neilestrick

Move it in sections, don't try to lift it all at once. Unhook and remove the lid. Stack the sections in the truck, making two stacks if you can. Put foam board underneath each section. The pink house insulation board works well. Set down the wall sections first, with the lid and floor slabs on top (if the floor is a separate piece). Foam board separating everything. Wrap it all up with plastic stretch wrap and secure the load as best you can. I use a cargo tarp and that works really well. If you put straps over the top, put foam board between the straps and the kiln. Don't crank down too tight with straps or you could crack the bricks.

Those coatings may be beneficial in a typical reduction firing because they harden the surface of the fiber and make it more durable, but in something as corrosive as soda or salt it won't be able to protect it enough. The atmosphere is just too corrosive.

That's a cone 05, not 5. That would explain why the cone 5 glazes didn't melt.

What color is the cone?

I usually fire my kilns at night so I don't really see what's happening with actual temps in the kiln, but today I started it up in the morning and was in the studio in the evening and got to see exactly what was happening during the cooling cycle. I do a slightly-slow cooling cycle to even out the results in my 3 kilns because they all cool at drastically different rates due to their sizes. I do a drop from the peak down to 2000F, then cool at 175F/hr down to 1500F. This gives me identical results from all 3 of my kilns. This firing I'm talking about here is in my 10 cubic foot L&L EQ2827-3, which has 3 zones, and was packed very tight in the middle. I was surprised at just how much slower the middle cools compared to the top and bottom. This photo shows how it's going part way through the initial drop from peak temp to 2000F: As you can see, the middle and the top are nowhere close to each other. In a normal firing segment, a 73 degree difference would stop the firing with an error code. So why isn't it doing that here? It's because the cooling rate is set at 9999, or full speed. Any time you use 9999, whether it's climbing or dropping, the controller lets the kiln do its thing and doesn't care if the sections aren't even. Firing up or down at 9999 is the fastest, but you sacrifice evenness. As the temp continues to drop, we see this: Here you can see that the top section (TC1) has started firing again. The set point for this segment was 2000F, at which point it should start cooling at 175F/hr, yet the top section passed that by about 20 degrees before the relay kicked on and the controller stopped the drop. Why did it let it get so far below the set point? Because it's averaging the 3 zones. Once the average of the 3 zones hits the set point it will start to fire each section again as needed to match the set point. I get a lot of questions from customers about error codes and cooling cycles. The biggest problem is that the kiln can't always keep up with the programmed cooling rate. There are a number of firing schedules out there on the internet that people are trying that use a rate of 600F/hr or more for the fast drop portion of the cooling cycle, and many kilns simply cannot cool that fast, especially the middle section. When you have a specific rate programmed, the controller will send out an error code if the kiln can't keep up with that rate. So if you want a really fast drop you should use 9999F/hr, not a specific rate. For most people doing slow cooling with cone 6 work it won't matter if the sections are not totally even during the drop. If you do need more precision, like if you're firing crystalline work and it's important that you don't overshoot any target temps, then you'll want to put in a slower drop rate that the kiln can actually keep up with, and the controller will keep the sections even and not overshoot set points.

They would probably be okay, but any time you shut down a glaze before it's gone through its complete melting cycle there's a chance of something going wrong like crawling. It would also depend totally on the glaze formula as to just how much things would harden up at low temps. I would just carefully wrap them in something soft and pack them so they don't move and rub. If you're using brushing glazes they tend to be pretty durable before firing anyway.

Does the kiln come apart in sections or is it all one piece? Is the floor joined to the bottom of the kiln?

Hi @BarbaraT, welcome to the forum. Please post a picture of the damaged area, and a wider shot that shows how the kiln is constructed.

The wedge has to split the air, so the alignment of the mouthpiece and the tip of the wedge is critical. Adjusting the wedge up or down usually solves the problem. The width of your mouthpiece slot may be a problem, since the slot appears to be wider than the wedge hole. Could be a lot of the air is just going into the cavity without ever touching the wedge. I used to do a lot of whistles with my kids classes, and we just used a sharpened popsicle stick to make both the mouthpiece slot and the wedge hole, so everything was the same width. Beyond getting it to whistle, I cannot offer any help with actually tuning an ocarina. I've only ever made whistles.

All dark brown/black bodies do odd things with glazes. You have to do a lot of testing to find glazes that work well with them. Those that do can be really striking, though, especially if you leave areas of the clay body visible. My students use a fair amount of Standard 266, and it's a wonderful body to work with. Has a great feel. Don't go past cone 5 with it, though, or you risk bloating.

Raku glazes are often high in metals, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll fume any worse than a regular glaze. I assume the kiln is vented?

