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Hi my friends

 

Finally I have finished the many preparations for my coming Korean adventure (exhibition and lecture). One of the open issues was to fire the chawans (John, is there a plural word like chawans?) I did last year, before my surgeries. Most of the time I am an impatient human being, but when it comes to opening the kiln, I sit on my hands and wait until the kiln is at least down to 65°C (that would be approx. 150 F).

 

How about you? Are you sneak peeking at a high temp out of impatience?

 

Have a good week everybody.

 

Evelyne

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Yes, I frequently take a very quick look around 200-400°C. I started firing at a time that leaves the kiln finished and cool (~60°C) in the morning. This way I can arrive and unload the kiln without impatient waiting!

 

My rule was 80°C as the maximum unload temperature. Especially if there are taller pieces in the kiln. It only took one very loud ping...

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Guest JBaymore

Always peek.  :)  :wacko:

 

Chawan is both singular and plural in Japanese.  You get the intent from context.  "Hito" can be "person" or "people".  "Kama" can be "kiln" or "kilns".   And so on.  However something like "watashi" (me) changes form to "watashi-tachi" for "us".

 

best,

 

................john

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I prop the lid a few inches at 150F and then unload when it's under 100F when I can handle the pots. The shelves are sometimes still too hot to touch without gloves. Those last few hundred degrees of waiting are torture but no peeking.

 

This was a kiln question, right?

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I open the kiln at 250F, and wait till it cools to about 175F before I handle things with gloves on. I peak through the peep holes with a flashlight at around 300-400F. I usually can't see very much of anything though so its kinda pointless. Sometimes I open the kiln at 300F when I am firing a test load as I don't care if the pots are damaged because I am going to hammer them after I note the results anyways. 

 

I would peak more on the top shelve by opening the lid if I didn't put a shelve on the top of my top shelve. I always have a shelve on the top I found that my kiln was a tad more even if I did this. I guess the air coming in from the vent near the lid at higher temps when it raises up a tad.

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I want to but just the thought of hearing a 'ping' keeps me from trying it. Well, until it gets down to about 60°C. Which sounds cold compared to the 1250 it went up to, but your fingers soon tell you otherwise!

 

Girts

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I can never, ever resist a peek at that top shelf as soon as it's cool enough to crack with leather gloves. I prop it with a 1/2" stilt. Then after that peek I'm good about waiting to unload (occasionally opening it further as it cools more) until it's cool enough to unload with bare hands. It helps too that the huge kiln that I fire with my dad ends up being ready to unload at around midnight so we wait till the next morning to avoid bothering the neighbors that late with unloading in his echoey metal kiln shed, and by then it's been propped open for hours and is nice and cool. (If it was my kiln I would just unload it as quietly as possible but it's his, so ... ) Also we wait extra sometimes to unload together because you know, you want to see it as it comes out! It sure is nice firing with someone, so it's worth a little bit of waiting. So much easier to load and unload! 

 

The last time we had so many things to glaze fire that we loaded both kilns. We started the big kiln first, and 12 hours later when it shut off we started the little kiln. And both were cooled off and ready to unload at the same time. So crazy. 

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Quickly through the peep hole with a flashlight. Really doesn't count. I found years ago that most of my glazes were better off if left alone for at least 24hr. Most of the time if the lid is cold, I open and unload. Sometimes I open and let cool further.

 

best,

Pres

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If it's a special project, or some new glaze combination I'll take a gander, maybe earlier than I should...

 

I think a good solution to those of us, who like to look early, is to do a bit of Raku once in a while, to get it out of the system.  You get to open the kiln REALLY early, and see the results in a short amount of time.  

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I'll confess to having done this in year's past. Rarely ever these days. After going through all the trouble to get to Cone 10, I walk away and wait until the thermostat gets below 100f.  Things in the middle might still require gloves, but I prefer silence over pings.

 

-Paul

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I try to leave 10 hrs. From shut off to peeking. Then wait another couple of hrs. before propping it open. Haven't had any pings so far.

I fire to cone 7 with a 1 hour soak on medium, seems to work for me. No electronics just a timer & cone. I have no idea what temp. It is when I open & unload but I usually need gloves in the summer. The kiln is in an unheated garage in central Canada.

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Rarely peek at my own kiln, never at the one at the centre.  I'm there on Wednesday or Thursday and set the timer to start firing on Friday after all the other groups who use the art room have gone home.  By the time I go back a week later it's cold.

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