Dick White

A kiln should never be on an extension cord, they just aren't made to handle that much current for the duration of a firing (you already knew that). But the power going through the vent controller is just for the fan motor. Use a good extension cord (and install it safely) if the nearest regular outlet is not close enough.

There doesn't seem to be a picture on the ConeArt site showing their version of the product, and the L&L link Neil shared above shows only the device, not its installation. The Skutt version, pictured in this link - https://skutt.com/ceramic-kilns/kiln-accessories/envirolink/ - shows it in action. The vent control box is on the wall visible to the left of the kiln and underneath the vent fan motor. The black wire coming out of the left end of the vent control box is the vent fan power cord. The black wire coming out of the right side of the box and running along the corner of the floor behind the kiln is vent controller's own power cord plugged into a regular outlet somewhere out of sight behind the kiln. There is a small wire coming out the top of the vent control box that loops over to a small hole in the far side of the kiln control column, where it goes in to connect to tab 4 of the control board. The ConeArt version will be something like these.

You haven't identified the kiln brand that has this feature so I can't look up the electrical diagram or other manufacturer's data, but Skutt has such a device (EnviroLink) and I have DIY-built one for my kilns. The Bartlett family of kiln controllers (i.e., their own native brands, and Skutt and L&L branded controllers) all have a 4th low voltage tab on the board that can trigger another low voltage device whenever it is actively firing. In this implementation, there is a wire from the controller that triggers a standard relay in a separate electrical box to energize a single 120V receptacle in that same box. This electrical box is separate from the kiln and has its own power cord to a standard wall outlet, so there is no issue with the hot kiln body. The vent system plugs into the receptacle in this box. When the receptacle is live because the controller has started a firing schedule, the vent fan runs, and when the controller finishes the firing schedule, the vent fan turns off.

I like the digital scales for ease of use. With the beam balance, you don't know where you are until you are past the mark, coming or going. The measuring tray is up, up, up, and then without warning, bang, it's down. Then you work your way up and down, up and down, until it begins to swing in the middle for the final pinch in or out. With the digital, you can see your progress toward the desired weight and slow down adding material as you get closer. Further, it was my experience with the Ohaus beams that the extreme accuracy was an urban myth. Working with several established community and college studios plus two that had been given to me by retiring potters, I had 6 or 7 at my disposal. Taking my digital scale calibration weight around, each beam balance gave me different readings. I have two relatively inexpensive digital scales, and they are easier to store than a beam. One thing to remember about digital scales is the actual accuracy is actually +/- half the stated accuracy, i.e., stated accuracy of 0.1 gram is actually anywhere between 0.05 and 0.15 grams. The pocket size one accurate to 0.01 gram is good for small batches, especially since the colorants will need the extra digit. However, even though the maximum capacity of the smaller scale is 2kg, the physical scale is so small that with a bucket big enough to hold 2kg of material, the display is hidden under the edge of the bucket. My 5kg scale is nominally less accurate, but for the larger volumes, the extra accuracy to the milligram is irrelevant. And zeroing the scale for whatever different bucket/bowl laying around I grab is a snap; you have to use the same designated bowl for the beam balance. (Sometimes for very small amounts, I just use a scrap of paper as my "measuring bowl".)

If you are looking for an easy-to-squeeze/pull extruder for relatively small (in cross-section) coils of considerable length, I don't think there are any on the market. You will have to build one by adapting a cordless electric caulk gun from the construction industry. A short length of 1½" PVC plumbing pipe is the same diameter as a standard tube of caulk. You can cut the desired coil shape in an end cap for the pipe. The one I made can extrude about 7 feet of handle before the tube runs out of clay.

Bailey makes a pneumatic power extruder with a 9" square expansion box on the bottom that could have a 4" round die. It holds 27 pounds of clay - after the extrusion is complete, so it will start with much more clay in the barrel. It is a vertical extrusion, so the only limit on the length of the extrusion is how high off the floor you mount it. It is quite expensive, but cheaper than a good pugmill adapted to extruding (with all the problems noted above).

Regarding deflocculating the slip to make it thinner with less water, do not use Darvan. Darvan is a fine deflocculant for many things, but the reaction that causes the starburst effect in mocha diffusion is due to the acidic "tea" vs. the alkaline slip. The slip is already slightly alkaline, so deflocculating with a touch of sodium silicate or soda ash adds to the alkalinity of the slip. Darvan deflocculates by a different mechanism, so may not give the same outcome as the sodium items.