@alaphair The 500C wire will work, assuming the listing is legit and that's what you'll actually get. It's one of those random Chinese brands which sometimes have iffy quality. It's a plenty high temp rating, though. SRML wire is pretty standard stuff for most kilns, so look at that, too. You'll need 12 gauge wire. Regular house wire is not appropriate for this application, it must be high temp wire. Is the existing short wire already connected to the element with the crimp barrel connector? The barrel connector at the element has to be a high temp connector. The slip on terminal at the other end of the wire can be a standard connector.

Interesting design, elements set into the fiber. I've seen that on very small kilns, like the little Paragon table top jewelry kilns, but never in something this large. Due to its construction and the fact that these are no longer made, when the elements are dead the kiln will have to be tossed. There's no replacing those elements. It would be good to figure out if all the elements are working before you put any money into wiring it up. Do you have a multi meter? If not, you can get one at the hardware store for like $20, and with that you can measure the resistance of the elements. Just make sure it's digital and can measure ohms (the little horseshoe symbol). With that number we can math out if the elements are worn or if any of them are broken. At 9600 watts it will pull 40 amps, so by code it would need a 50 amp breaker using at least 6 gauge wire for the circuit.

I fire to cone 6 in my studio, and I have not seen Palladium look like any of those 3 tiles. When thin it goes green, not lighter metallic. When thick enough to go metallic it runs off the pot. I'm not willing to change firing schedules to satisfy one glaze, so my students won't touch it any more because it has been nearly impossible for them to use successfully.

I think it's probably an application issue. How long are you waiting between applying the two glazes? My guess is that the inside is still too wet when you apply the second glaze, and it's failing to get good adhesion, which is causing the crawling. I imagine the ash glaze takes forever to dry?

ConeArt, L&L, and some other kilns all have multiple zones, where each section of the kiln is firing independently of the other. They typically fire a little slower than single zone kilns because they are working to keep the sections even in temperature. As long as the results are okay, it doesn't matter. And only the final ramp rate, the last 100C degrees or so, is really what affects how your glazes turn out. That is typically the slowest ramp rate in the firing, so it is most likely on schedule at that point.

@Tammyt What model kiln is it, and which firing program did you use? In general, not all kilns can keep up with all programs. The controller will allow the firing to lag behind the program as long as it doesn't get too far behind.

Start reduction somewhere around cone 012-08. Your wife can fill you in on cones if you're not familiar with them. I wouldn't waste much time on automating it, because adjustments to the burners are almost always paired with an adjustment to the damper. And every firing is a little different, so adjusting according to what you see happening is very important. You'd need a lot of different sensors to effectively automate a gas kiln. If any of the fiber behind the bricks is exposed where the bricks are broken, I would cover it with new bricks since it may not be rated for high temps. Most people use a kiln shelf as a damper. Google search should turn up some examples.

Lots of little patches or something on the bricks when you zoom in.

Welcome to the forum! Unfortunately, the chimney isn't going to work. It may be the correct size, but the heat is going to destroy it in no time, and it'll likely be glowing orange outside the kiln. You also need a damper in it, and because you're using venturi burners it's probably far too short to provide the secondary air needed for combustion. I highly recommend looking at a kiln design book like Frederick Olsen's 'The Kiln Book'. It's a somewhat outdated but it's got some solid design work in it and it's really about the best we have. It'll give you the calculations needed for flue opening dimensions and chimney height. Your chimney needs to be built from firebrick to at least the height of the kiln, and then you could transition to metal after that if needed, but it's often easier to just keep with brick. Where will the kiln be located while firing? What is the BTU rating of your burners? How thick are the walls, and what type of insulation is behind the bricks?

Kilns 7 cubic feet and smaller will need a 60 amp breaker at most, with an actual draw of 48 amps at most. 10 cubic foot kilns, if you want it rated to cone 10 (which you do if you're glaze firing to cone 5/6) will need an 80 amp breaker, with an actual draw of 63 amps. That's a really big kiln for most home studios, though. 100 amp service will be great, and leave you plenty of power for running lights, wheels, etc. Kiln vents run on a typical 120 volt household circuit. The only thing that may max out the system is heating, depending on how that's done. Depending on the layout, you may not need to run the heat while the kiln is on.

It may dry and pop loose. If it's too stuck it will crack as it dries and shrinks but there's nothing much you can do about that now. Worth a try just letting it dry. Once it's firm enough you may be able to peel off the styrofoam. In the future, lay a piece of newspaper or paper towel between the clay and tray, or dust the clay with corn starch before putting it on the tray.

Most everything but the clay wants to settle out. Some more than others, but having enough clay in the recipe is key. 10% clay is the minimum I shoot for. If it still settles out, use Epsom salts to flocculate it, which gets everything to stick to the clay so it doesn't settle so much.

Simply to get into the studio. I'm cutting back on my kiln repair service area so hopefully that will allow me more (some) time in the studio. So far it has not helped, still busy with repair work every day. Maybe next week...

@Paulo316 For low fire clay to work it'll have to have a glaze that fits perfectly and doesn't craze. That will take some testing. Is she using commercial glazes or mixing her own?