neilestrick

Sanding the area to be painted will also help with adhesion. I think most paints other than epoxy will be quite prone to scratching on a glossy surface.

Sanding the area to be painted will also help with adhesion. I think most paints other than epoxy will be quite prone to scratching on a glossy surface.

So sorry for your loss. I've also heard of people using plain old white glue, then soaking it with a bit of water to loosen it up when it needs to be open. I think the putty options are probably better, though. Always keep the ashes in a plastic bag, even when in the urn.

If the timer shut it off before the cone dropped, then it didn't reach temp. Turn the kiln on high for a few minutes and see if all the elements glow. If one is out, then it's probably just a fried element. If two in the same section are out, then you probably have a bad switch. Or in both cases it could be a wiring connection fried out somewhere, which should be easy to see when you open up the control box (with the kiln unplugged). If they all glow, then they're probably worn and need to be replaced. Post a pic of the elements so we can see their condition.

Agreed: newsprint holds a lot of ink and with larger areas of fill, can be very troublesome with wrinkling.   Heavy ink load also can be apt to smear in transfer, perhaps too wet on the sponge side and still too dry on the work side.  I used this on one sort of Mesoamerican pattern that I printed in brown ink, knowing from a test piece that it would smear and look a lot like a pattern in chocolate that got warm.  I served some people a bake sale brownie on it.
For fun a couple of hours ago I pulled a test print on the smooth newsprint wrapping paper from a recently arrived jar of peppercorns.  It worked as well as the other two smooth newsprints that I tried, apart from a couple of creases.
Your offset 3D shadow effect is nice.  I tried double print with red and blue line and op-art patterns and had reasonably good results.  One person said that it was making them dizzy and looked like something for comic book 3D filter glasses.  Your note suggests that xuan might be better behaved than other papers on the more heavily filled op-art, so I will give it a try, including printing rough side.

So sorry for your loss. I've also heard of people using plain old white glue, then soaking it with a bit of water to loosen it up when it needs to be open. I think the putty options are probably better, though. Always keep the ashes in a plastic bag, even when in the urn.

Thanks for all the info! I've been doing a lot of underglaze transfers over the last couple of months, and I tried using the newsprint I use to wrap pots when I sell them, and I was not happy with the results. The underglaze is much more likely to flake off when it dries, and the wrinkling is a big issue. I'm doing large patterns, not line work, so there's a lot of underglaze on the paper and it wrinkles up a lot. I've settled on half-raw rice paper, printed on the raw side. It holds the underglaze well, releases very quickly, and doesn't wrinkle much at all. I've just been buying it off Amazon, about 29 cents per sheet.

I've been using adhesive vinyl cut on my Cricut to make the screens, with Speedball Screen Filler, and it has worked very well. This is a shot of the vinyl being removed from the screen once the filler has dried:

I don't know if this was already mentioned, but I just saw a video of someone who made their own screens using a store bought screen, but instead of using emulsion she used her Cricut machine to cut peel-and-stick vinyl. She then adhered it to the screen and it functioned like emulsion would. She was screening on fabric, but I don't see whey it wouldn't work to screen onto tissue paper to make your own stencils. She could then peel the vinyl and re-use the screen for another design. I'm sure there are limitations to this method, but if you have a Cricut it seems like a good option. I'm going to give it a try if I can find the time.

Code requires that kilns be on a breaker that is 25% greater than the draw but no more than 50% greater, so your 30 amp kiln needs to be on a 40 amp breaker. The Sitter can handle up to 45 amps. 
The 14-50 plug is a 4 wire plug- 2 hots, neutral, ground. Your kiln is a 3 wire setup- 2 hots, ground- so you'll have an extra terminal in there that you do not need. I would change out your outlet to a 6-50, which is a 3 wire, and get a new 50 amp power cord with a 6-50 plug. It's always nice to have an oversized power cord. There's no good reason to use that old cord with a new plug.
What size wiring is going from the breaker to the outlet? It needs to be sized to handle at least the amperage rating of the breaker, so if it's a 40 amp breaker you need at least 8 gauge wire. Anything smaller than that will need to be changed. Anything larger than that is just fine. Are there 3 or 4 wires going to the outlet? If there are 4, cap off the neutral because you don't need it, or if you need to run new wire then just run 2 hots and a ground. I'm not a big fan of having unused terminals in outlets and plugs because it just makes things more complicated than it needs to be when doing repairs.
I would only change the elements if they need it. Unplug the kiln, turn on the Sitter and all the switches, and measure the resistance (ohms on the meter, little horseshoe symbol) at the two hot prongs on the power cord.  It should be around 8 ohms- 240 (volts) divided by 30 (amps). You can also check each element by turning on each switch one at a time. Each element should measure around 32 ohms.

