neilestrick

It's computer controlled extruding. Pushing clay out of a nozzle is nothing new.

I've attached the manual for this kiln. Take a look at page 13, which has the firing instructions. 3 hours is fast, and likely happening because you're gone straight to High instead of working up from Low. As for the cones, it sounds like everything worked as it should. 06 will melt before 05, so it should be completely over if 05 was perfect. Think of the '0' as a negative sign, so 06 is a lower temp than 05, just like -6 is colder than -5. There are very few kiln parts that are specific so kilns- all of the switches are stock parts that you can find on the internet, Euclids.com will be able to make elements for you, and Sitter parts are still available from most kiln suppliers.

Good kilns. It's an old kiln, but you can still get parts for them from L&L. They tend to be in really good condition whenever I find them. The serial number is the date of manufacture. How does it look? Are the bricks in good condition? Depending on how old it is, you may want to rewire the control box if it's got old waxy wires. Post pics if you can.

I would argue that digital controllers have had the opposite effect on electric kilns. Prior to digital controls, we did Low-Med-Hi then waited until the Kiln Sitter shut it off. Although we had a cone and a very basic understanding of the cone melting process, we had no idea what was going on during the firing. Since the advent of digital controllers, we are now aware of the rate of climb of the kiln, and how to design a firing schedule based on specific ramps and holds, going slow through quartz inversion, how the speed of the final ramp relates to cones, etc. We now do things like add holds at the end of a firing to add more heat work, slow cooling ramps to increase crystal growth, fast glaze firings, slow bisque firings, etc. Digital controllers have brought us much more awareness and control compared to manual firings.

Exactly. I just don't like the idea of there being a purity test for artists.

I don't see this as being all that different than people who use commercial glazes and don't know anything about glaze formulation. Or the hobbyist who simply presses the buttons on their kiln controller without having a firm understanding of how cones work. Or students at a community art center who never fire the kilns at all (my students). Or people who buy pre-mixed clay bodies, which are 99.9% of the people who work with clay. Do we need to give someone a test of their ceramic knowledge in order to judge the quality of their work? The examples of people who work with clay and lack technical knowledge about ceramics are much greater than those who know a lot. This forum is proof of that. The fact is you can make beautiful ceramic pieces without knowing anything about formulating a clay body or a glaze, whether your'e working on a wheel or 3D printing. A friend/customer of mine has been a full time potter for 20 years, and has never mixed her own glazes. Wouldn't know a si:al ratio if it hit her in the head. She doesn't know anything about fixing her kilns, either- she calls me. I don't think that invalidates her work any more than buying pre-mixed slip for 3D printing. And even though one may not know the technical points of the material, they still have to learn how each one works with the process of 3D printing, how it fires, how glazes work on it, etc. Pieces still crack, warp, slump, etc. even though they are 3D printed. It simplifies one aspect of the process, but it's not magic.

No, it was designed by a human. It was created using a computer as a tool for working clay.

That's your opinion, and I respect that. A lot of it does look empty, but I'm also a fan of mid century design and those clean lines and simple forms that show no signs of being touched by human hand. A lot of the work that I make has very few marks from my hands. And I totally agree that much (most) of the 3D printed work I see isn't good, and mostly it's a case of not designing in a way that takes advantage of the nature of the process, no different than any other process IMO. You choose a process because it lends itself to achieving a certain look, and the wrong process can result in poor work. I think this piece by Keith Simpson (@EarlyAmericanRobotPottery on instagram) is a great example of embracing the nature of 3D printed ceramics to achieve a beautiful result. I don't care how it's made, it works. And if you take a look at his Instagram page, you'll see that he has to deal with cracking and collapsing walls and all those others issues that have to be dealt with when working with clay in any other method.

Someone still had to do some level of work to make the printed one, definitely the glazing and firing. They just picked a different method of forming it. One can usually tell when something is extruded, wheel thrown, slip cast, slab built, coil built, etc. Different tools for different folks. All can be done well, all can be done poorly. Every process has its benefits and its shortcomings, which is why we have so many different processes.

This is exactly why it's an exciting option. You can do things with it that you can't easily do using other methods. It's just a tool. The idea that you don't have to worry about materials or use careful though when designing 3D printed objects is false. You still have to be knowledgeable of the materials and how they work. The printer is not magic. Plus there's still the issue of how any specific form will behave in firing, as well as the glazing process. It's not like you print clay and it's done. I have a friend with a 3D printer (for plastics), and we've talked at length about how different plastics behave differently, how supports systems have to be built into the design, cooling rates, plastic temps, etc. Same with the clay- you have to have knowledge of how the slip will behave, nozzle sizes, etc. It's not like you go buy a 3D ceramic printer at Wal-Mart and you're successfully printing 10 minutes after you unbox it. True, it's faster than learning how to throw a pot, but that doesn't make it worse. Is driving a car bad compared to walking because it takes away the 'real life' experience of getting from one place to another? This gets to the heart of it. Your issue is not with the process, it's with how the process is being used.

Cheesy garbage is cheesy garbage regardless of how it's made. Is a poorly made heart-shaped pinch pot ashtray better than a 3D printed heart-shaped ashtray?

How is designing 3D printed ceramics any different than designing wheel thrown objects? If you don't have a good sense of form, balance, proportions, etc, then it won't be successful either way. I'm not talking about the actual computer work. I'm talking about creativity and conceiving an interesting idea that can then be built with whatever process you choose. Design is all about the ideas, not the execution.

