ware, and then lower the kiln down on them. Anyone ever used on of these? ja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxden Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 I have used their gas fired model. The top contains much of the heat when raised. Much easier to remove raku pieces than reaching down into a top loading kiln. Both, however, need adequate safety protection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 So it's electric? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Longer Member Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 So it's electric? Yes, that's what the "E" is for. (IIRC w/ Oylimpic, E is electric, G -gas, HE- electric cone 10.....but I could very well be wrong...) We have one of those she uses to raku; it's not a bad little kiln. I installed an electric winch to make life a little simpler so she can fire it without me. Ours is on a metal "cart" about 6" high off the ground so we can roll it out of the way when not in use. Never had any trouble with it but rally haven't used it a whole lot; maybe 50 firings tops. Sometimes we fire just a single big piece and sometimes smaller ones together. One thing she has learned is to let it cool down quite a bit (I believe to 600deg) as she has lost a few pieces to being shocked when placed inside when hot. She usually puts the next piece in line on the top to help warm it. We've never shelved anything in it; just a false bottom. I've often wondered if swapping out the hot false bottom with a cool one would help reduce waiting for it to cool but I'm sure that's not a good thing to do on the shelves. Maybe a piece of wool down first then the bottom would make a swap possible. She is happy and I know better to not rock the boat. How much did you pay for t? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hershey8 Posted January 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 A friend of mine needed some carpentry work done on her studio and hired someone. She said if I would help the other carpenter dude she would give me her kilns. One was this electric raku kiln, which can be used as a regular kiln (up to ^8) and the other was a old paragon high fire electric that looks pretty clean and sound inside. I went for it. Glad I did. j Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Longer Member Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 A friend of mine needed some carpentry work done on her studio and hired someone. She said if I would help the other carpenter dude she would give me her kilns. One was this electric raku kiln, which can be used as a regular kiln (up to ^8) and the other was a old paragon high fire electric that looks pretty clean and sound inside. I went for it. Glad I did. j You can always buy a stand alone digital controller for the other kiln depending on how many amps it needs. I'm building a controller for one now to handle 60amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavy Fire Studios Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 ^Dude, your name is so awesome... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hershey8 Posted January 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 A friend of mine needed some carpentry work done on her studio and hired someone. She said if I would help the other carpenter dude she would give me her kilns. One was this electric raku kiln, which can be used as a regular kiln (up to ^8) and the other was a old paragon high fire electric that looks pretty clean and sound inside. I went for it. Glad I did. j You can always buy a stand alone digital controller for the other kiln depending on how many amps it needs. I'm building a controller for one now to handle 60amps. I'd appreciate any info on diy controller. Good luck with yours. 60 amps would cover any kiln I have. ja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Longer Member Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 I'm not building the board; rather building a 60 amp relay panel for the board to control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hershey8 Posted January 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 I'm not building the board; rather building a 60 amp relay panel for the board to control. Are you using contactors or SCR's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Longer Member Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Thinking about a single 60amp mercury displacement at the moment but still up in the air. Too much other stuff going on right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Longer Member Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 I'd appreciate any info on diy controller. Good luck with yours. 60 amps would cover any kiln I have. ja That's the idea. I don't need that much but you just never know... I could get away with a single 30 which I still may do at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hershey8 Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Thinking about a single 60amp mercury displacement at the moment but still up in the air. Too much other stuff going on right now. Mercury displacement, new to me. Just looked it up. Very interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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