So it's actually a cone 8 clay. Not as tight as I'd like at cone 5, too tight at cone 10 (for a stoneware body).

Small closets that are just big enough for the kiln are not a good solution IMO. For one, there's not enough space to store shelves and posts and such. Second, they can be difficult to load and repair due to having limited space to move about. Third, they require really good ventilation, meaning an overhead vent pulling heat out, and a good source of fresh air coming in. It's really easy to overheat a digital kiln in a small space, because you're not only dealing with the heat directly from the kiln, but also the reflected heat from the walls. The controller will shut down if it gets too hot, so there has to be a lot of air moving past the kiln in order to keep the controller cool.

Thanks for all the info! I've been doing a lot of underglaze transfers over the last couple of months, and I tried using the newsprint I use to wrap pots when I sell them, and I was not happy with the results. The underglaze is much more likely to flake off when it dries, and the wrinkling is a big issue. I'm doing large patterns, not line work, so there's a lot of underglaze on the paper and it wrinkles up a lot. I've settled on half-raw rice paper, printed on the raw side. It holds the underglaze well, releases very quickly, and doesn't wrinkle much at all. I've just been buying it off Amazon, about 29 cents per sheet.

I've been using adhesive vinyl cut on my Cricut to make the screens, with Speedball Screen Filler, and it has worked very well. This is a shot of the vinyl being removed from the screen once the filler has dried:

Still thinking about Alice's comment. I broke HMS. No 12 What Does She Sea before firing. Was gonna trash it, but gave myself a talking to regarding the balance point between not keeping work w/real flaws/problems vs the metaphor of not dismissing "someone" becasue they are damaged. So, since the series theme is DV trauma, surviving, & healing, I decided to forge ahead. I'll put a pic in Gallery, but here is a detail of the repair, i.e. covering up the scar.  I used brighter colors & glitter dust to support a positive vibe for what she "seas".  

Thanks for all the info! I've been doing a lot of underglaze transfers over the last couple of months, and I tried using the newsprint I use to wrap pots when I sell them, and I was not happy with the results. The underglaze is much more likely to flake off when it dries, and the wrinkling is a big issue. I'm doing large patterns, not line work, so there's a lot of underglaze on the paper and it wrinkles up a lot. I've settled on half-raw rice paper, printed on the raw side. It holds the underglaze well, releases very quickly, and doesn't wrinkle much at all. I've just been buying it off Amazon, about 29 cents per sheet.

I've been using adhesive vinyl cut on my Cricut to make the screens, with Speedball Screen Filler, and it has worked very well. This is a shot of the vinyl being removed from the screen once the filler has dried:

Thanks for all the info! I've been doing a lot of underglaze transfers over the last couple of months, and I tried using the newsprint I use to wrap pots when I sell them, and I was not happy with the results. The underglaze is much more likely to flake off when it dries, and the wrinkling is a big issue. I'm doing large patterns, not line work, so there's a lot of underglaze on the paper and it wrinkles up a lot. I've settled on half-raw rice paper, printed on the raw side. It holds the underglaze well, releases very quickly, and doesn't wrinkle much at all. I've just been buying it off Amazon, about 29 cents per sheet.

I've been using adhesive vinyl cut on my Cricut to make the screens, with Speedball Screen Filler, and it has worked very well. This is a shot of the vinyl being removed from the screen once the filler has dried:

In looking at other examples of that glaze, it appears that it does like to go metallic. The lack of color may be due to thickness issues. I'd run a few test tiles ranging from 2-5 coats of glaze and see which one gives the best color. If they all stay metallic then it's probably a temperature issue.

So it's actually a cone 8 clay. Not as tight as I'd like at cone 5, too tight at cone 10 (for a stoneware body).

In looking at other examples of that glaze, it appears that it does like to go metallic. The lack of color may be due to thickness issues. I'd run a few test tiles ranging from 2-5 coats of glaze and see which one gives the best color. If they all stay metallic then it's probably a temperature issue.

Any time you add a plug into the system it's another weak point, so the fewer the better. Not using an extension cord is most likely a physical safety thing rather than an electrical thing. A long cord is far more likely to be tripped over, which could cause the kiln to be pulled off the stand while hot. An RV isn't going to tip over and start a fire if you trip on the cord.
A 6 foot long, 3 wire, 50 amp oven cord would work fine. If you get a 4 wire that matches your outlet, just don't use the neutral wire.