I think all technology is valid in art. It's not better or worse, just different. For some people it's great, for others not so much. It all comes down to individual aesthetics and what drives the artist. The problems come when the technology replaces knowledge. In most cases, technology is used because it makes things easier and/or faster. However the path to learning how to do something the hard way teaches you a lot more than the easy path, so when you adopt technology it's important to understand what the technology is doing for you rather than just blindly letting it do its thing. This level of understanding is especially important when problems arise. If you don't know what's happening, you can't fix it. For instance, when using a digital electric kiln you still need to understand how cones and heatwork function so you can make necessary changes to the firing schedule to achieve your desired results. The other problem that can arise is when one doesn't accept that technology and processes like firing kilns don't operate at the same level of precision. By scientific standards, firing ceramics in a studio is very imprecise, and for the most part can have a pretty big level of slop in the process. 1/2 cone firing difference isn't going to mean the difference between a functional or unsafe pot in most cases. We have quite a bit of latitude in what we do, which is a good thing. So when you hook a digital kiln controller to your PC and start graphing firings, you have to accept that the rate of climb is not going to perfectly match the programmed schedule, and that there is going to be some temperature variation between sections of the kiln, and that those variations are perfectly okay. I once had a customer that was freaking out over these very things, and even though I told him it wasn't necessary, he had me replace all his elements and relays and thermocouples, only to get the exact same results. There were maybe 8 degrees difference between the kiln sections, and the peak temp didn't exactly match the cone chart. His pots looked exactly like they were supposed to, exactly the same as before he hooked up the PC, but he couldn't get past the variations in the firing graphs. Personally, I'm all for bringing technology into my studio as long as it doesn't replace a process that I enjoy doing myself. I have no problem with 3D printed ceramics, and even like a lot of what I've seen, although I have no interest in pursuing it myself. To me it has a certain look to it that tells me it was printed, just like extruded or slipcast or thrown pots do, but if done well it makes for some really interesting forms and textures that would be incredibly difficult to make otherwise. It's just as valid as any other process IMO. Every process leans toward a specific aesthetic, and not liking that aesthetic is fine, but it doesn't mean the process isn't as artistically valid. Regardless of the process you use to create ceramic objects, you have to have good designs and skill at the process. That could be skill in programming a computer or skill at working on the wheel. Either way you have to understand the medium and the tools, and either way that skill means very little without good designs and an understanding of forms. If an object is beautiful then it's beautiful, regardless of how it's made. Perhaps being hand made makes it more inspiring or covetable, but from a purely visual judgment of a form it doesn't matter how it's made. I have a healthy respect for all well designed objects, even those that are mass produced. Eva Zeisel's work is a prime example.

In a bisque it won't really matter. But in going to cone 6, leaving too many peeps out will affect the firing time, or even prevent the kiln from reaching temp. About once a year I get called to fix a kiln that ins't broken, they're just leaving all the peeps open because they broke all the plugs.

Still good. But you could just leave the top out and not mess with the others if you don't want to.

If you plan to fire to cone 6, you want a kiln that will at least get to cone 8, ideally cone 10. Otherwise you'll only get about 30 firings before you have to change the elements. I'd call Olympic, as they will be able to give you some info about this kiln and make recommendations about increasing the cone rating, possibly with just new elements, possibly with taking out the blank ring.

Wha'd'you got against puddles?!?

LT-3K is the model fo the Kiln Sitter shutoff device, not the kiln. There should be a serial plate on the kiln that says the actual model number, voltage, phase, watts, etc. I assume you mean Gare, not Glare? Value depends on the size and condition, but in general those old kilns aren't worth much, maybe $300 unless it's a large one.

@EvilBunny doll Welcome to the forum! Let us know how the firing turns out.

This kiln will use all 4 wires. Don't think of it as a 240 volt kiln, it's two 120 volt rings stacked on top of each other. Each ring will have one hot, a neutral, and a ground, if it's wired as it was originally designed.

A very common firing schedule is 1 hour on low, 1 hour on medium, then high till the cone drops.

It depends on the firing temp of the decals. Find out what cone they go to. You can fire decals pretty fast, as long as the pots themselves can handle the speed.

You'll only get about 25 firings before needing to change the elements. And those will be long firings that won't necessarily match up with your main kiln.

Like Callie, my big dark shift was switching to cone 6 oxidation. I learned how to fire a gas kiln my first semester of ceramics in 1992, and spent the next 16 years of my ceramics life working at cone 10- gas, salt, and wood firing. In 2008 I switched to cone 6 electric, at first by choice as something different to try, but soon after by necessity as I had to move my shop and couldn't find a place where I could have my gas kiln. I rarely get very far out of my comfort zone any more. If I do it's by choice, trying to work out an idea I have rolling around in my brain. I don't ever go out of my comfort zone for a customer, though, because it won't pay off. I've gotten very good at saying no to people over the last 16 years of running my business.

Best bet is to look at the wiring diagram and do what it says. The 181 is unique because it's a 4 wire system. The two hots will connect to the sitter. The neutral will go out to the elements and the other section. The ground will go to the case and the other section. Any of the other wires should be replaced if the covers are turning brown instead of white, or if they're crispy and crack when you bend them. You should be able to order a new wiring harness from Skutt. The feeder wires, those that go from the switches to the elements, are typically connected with crimp connectors, so you won't be able to change those until you change the elements.