neilestrick

What firing schedule are you using? Are you firing a lot of really flat pieces and packing the kiln with a lot of shelves? How did you determine that you needed new elements after 45 firings? That's a ridiculously short time for that model. Where is the kiln located? Are the vent holes in the floor of the kiln clogged? Alumina hydrate won't affect anything. Corrosion in the vent is normal. You're pulling all those fumes out of the kiln and they mix with the moisture also coming out of the kiln and it creates a fairly corrosive environment. You should still get a few hundred firings from your vent motor before it needs replacing, though. Side note, 182 is not a good clay for cone 6 functional work. It will be under fired at cone 6. If you're doing functional work, consider using #630 instead, which will fully vitrify at cone 6 and is very similar.

You'll have to look at the specs of the timer HERE and see if it'll work. I think it will if you get the right one. You'll need to make sure you get one with the correct voltage, as they are available in a wide range of voltage options. For your kiln it all depends on how it's wire up. Does it have a 3 prong plug or 4 prong? If it's 3 prong then you probably need the 240V model. If it's 4 prong then you might need the 115V model. I really can't say for sure without seeing the kiln, though. I was talking with a customer last week who said that his timers are dead and Paragon (who serviced Duncan for a long time) said they're no longer available. Not sure what the deal is there, because clearly they are still available, however they're solid state now instead of mechanical. I'm going to be looking at his kiln on Thursday to see what I can do to rewire it without the timers just to simplify the system and make trouble shooting easier in the future. With all the different parts on these kilns it can be difficult to diagnose problems and expensive to maintain.

The timers keep it at a low temp for two hours before they allow it to run hotter, which is probably why they are on for the same amount of time regardless of the setting at first. Since all of your elements are apparently in good condition, that means the problem is either one of the timers at the bottom of the control box or a switch. My guess is that the problem is one of the timers since you're still getting power to the elements on high. Do you have a thermocouple to track how the temp is changing? Once it is hot enough that all the elements are glowing, do they continue to glow for the remainder of the firing?

It is an oddball, but on that model the sitter is at the bottom. The floor slab is mounted with the bottom ring.

First, get those shelves out of there! If they slide around even a little bit they're going to break the bricks. The brick is quite thin where the element grooves are, and it doesn't take much to break them. Broken bricks will lower the value of the kiln. Also, put a piece of foam board under it when you transport it. Replacing a broken floor slab in that model is a real pain. I believe it's an A-99B. Max temp 2300, Amps 44.2, Watts 10612. It's a little underpowered for its size, only rated to cone 8. It'll work for cone 5 work, though. If the lid and floor are in good condition, and none of the bricks are so broken that they need to be replaced, and shelves are included, I would offer it at $800 and haggle from there.

The rough areas look like it wasn't on thick enough. The pinholes could be from the firing schedule, poor bisque firing, or could just be from the texture of the clay itself. But start with dialing in the application. Make sure you apply each coat of glaze with lots of glaze on your brush so it flows nicely, and apply each coat in the opposite direction of the previous coat. It takes practice, for sure.

The market for molds doesn't exist like it did 30 years ago. That said, there are still people who collect them and/or use them in their business. Are you looking to give them away or sell them? If you want to sell them, most commercial molds have model numbers on them, and you could put them up on eBay. If you're just looking to give them away, see if there are any pottery painting shops in your area that do their own castings and see if they want them, or could help you find a home for them.

Most all bat pins are 1/4-20 size. The difference is how long they need to be, which is determined by the thickness of the wheel head. What type of nut are you using on the bottom? A standard wing nut usually works just fine. If you're not using any sort of nut then they will definitely move around.

Sounds like something came loose, like a set screw or the bearing block. Have you looked at the info in THIS THREAD?

Can you buy any commercial glaze products where you are via the internet? Commercial underglazes may solve the problem, like Amaco or Speedball products. They are available on Amazon if that's an option where you are. I think the wild clay could definitely be the problem, but I'm not seeing popouts in all of the images so It may just be a fit issue. I'm also wondering if the borax in your recipe isn't part of the problem, because isn't borax soluble?

240 would be the best of those two. It is a lot smoother than the 630 and tends to s-crack a lot more. It's more of a yellow white rather than the gray white of the 630. 182 is the cone 10 version of 630, so it would be under-fired at cone 6.

I think that Ceramic Supply Chicago is the only shop that gets clay directly from Standard. Any other shops in the area that I know of buy from Ceramic Supply, and as far as I know they're just selling to their students. @HighlandMeg ask Ceramic Supply Chicago if they know of any shops that will sell to you.

Unfortunately, no. I've only got a box or two, and my classes start next week or I would sell her some of mine. I can't think of any of my customers that specifically use that clay body and would have enough to sell some.

@dtpotter any luck finding that manual?

Walk away. In addition to all the difficulties working on that type of kiln, the money needed to get it into working condition, and the difficulty of moving it, the insulation behind the bricks may or may not be something dangerous like asbestos. Being that old, my bet is that it's something bad.

Way, way back when I was in grad school, one of my classmates used a Wagner paint sprayer for glazes and it worked well for him. Before buying one, I would look at what sort of adjustments you can make to the spray pattern- if it will focus small enough for spraying a pot, or if it just wants to spray a large area like for painting walls. Glazes are typically runnier/more watery than a paint, so see what you can find out about how well it can handle that, or if you're going to have to mix your glazes thicker. I was just at Home Depot yesterday buying paint, and happened to look at spray guns and saw that they had some that were made for stain, and others that were made for paints and stains. I would imagine that if it can handle paint and stain, it should be able to handle glaze okay, as that would be somewhere in-between in thickness.

For anyone else who may be looking at this thread and uses a Mac, the Preview app that comes standard on Macs will let you resize images.

Unfortunately, mixing will usually give you a completely different result. It would be nice if mixing worked, as the whole process would be a lot simpler!

Layering glazes is a great way to go, especially if you can find a glaze with titanium in it for the top layer. You won't get something as iridescent as a luster, but you should be able to find something that approximates it well enough to make it believable.

Like Bill said, that kiln is is not going to get to cone 5. To fire to cone 5 you really want a kiln that can get to at least cone 8, ideally cone 10. That way the elements can wear a bit before they need replacing. The switch Bill posted should work, assuming the amperage rating is good for your kiln. Infinite switches are usually only rated for 15 amps, so make sure your kiln is under that. Based on its size and max temp rating it probably is. You can find the amperage rating on the serial plate.

A good magnesium matte glaze with a slow cooling can give that surface.

I said 'properly formulated'. There are commercially produced cone 10 bodies that have greater than 2% absorption, too. There is nothing about cone 10 that makes work any more durable or functional or safe to use. It's just hotter. That's it. Regardless of the temperature you're firing at, you can make vitrified, durable, safe pots.

I've always used the SUV I drive everyday. For the last 7 years that has been a 2012 Nissan Pathfinder. Before that a 2011 Chevy Traverse. Before that a 1998 Pathfinder which was a little smaller than ideal- I had to strap stuff to the roof rack. Some use vans, some use pickups, some use a trailer. Deciding what works best for you depends on your booth setup, how much work you'll be taking to shows, costs, etc. HERE is a little article I wrote on the subject.

Probably a combination of their glaze choices, firing technique, and clay choices. Cone 6 clays are also vitrified. There's no difference, assuming both are properly formulated.

We don't have a way to specifically mark it as resolved, but I think this statement will do it. Glad you got the answer you needed!