Any time you add a plug into the system it's another weak point, so the fewer the better. Not using an extension cord is most likely a physical safety thing rather than an electrical thing. A long cord is far more likely to be tripped over, which could cause the kiln to be pulled off the stand while hot. An RV isn't going to tip over and start a fire if you trip on the cord.
A 6 foot long, 3 wire, 50 amp oven cord would work fine. If you get a 4 wire that matches your outlet, just don't use the neutral wire.

That's an odd ruling, because that would mean a kiln would not be hooked up according to manufacturer's recommendations, and in the case of a UL listed kiln it would require changing the plug and possibly negating the UL Listing. @Bill Kielb have you ever heard of that rule? 
Ground wire should be attached to the appropriate ground terminal all the way through from the breaker box to the kiln box. The neutral should not be used at all. Adapters and extension cords are not safe for use on kilns.
I wouldn't fire any pots until you test it, but I wouldn't run a test until you measure the element resistance.

Code requires that kilns be on a breaker that is 25% greater than the draw but no more than 50% greater, so your 30 amp kiln needs to be on a 40 amp breaker. The Sitter can handle up to 45 amps. 
The 14-50 plug is a 4 wire plug- 2 hots, neutral, ground. Your kiln is a 3 wire setup- 2 hots, ground- so you'll have an extra terminal in there that you do not need. I would change out your outlet to a 6-50, which is a 3 wire, and get a new 50 amp power cord with a 6-50 plug. It's always nice to have an oversized power cord. There's no good reason to use that old cord with a new plug.
What size wiring is going from the breaker to the outlet? It needs to be sized to handle at least the amperage rating of the breaker, so if it's a 40 amp breaker you need at least 8 gauge wire. Anything smaller than that will need to be changed. Anything larger than that is just fine. Are there 3 or 4 wires going to the outlet? If there are 4, cap off the neutral because you don't need it, or if you need to run new wire then just run 2 hots and a ground. I'm not a big fan of having unused terminals in outlets and plugs because it just makes things more complicated than it needs to be when doing repairs.
I would only change the elements if they need it. Unplug the kiln, turn on the Sitter and all the switches, and measure the resistance (ohms on the meter, little horseshoe symbol) at the two hot prongs on the power cord.  It should be around 8 ohms- 240 (volts) divided by 30 (amps). You can also check each element by turning on each switch one at a time. Each element should measure around 32 ohms.

Code requires that kilns be on a breaker that is 25% greater than the draw but no more than 50% greater, so your 30 amp kiln needs to be on a 40 amp breaker. The Sitter can handle up to 45 amps. 
The 14-50 plug is a 4 wire plug- 2 hots, neutral, ground. Your kiln is a 3 wire setup- 2 hots, ground- so you'll have an extra terminal in there that you do not need. I would change out your outlet to a 6-50, which is a 3 wire, and get a new 50 amp power cord with a 6-50 plug. It's always nice to have an oversized power cord. There's no good reason to use that old cord with a new plug.
What size wiring is going from the breaker to the outlet? It needs to be sized to handle at least the amperage rating of the breaker, so if it's a 40 amp breaker you need at least 8 gauge wire. Anything smaller than that will need to be changed. Anything larger than that is just fine. Are there 3 or 4 wires going to the outlet? If there are 4, cap off the neutral because you don't need it, or if you need to run new wire then just run 2 hots and a ground. I'm not a big fan of having unused terminals in outlets and plugs because it just makes things more complicated than it needs to be when doing repairs.
I would only change the elements if they need it. Unplug the kiln, turn on the Sitter and all the switches, and measure the resistance (ohms on the meter, little horseshoe symbol) at the two hot prongs on the power cord.  It should be around 8 ohms- 240 (volts) divided by 30 (amps). You can also check each element by turning on each switch one at a time. Each element should measure around 32 ohms.

The first glaze should be dry to the touch (which could mean anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours), but not totally dry. Different glazes dry at different rates, so as you use your glazes more you'll learn when the best time is to do the second glaze.

Small closets that are just big enough for the kiln are not a good solution IMO. For one, there's not enough space to store shelves and posts and such. Second, they can be difficult to load and repair due to having limited space to move about. Third, they require really good ventilation, meaning an overhead vent pulling heat out, and a good source of fresh air coming in. It's really easy to overheat a digital kiln in a small space, because you're not only dealing with the heat directly from the kiln, but also the reflected heat from the walls. The controller will shut down if it gets too hot, so there has to be a lot of air moving past the kiln in order to keep the controller cool.