postalpotter Posted June 8, 2018 Report Share Posted June 8, 2018 Well almost, need to just do a better job of making it weather proof and I need to seal the flue box but I now have a kiln! A special shout out to Mark for his guidance and to Neil for his assistance and advice. To all those who also added their $.02 I also went to extend my sincere thanks and ask that you don’t go anywhere. I am sure I will need your expertise and advice as I continue my trek up Everest. I waited until I was finished with the kiln before I assembled the burners and I was really disappointed Saturday evening when I saw the output of a low pressure propane system. In my mind a yellow flame is unburned gas I got a blue flame of about a ft. and then a yellow flickering flame. Sunday morning I got out there and began to close the door on an empty kiln. With three courses of brick left to place I lit the pilots and then one burner, walked around to the door to take a peek at the flame and promptly singed my eye brows. Turned the burner off, sealed the door and before I knew it the pyrometer read 220deg. Turned both burners on and at 600deg. I started to produce soot. Turned down the burners and watched the temp rise until 920deg. and there it stayed for an hour and a half. That is when I learned what to do with the damper and that is where the fun started. I had the damper full open at that point so I closed it and then opened it a 1/4in. and got smoke. I opened it a ¼ until the smoke went away. Seems that the sweet spot is from ¾ to 1 1/8 with 7/8 open being the spot where I got the best results. It took 7hr. to reach 2138deg. measured with my pyrometer, then I lost pressure in my tanks as I ran out of propane. I had to return to work on Monday so I just opened the kiln today and all is well. I will now buy my kiln shelves and posts. I know I was told to build the kiln around the shelves but I didn’t have a single kiln shelf and just couldn’t see doing it that way. I will do a bisque when they arrive and could use a bit of guidance with the process. Don’t tell anybody but I have never even made a cone pack. Should I just use an 03 04 05 or are their other temps I could watch my kiln reach on my first bisque? Again Thank You All Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted June 9, 2018 Report Share Posted June 9, 2018 I don't think spending the money on every single cone is a good investment. While a single box won't break the bank, they add up when you're buying lots of them all at once. Yes, an 03 04 05 pack would be great. Make up a bunch of them ahead of time so you have them on hand. Break up your cones and make an assembly line. Roll some 1/4" coils out of whatever clay you have, and pinch them into a rough triangle. The cones are angled on the bottom so that they will lean slightly to the left rather than standing perfectly straight when you push them into your coil. If you're going to be using the cone packs before the clay is perfectly dry, take a fork and carefully poke some holes in the clay so that it dries more quickly on your preheat, and everything should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rae Reich Posted June 11, 2018 Report Share Posted June 11, 2018 Lol, eyebrows will grow back! Congrats on a good test fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted June 11, 2018 Report Share Posted June 11, 2018 I fire my porcelain to c08-many go to c06 for bisque I would only use one cone in bisque-but 3 is best for glaze fires-make them up as Callie says above since its your first fire I would scatter some cones around the chamber to see whats going on If I recall you are firing stoneware a hotter bisque is best so go to c06 at least Now I can see what you have I will add you need to keep it dry and keep rain off that kiln. Soft brick needs to stay dry as does all the upper materials in your stack as well as your burners. Get some bigger propane tanks so you have some reserve gas which at some point you will need. manifold off them-this really matters if it gets cold -maybe in the south (your location it never does?) I'm wondering why you have so much room on a few sides on your slab? meaning kiln is off center? Thanks for the photo-see it was not that hard.Congrats on the kiln Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Johnson Posted June 11, 2018 Report Share Posted June 11, 2018 Looks good! Nice job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postalpotter Posted June 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 On 6/11/2018 at 10:37 AM, Mark C. said: Get some bigger propane tanks so you have some reserve gas which at some point you will need. Mark Ward said I would need a 100 gallons and 14 hrs. to get to ^10 if I didn't freeze-up first. We opted for two 40 gal tanks I was using one 40 and one 25 on the test burn. Spent a lot of time trying to get past 920 deg. so I am not worried about gas I am going to play at ^6 for a while before I venture further. I was thinking of weighing the tank before and after to chart my usage of propane. On 6/11/2018 at 10:37 AM, Mark C. said: Now I can see what you have I will add you need to keep it dry and keep rain off that kiln. Soft brick needs to stay dry as does all the upper materials in your stack as well as your burners. The kiln has a metal skin that I can remove as needed. Have to do a better job with it just not happy with the fit. As for the chimney I came up with a cap. How do you like my chimney cap. Patent pending. Say!!! What about lightning? Should I ground this thing? Neil what say you? I have a stack that is sheeted in metal and braced on the frame of the kiln and it is about 14ft of the ground with my bucket cap sitting on top. On 6/11/2018 at 10:37 AM, Mark C. said: I'm wondering why you have so much room on a few sides on your slab? meaning kiln is off center? The kiln was originally going to be a homemade forced air without bagwalls. Slab size was set and I was going to load from the left side. By the time I figured on Ward's burners and the fact I would need the walls I had moved cinderblocks and bricks more times then I am ashamed to say. So by the time I got busy doing it right I wasn't moving another brick and I decided I didn't want to load the kiln over the left bagwall so I load from the end opposite the burners and always travel to the left and the propane tanks and hoses run on the right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted June 12, 2018 Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 Cap is fine-just keep water off soft brick-no need to ground the kiln Remind me how you made the roof-is it a flat top with compression holding the bricks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postalpotter Posted June 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2018 Yep, she's a flat top. Thanks again Mark for all the help and advice. If you had not caught the fact that I had purchased the wrong HB's then the outcome of my first firing would have been much different and I am not sure if I would have made a second attempt to build this thing. Thank you! Going with the corelite shelves from Sheffield Pottery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yappystudent Posted June 13, 2018 Report Share Posted June 13, 2018 *Applause! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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