neilestrick
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Posts posted by neilestrick
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1 hour ago, PeterH said:
The diagram gives a max temperature of 1650F (about cone 010?). Do you have any comments on expected element life versus firing temperature?
Serial plate is showing max temp of 2000F so it should be able to do cone 04. I have no idea how long the elements should last in that situation, but if it's similar to firing a cone 6 kiln to max temp then maybe 50 firings. It's a lot cooler than cone 6, though, so they may last longer. I really don't have any experience with maxing out low fire kilns.
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You'll have to use witness cones and turn it off manually. Not the safest system in the world.
With a meter you can check the element resistance and see if the elements are still good.
You can replace the switches with general purpose infinite switches.
120 volts, 30 amps with two power cords is a really strange configuration, and may or may not meet current code requirements. I'm assuming the 30 amp draw on the serial plate means the total draw of both sections since the other box doesn't have a serial plate, so to make it work you'll need two separate 120 volt circuits with 20 amp breakers. Each section will pull 15 amps, but code requires that kilns be on breakers that are 25% greater than the draw, but not more than 50% greater, so 20 amp breakers. So you can't just plug it into both sockets of a duplex outlet because those will be on the same circuit and overload it. You need two outlets on separate circuits right next to each other. Extension cords are not allowed. If it were my kiln, I would rewire it for 120/240 volt service with one 4-wire power cord that would be on a 240 volt 20 amp circuit, but that would require a new control box on the kiln or connecting the two boxes with conduit. It's an odd duck for sure.
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The cone you fire to doesn't really make a difference, because things start burning out as low as 500F degrees and is pretty well complete by 1900F degrees. Bare minimum you want a fan in the window pulling air out, and sufficient makeup air. If you find that doesn't work, then I recommend getting a downdraft kiln vent.
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On 3/16/2024 at 2:17 PM, Frogesan said:
NOTHING happened for at least five minutes.
I think maybe you're working too slowly. It should only take a minute max to sift the plaster into the water, another minute at most to gently hand mix. Then lit it sit for a couple of minutes and then power mix.
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No glaze is going to brush well unless it contains a lot of Gerstley Borate or you add the necessary ingredients to make it brushable, namely CMC gum. Typically a gum solution is made with 2 tablespoons of CMC to 1 gallon of water, and the solution is used in place of 1/3-1/2 of the water in the glaze. Since your glaze(s) is already mixed, you don't want to use that solution because there will be way too much water. You could add the CMC directly to the glaze, but it's difficult to get it to mix in well doing it that way. So instead, make up some gum solution that's really thick like snot. Mix 2 tablespoons CMC and 1/4 tsp copper carbonate (preservative) with 1 quart of hot water, let it sit overnight, then blend with a stick blender. If you're using small containers of glaze like pints or quarts, add a spoonful of the snot to the glaze and blend. See how it brushes, and add another spoonful if needed.
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17 hours ago, nuna said:
(the L&L manual said not to use silica which is why I switched
I believe that recommendation is to prevent the material from getting into the element grooves. I don't think that switching to another material is necessarily any better in that regard. If you're going to do it, use the material that works the best which would be silica sand, and just be sure not to get any into your elements, and vacuum them out after firing.
There is very little shrinkage in a bisque firing, so it's more about even heating/cooling and/or expansion/contraction during the heating/cooling.
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I think you'll just have to try it. My gut says 3 kiln is too many, though, and you'll get freezing.
How is your kiln constructed? 40 minutes to an hour seems a little long for a typical raku kiln.
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@jcwilson Welcome to the forum! Can you please post a picture of the control system for the kiln? Is it digital? Is it manual- does it have a Kiln Sitter? We have a couple of members from your side of the pond, but the majority are in the US and aren't very familiar with the brands of kilns you have there. They all work about the same, though, so if we can see what we're dealing with that will help.
