neilestrick

I'm not trying to be a downer, but I think your best bet is to contact another potter in the area and see where they get their clay. You could spend a ton of time trying to figure this out and end up not being able to fix it. Most clays are not used alone, but are blended with other clays to achieve the properties you need, and not all clays are good for making pots. The other thing you need to consider is your ability to fire pots. If you can only get to 900C (cone 010), then you're not going to be able to make functional work. Pit firing and other non-functional techniques can make some really great work, though. You really need to be able to get to 1000C in order to use glazes.

1. If the letters/image on the stamp are raised, you can press it into leather hard clay fairly easily. This type of stamp works well if you're using it on the bottom of the pot where it will be left unglazed, and you don't want raised letters that could scratch a table. 2. If the letters/image on the stamp are recessed, it is very difficult to press it into leather hard clay. In that case it's best to attach a tiny pad of moist clay to the pot and stamp that, as the soft clay will go into the recesses of the stamp more easily and give you raised letters on the pot. This method is easier to make the stamp, since you are cutting the image into the stamp material, rather than cutting away the negative space, and the raised image on the clay looks nice and is less likely to get smothered by glaze. Use this method if you're going to be stamping on the side of the pot where glaze will cover the stamp.

Since none of us are on-site to really see what's going on there, your best bet is to find someone who is versed in local codes and can make sure you're doing things right. Because the kiln will get so much hotter than most venting situations, you need to do things by the book and make sure it's safe. I probably wouldn't DIY this.

Finishing the bottom of a pot is a necessary step in the process, just like throwing and glazing, and all three steps are equally important to the success of the work. Finishing the bottom can be very involved like trimming a fancy raised foot, or it may be very simple like just rolling the foot on the table to smooth out the corner. Whatever method you choose, it needs to be done well and the results should enhance the pot. Too many people see trimming as an annoyance that has to be tolerated rather than mastered- everyone wants to put all their effort into mastering throwing. Mastering trimming will make one a better potter just like mastering throwing and glazing, and to me that means mastering all aspects of trimming, including centering and anchoring your pots. The Giffin Grip works great for some types of pots, but not so much for others, so learning other techniques is absolutely necessary. As I said in my original post, if you want to use a Giffin Grip then go for it. If it works for you, great, nobody is stopping you! But I do not allow them in my studio because it is my job as an instructor to lead my students to mastery, and that does not involve using a GG. And I can assure you that my students appreciate that and are making beautiful work despite my tyrannical methods. If you would like to open your own studio and rent Giffin Grips to your students, then by all means do it, and good luck.

What clay body are you using?

The last 200F degrees are all that matter in terms of heatwork/cones and your glazes. Prior to that, you really just want a program that your pots can handle, and that your kiln can keep up with. My kilns can only maintain 325F/hr up to about 1950ish and still maintain evenness before it lags. But that's plenty fast. I do a simple 3 step program going up: 200F/hr to 200F, hold as needed 300F/hr to 1975F 100F/hr to 2175F That gets me to cone 6 in about 8.5 hours. It's a schedule my kiln can keep up with even with heavy loads. I do the same ramps for bisque. I don't think there's any reason to add a hold midway up. If things are going to even out, they should do it in the last 200F degrees. With single zone kilns, how you load it is going to have a huge effect on how evenly it fires, probably more than the firing schedule. Pack the center tight, pack the top and bottom lighter.

It may not be able to keep up with the 350F/hr ramp. It will allow itself to drop behind the schedule, though, as long as it doesn't fall too far behind. As long as you don't get an error code don't worry about it, or drop that ramp to 300F/hr. If your elements are in spec, then it's just a case of the kiln not having enough power to maintain that ramp. You'll drive yourself nuts trying to get it to match the program exactly. Worry about the results, not the process. I would also change the 500/hr drop to 9999/hr, as sometimes it can't control a drop that fast. Slower drops, like 250/hr and below are usually never a problem, though. In the Genesis: Menu 7- Factory 4-4-3-Enter TC Type

I'd use a waster slab. Put some alumina wax on it so they don't stick together. The waster doesn't have to be very thick at all, and it doesn't have to be in one piece, so don't worry if it cracks.

Can you post the firing schedule? That thermocouple is probably a Pyrocil sheathed type K. Paragon uses them a lot. The standard exposed type K with the ceramic beads will work the same, just make sure the controller is set up for the proper type.

Nope, no worries. What you're seeing there is the outer insulation fraying where it was stripped back, which is perfectly normal. Welcome to the forum!

Define indoors. Is it an actual insulated structure, or just a large shed? What type of framing in the ceiling, what type of roof?

Yes, you can use paperclay and regular clay together. Paperclay is very useful for patching greenware, and you can make small batches using slip and toilet paper. The weight savings in paperclay is negligible.

Thank you for sharing!

Start with calling Amaco, but hopefully someone with experience with that model will chime in here.

I would remove the wheel portion and mount it onto its own little support structure like a small table, and just use a stool to sit on. A simple table built with 4x4's and 2x4's with a plywood top (seal the plywood) would work just fine. Or even put it up on cinder blocks.

Let it run and see what happens.

Could definitely be the thermocouples. Relays usually last more than 100 firings, but it's possible you have one that's sticking at higher temps.

Might be relays, might be thermocouples. How many firings are on them? If you turn the kiln on full power, do all the elements glow? Thermocouples HERE, assuming you have the standard type K. Relays HERE.

0 and 1 are the control wires, so they will not be in play at all. You only need the wires that go to the elements.

I don't think we need to be looking at the Cress relay setup at all. The elements run on 240 volts, so just connect the element connection wires to the Electrositter accordingly.

The only clay that fires truly white is porcelain. Everything else will be slightly cream or gray after firing. Some are closer to white than others, so it would be best to see a sample in person.

You won't have to do anything inside the controller. It already has a 50 amp relay wired to the four screws on the back of the Electrositter. All you need to do is wire the power cord to the correct 2 terminals on the Electrositter, which you've already done, and wire the elements directly to the other two screws. You'll just have to make sure the elements are wired correctly. I don't see a wiring diagram for that specific model on the Cress website, but there are several that are probably similar, and it looks like the top and bottom elements are wired in series, and the middle elements are wired in series? If that's the case in your kiln, then piece of cake- one lead wire from the t/b and one lead wire from the middle will connect to one screw on the Electrositter, and the other two leads will connect to the other screw.

Is it one of those old electric wheels with the built in seat, all on a steel frame? If it is, you won't find any new frame parts for it. They haven't been made in decades. The Amaco #15 wheels I've found on the web do not have the built in seat, though. Post some pics.

Check out THIS THREAD. Lots of good Duncan info.

Ah, an Electrositter. That makes sense. Diagnosing these Cress kilns can be difficult, so if you can do away with everything and just run the controller to the relays to the elements it will simplify things greatly.