Jime Posted April 20, 2013 Report Share Posted April 20, 2013 Hi all last night was my first ever glaze firing, and I came in a little under temp. Tonight I'm going to give it another shot and I have a couple of questions. How fast can I ramp up the temperature? do I just start it on high, or go through medium and low first? I'm going to switch out the witness cone for a new one, should I also change out the kiln-sitter cone? Since this was my first glaze firing, I had a LOT of glaze tests in there. do you think that re-firing is going to give me a good idea of what the glazes will look like in the future, or should I assume that the tests won't be a good representation? some technical details: I'm using commercial clay and glazes, using an electric Cress 23 kiln (small studio size). I bisqued to 04, and I was trying to fire to cone 6. my witness cone began to bend, but is still mostly straight, so I estimate that it got to cone 5. last night's firing was 2 hours on low, 2.5 on medium, and it took 5 hours on HIGH to get to cone 5 (total firing was 10 hours). That seems long to me, I would have expected it to reach temperature a bit faster. does that sound normal to you? thanks for all your help, this is pretty exciting!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gypsy Posted April 20, 2013 Report Share Posted April 20, 2013 Hi all last night was my first ever glaze firing, and I came in a little under temp. Tonight I'm going to give it another shot and I have a couple of questions. How fast can I ramp up the temperature? do I just start it on high, or go through medium and low first? I'm going to switch out the witness cone for a new one, should I also change out the kiln-sitter cone? Since this was my first glaze firing, I had a LOT of glaze tests in there. do you think that re-firing is going to give me a good idea of what the glazes will look like in the future, or should I assume that the tests won't be a good representation? some technical details: I'm using commercial clay and glazes, using an electric Cress 23 kiln (small studio size). I bisqued to 04, and I was trying to fire to cone 6. my witness cone began to bend, but is still mostly straight, so I estimate that it got to cone 5. last night's firing was 2 hours on low, 2.5 on medium, and it took 5 hours to get to cone 5. That seems long to me, I would have expected it to reach temperature a bit faster. does that sound normal to you? thanks for all your help, this is pretty exciting!! It is exciting isn't it? I used to candle then go to medium then high. Now I candle and go straight to high...it works for me.. Good luck on your refire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted April 21, 2013 Report Share Posted April 21, 2013 You are correct. Your results will not be 100% representative of what a single firing would be ... but they might be close enough / might not. My Cone 5-6 firings take about 6 - 8 hours so that seems OK. Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted April 21, 2013 Report Share Posted April 21, 2013 my ^6 firing are like Chris's... 6 to 8 hours. If your are refining porcelain I would not start on high. 'D be worried about shocking the dense body. marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jime Posted April 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2013 thanks for the help! I've got it up and running. New cone and bar, and crossing my fingers for great success. I set it for a "fast firing", and I'm keeping notes on how the dial is moving. It did about 1 hour on low, and 1 hour on medium, just now getting to high... hope it's not too fast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted April 21, 2013 Report Share Posted April 21, 2013 I do not know much about firing as I have only done it 10ish times. My firing schedule that got the best results was, 1 hour to 300 centigrade then full whack all the way to 1240 centigrade with a 20 min hold. I have no idea if this is the best but it has given me the best results. Maybe I should take it slower to start. Not sure on the time that it takes from 300 to 1240 but probably 4-6 hours. Stoneware 'buff', electric kiln, digital controller, too much enthusiasm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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