jtyr71 Posted May 5, 2016 Report Share Posted May 5, 2016 I'm a first year ceramics teacher and have been having a great time with it all-- thanks in part to Ceramic Arts Daily! I have an odd and particular question for the forum. One of my fabulous teaching assistants made a low fire stiff slab box that incorporates a dozen steel nails inside. (It's a nail coffin for decaf. See pic.) The melting point of steel is well above our usual Cone 08 bisque fire, so we should be ok on that count. I read somewhere though that pieces of metal fired in an electric kiln can cause electric arcing that might damage the kiln. Do I really need to be worried about this? Should I just fire the piece in my friend's gas kiln at the local college? The piece doesn't have its own lid, but I'm thinking just putting a large rough slab lid over it should effectively prevent arcing? Maybe? Does anyone have any experience? Resources? Advice? My next stop might be to call the kiln manufacturer, Paragon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted May 5, 2016 Report Share Posted May 5, 2016 They shouldn't arc if they're not close to the elements. Electric kilns are often used for heat treating metals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Sweet Posted May 5, 2016 Report Share Posted May 5, 2016 Firing should pose no problem. If possible, just make certain that it isn't placed on the edge of a shelf. A cover slab isn't necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted May 5, 2016 Report Share Posted May 5, 2016 I think unless the kiln is running on 100,000 volts and you wire up your project you will be ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrgpots Posted May 5, 2016 Report Share Posted May 5, 2016 If the nails were galvanized, the galvanized material will "burn off." It kind of looks like sparking. Jed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marko Posted May 6, 2016 Report Share Posted May 6, 2016 Cool project. Like the concept. Arrrrr, death to Decafe. Make me ail be extra caffine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtyr71 Posted May 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2016 Thanks everyone! The project is firing as I type. I'll post back the results on Monday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted May 7, 2016 Report Share Posted May 7, 2016 I used to heat treat a ton of banjo brass drum rings with zero issues and they where piled fron the bottom of kiln to top. My friend is the owner of Wildwood Banjos and used to live on my hill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted May 7, 2016 Report Share Posted May 7, 2016 I used to heat treat a ton of banjo brass drum rings with zero issues and they where piled fron the bottom of kiln to top. My friend is the owner of Wildwood Banjos and used to live on my hill. Those are beautiful banjos! See if you can get me one. They're out of my price range, so I had to build my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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