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On 3/11/2024 at 6:27 PM, Dick White said:
Skutt removed that from their Touchscreen version of the Bartlett Genesis. With a Skutt Touchscreen controller, one now must build a custom ramp-hold program that mimics whatever cone-fire program on the way up and then add one or two more steps at the end of the program for a controlled cool.
Does it have a 'copy' function like the Genesis, where you can copy the Cone Fire schedule into a custom program?
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A waster slab should do the trick, or put some silica sand on the shelf. Make sure you put kiln wash or alumina wax on the waster slab so the tile doesn't stick to it. If you need a cooling ramp it would be during quartz inversion, so from about 1100 to 900, but it's rare that you would need that.
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It's odd to have a gap between sections like that. It could very well be the cause of the problem down there, or at least a partial cause. There are ways to fix that with some work on the bricks, but the easy solution would be to lay a thin layer of fiber under the bottom row of bricks, to seal up any gaps. Lay it all the way around, full width of the bricks, and set the ring on it. It'll compress where the bricks fit tight, and fill gaps where they're not. I would not try to mortar the gap.
Smear some mortar in the floor cracks. Not a big deal.
Did you have a shelf at the bottom? You need one down there, up on 1/2" posts. Otherwise the bottom will definitely run cold.
When you load the kiln, at the bottom you should put low mass pots like bowls or tall pieces, pack the middle section really tight, put whatever's left at the top, preferably semi-tight.
Also check your elements with a meter to see if their resistance is correct. Could be the bottom is worn more than the others, which is not uncommon.
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Those shrinkage rates are more than close enough for what you're doing, and those numbers are way too precise. There will always be slight differences in shrinkage depending on the accuracy of the firing, the thickness of the pieces, etc, so for them to give a number that precise is totally unnecessary. They basically have the same shrinkage rate.
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What type of kiln is it? If it has a door, just pull the obvara and then close it up and finish the raku pieces. Otherwise I think you'd probably be fine just firing up to raku temps and pulling the raku pieces first while the obvara cools a bit. It's not an exact temperature anyway, since the pieces cools some between the kiln and the bucket, and the last piece is always a lot cooler than the first.
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22 hours ago, Lbauer12 said:
Thanks. Reading about bisque firings supposed to be 8-10 hours and glaze 6-8 made me concerned, plus I’ve gotten pinholes in glaze and some crazing. I read on that thread about someone doing a drop hold to heal pinholes…how would I do that?
On a regular manual kiln the drop and hold is near impossible. On this kiln not possible at all. It's the realm of digital controllers.
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These kilns fire fast. Probably not a stuck relay for that model based on your description. There has been a lot of discussion about them here on the forum. HERE is a great thread that will give you lots of info.
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Not everyone wants to or is able to throw dinner plates on the wheel. I slab build my plates, and it is much faster than throwing and I don't have problems with humping in the middle.
@chris123 I think the issue is either with glaze tension as mentioned above, or it could be from uneven heating/cooling between the edges and the center or the top and bottom.
1. Does it happen with all of your glazes or just one?
2. What size kiln do you have, and what firing schedule are you using?
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@Retxy are you digging your own clay or are you buying raw materials (or both)?
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5 hours ago, petrichorandgold said:
Hi! I tried posting this before but I don’t think it went through…
I recently bought a kiln from someone who let it get rained on outside. I’m planning to rehab it, but before I do, I want to see if the panel works (it’s a skutt 1027). My question is— can I plug in just the panel to see if it turns on, without it being attached to the rest of the kiln, which is still drying out?
TIA!
I'd remove the control panel and take off the insulating baffle and see if it's dry inside. If it's still damp, let it sit open for a day or two indoors so the electronics can dry out completely. You do not have to have the elements connected to the kiln to test the control box, and should not if the bricks are still wet. You will need to have the thermocouple connected if you want the controller to do anything besides read FAIL.
Coloring slip
in Mold Making and Slip Casting
Posted
Just add it until it's got enough color for your needs.