Parts for a kiln sitter can also be purchased from Clay-King https://www.clay-king.com/kilns/kiln_parts/kiln_sitter_parts.html The motor for the timer is part number 67 for $98.

Both the Skutt and L&L kilns have a full-height control column for the digital controller with fiddlie electrical connections to the elements that make it very inconvenient to casually take the sections apart for loading large sculptures. Note also that while both use a 60 amp circuit, the Skutt 1027 kiln is smaller total volume and is rated for cone 10, while the wider L&L e28T is rated to only cone 8 (generally regarded as usable to cone 6 in the long term) because of the greater volume. You might consider instead the L&L Jupiter series. The individual sections are not hard-wired to the inside back of control panel, but are plug-in to the side of the control panel. There will still be some disassembly needed to take the sections apart, but would be easier than either the Skutt or L&L e-series kilns.

Can you share them with us. There may be several different things you can do, depending on what's already in the recipes.

Joining @Babs in recommending against wrapping a kiln in an additional layer of fiber. The fiber will trap some escaping moisture against the metal shell, resulting in more rapid rusting of the metal parts. Kilns that have a layer of fiber around the bricks have the fiber inside the metal shell, directly against the brick.

The manufacturer's address on the label is a city, zone, and state, i.e., pre-zipcodes. Zipcodes were implemented by the Post Office in 1963. That gives you a marker for the kiln's age. The electrical rating is 19 amps @ 110V, or about 2000 watts. The apparent size of the kiln plus the low watts of heat suggests it will not go past earthenware temperatures.

The files are just one long list of the status of the firing every 30 seconds. They are in .csv format, which is one of the formats that the usual spreadsheet suspects (Microsoft Excel, Open Office Libre, Apple Numbers) can open. Once the list is open in the spreadsheet, you can look for unusual events, or do some calculations on the actual temperature changes over 1 or 5 or 10 minute intervals to compare to what was programed. And if you want to get fancy, use the graphing capability of the spreadsheet to draw a picture of the temperatures over the duration of the firing.

And when diving deep into the UMF rabbit hole, several other things become apparent. Boron is not a flux. Fluxes create a eutectic with the silica and alumina to cause them to melt at lower temperatures. Boron is actually a stabilizer (R2O3, like alumina) but melts by itself at such a low temperature that it needs no assistance from a flux. It brings the other oxides into the melt simply because it has already melted. Also, the other fluxes each impart unique properties to the glaze aside from their melty-ness. Lithium is a more powerful flux, but too much messes with expansion (it can both craze and shiver). Shifting the balance of sodium vs. potassium can result in different color responses from some colorants (e.g., copper). So much of glaze chemistry cannot be demonstrated simply by the numbers - experience and testing is how we sort out many of the variables.

Sno Industries has been out of business for a looooong time. If you look at the manufacturer's label and the address does not include a zipcode, that is a sign that it was manufactured before1963 (that's when the Post Office started using zipcodes). As Bill points out, the maximum temperature is a function of the power (in watts) of the kiln elements vs. radiant heat losses through the shell, through both the side walls and the top and bottom. The bricks are not perfect insulators, and the amount of heat lost through them increases with time and temperature, as the brick becomes saturated with heat and insulates less. 120V kilns typically generate 1800 -1900 watts (a big hair dryer) as any more than that will blow the typical household circuit breaker. Current cone 6 rated commercial 120V kilns are all smaller than your kiln and have 3" brick, so the available wattage of heat from the elements disperses less through the walls of the better insulated, smaller kiln, and thus can reach a higher maximum temperature before stalling when radiant heat lost equals heat input. I have done some of my own rough calculations on the entire Skutt and L&L lines using rated watts of heat, external shell dimensions, and manufacturer's stated maximum cone. The typical cone 10 kilns generally had at least 3½ watts per square inch of external surface area. Kilns rated to cone 8 (but only good to cone 6 in the long run) had about 3 watts per square inch. Kilns rated to cone 6 (which would go through elements quickly if consistently fired to cone 6) had between 2½ and 3 watts per square inch. And kilns rated for less than cone 6 had less than 2½ watts per square inch. Your kiln is looking like about 2 watts per square inch of external surface area, not likely to reach cone 6 IMO. As Bill notes, you can wind your own elements to any specification you want to get more heat, but more heat is more amperage of electrical service, and your house wiring needs to be able to support it. An option, if you are going to rewire the kiln - convert it to 240V. You will need to do a bunch of calculations to match your new element windings to the kiln wiring and house circuit, but it can be done.