ayjay Posted October 5, 2013 Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 I think you call it kiln wash in the US, but it's the goop we put on kiln shelves. I gave my shelves a good seeing to at least ten firings back and everything has been fine with no disasters or wash flaking off or anything nasty happening at all. However, after my last firing, when I unloaded the kiln, all of the kiln posts were very slightly stuck to the shelf (only on the bottom), it was very slight, just enough to notice but not enough to disturb the lower shelf when plucking them off. I don't think i'm supposed to put batt wash on the kiln posts, but is this an indication that my shelves need re-doing? In case it's relevant, all my firings are to ^6 or to bisque temp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted October 5, 2013 Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 yes, all you tech experts, why does this happen? i have to grind stuff off the bottoms of some of my posts. of course, they have been around since the 1970's and are the small triangular ones. wish they still made them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted October 5, 2013 Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 I dip the ends of my posts in batt / kiln wash, problem solved. I would imagine that after repeated firings the posts get slightly fluxed? just a guess but the kiln wash on posts works. Edit: I also think that since the posts are load bearing that plays a part in it also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted October 5, 2013 Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 Yep, the wash fuses a little bit more with each firing, and eventually starts to stick. It's probably also affected by the tiny bit of vapor that comes off the glazes in each firing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mart Posted October 5, 2013 Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 "at least ten firings back" ? I "clean" (more like smooth out) my shelves after every firing with a fettling knife (takes few moments) and apply new thin coat of kiln wash before glaze firing only. If I find any specs of glaze, I'll scrape those off with fettling knife (potters knife). Not sure what is it you guys use grinders for unless there is a serious spill of glaze. Or is this related to wood firing/soda/salt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayjay Posted October 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2013 OK, thanks, I'll give the shelves a clean up a bit more often and dip my post ends in future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 since most of my work is flat, my shelves have a very old layer of kiln wash and a coating of silica sand. (no, big lou, don't do this.) i wipe the undersides with a grindstone to make sure nothing has stuck from the last firing and just put the posts in without kiln wash on them. they are small and take only an inch or so of room at the outside edges. there is no sand within 2 inches of the edges so they are standing on old kiln wash. one day soon i plan to grind the shelves totally clean and start again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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