neilestrick

Bill and Neil, it seems I have to ask myself how much time I want to spend while firing. Based on the information, I am going to talk to a potter who knows a bit more about gas kilns than I. Thank you very much.

The bent TC is standard on a lot (all?) Evenheat kilns. They way they mount them is very solid, and the bend doesn't affect the performance.
@Bill Kielb I found one here in my shop and it's not 8 gauge. It measures out to be 14 gauge, which is why it can be bent like that. Beads only measure about 1/4" across and the protection tube is much smaller than what you'd find in an L&L or ConeArt.

The bare copper jumpers are an odd way to do it, and not necessary. Instead, just leave the element pigtails long, bend them to meet up and overlap about an inch, and put a connector on them.

Have called Kilns & Furnaces to try and get a diagram

A wiring diagram sure would be nice! Can the manufacturer get one to you?

Hmm, tell me that the new contactor is set up so power comes into the contacts marked L1,L2,L3 and the ELEMENTS are fed from the terminals T1,T2, T3.  

The bent TC is standard on a lot (all?) Evenheat kilns. They way they mount them is very solid, and the bend doesn't affect the performance.
@Bill Kielb I found one here in my shop and it's not 8 gauge. It measures out to be 14 gauge, which is why it can be bent like that. Beads only measure about 1/4" across and the protection tube is much smaller than what you'd find in an L&L or ConeArt.

Still intact, but a much harder angle that requires a couple pins to keep it from coming out of the channel at the bottom turn.

I ran an absorption test of the new 630- 44 hour soak with a 2 hour boil in the middle, the best I could do with my schedule this week. Absorption came out to 1.2%, which is great. My kiln fires to a strong cone 6, probably closer to 6 1/2, but even at 6 it should be well within acceptable range. I don't fire to cone 5 and my baby kiln is out of commission right now so I can't do a cone 5 test for a couple more weeks.
I gave some of the clay to one of my students yesterday and her initial reaction was the same as mine- it didn't feel at all like the old 630 and she didn't like it. However after throwing a couple of pieces she again had the same realization as me, which is that it still throws well, it's just different. I'm going to make a few pieces with it tonight and see if it's still as forgiving as the old formula. You could really abuse the old stuff without any problems- very little S-cracking and handles never pulled away.

I ran an absorption test of the new 630- 44 hour soak with a 2 hour boil in the middle, the best I could do with my schedule this week. Absorption came out to 1.2%, which is great. My kiln fires to a strong cone 6, probably closer to 6 1/2, but even at 6 it should be well within acceptable range. I don't fire to cone 5 and my baby kiln is out of commission right now so I can't do a cone 5 test for a couple more weeks.
I gave some of the clay to one of my students yesterday and her initial reaction was the same as mine- it didn't feel at all like the old 630 and she didn't like it. However after throwing a couple of pieces she again had the same realization as me, which is that it still throws well, it's just different. I'm going to make a few pieces with it tonight and see if it's still as forgiving as the old formula. You could really abuse the old stuff without any problems- very little S-cracking and handles never pulled away.

I’m in a very old building and this was before my landlord gave me the proper electrical support to fire correctly. I am currently up and running smoothly 

So why did the breaker trip?

I ran an absorption test of the new 630- 44 hour soak with a 2 hour boil in the middle, the best I could do with my schedule this week. Absorption came out to 1.2%, which is great. My kiln fires to a strong cone 6, probably closer to 6 1/2, but even at 6 it should be well within acceptable range. I don't fire to cone 5 and my baby kiln is out of commission right now so I can't do a cone 5 test for a couple more weeks.
I gave some of the clay to one of my students yesterday and her initial reaction was the same as mine- it didn't feel at all like the old 630 and she didn't like it. However after throwing a couple of pieces she again had the same realization as me, which is that it still throws well, it's just different. I'm going to make a few pieces with it tonight and see if it's still as forgiving as the old formula. You could really abuse the old stuff without any problems- very little S-cracking and handles never pulled away.

The only kilns I've ever seen that can fit something that is 6 feet in diameter are wood burning kilns, or a custom built industrial 100 cubic foot electric. I've seen car kilns that are 6' long, but not in width. Large kilns are typically built in rectangles, not squares or circles.
Have you already made the piece?
You're going to have to enroll in a class or join a studio in order to use their kiln, especially since you'll probably need to use their studio to build it since transporting something that large isn't a good idea. In addition to having a kiln that large, they'll need to have the equipment to move the piece in and out of the kiln. Your other option is to build your own temporary kiln around the piece.

I've seen kilns that were destroyed in 3 years and less than 200 firings, and I've seen kilns (like one of mine) that have gone more than 2,000 firings without changing a single brick. It all depends on how they're cared for and how they're constructed.
Personally, I don't like using kilns specifically for bisque or glaze because every time you change the elements you do damage to the bricks (in non-L&L kilns), and the glaze kiln bricks don't last as long because they're always firing really hot (in any brand). So the glaze kilns get really beat up and the bisque kilns last forever. I think if you're doing both bisque and glaze in all the kilns you'll get a better lifespan from all the kilns as a whole, and won't have to live with half your kilns being crappy for years and years. I get being able to fit the smaller bisque kiln load into the bigger glaze kiln, but I would consider having two or three e28T-3 and one or two e23T-3 and using them all for both types of firings. If you load the big kilns with bisque you can reduce the total number of loads needed.
The L&L e28T-3 kilns will need a 50 amp breaker, whereas your current Skutt 1227 kilns only need a 40 amp breaker, so take a look at your electrical panel and see if that's doable. In the long run it'll be well worth the cost to upgrade the wiring for the cone 10 kilns, but make sure your center is willing to do that.
Get the quad element upgrade for any kilns you're using for glaze. It'll pay for itself.
The Genesis 2.0 controller is now standard on all L&L kilns!

I would say that at least 2 of the samples you posted are raw clay. The third it's hard to tell, but it's either raw or has a very dry glaze on it. Personally, I wouldn't want to eat off of any of them. rough dry surfaces are not a pleasure to use or clean.
A matte glaze can't be transparent, but a satin glaze can be (mostly). It's a balancing act. Dark underglazes can come through a satin transparent, but lighter colors can get hazy. If you're looking for something as matte as the samples you posted, you won't get transparency. The surfaces and colors you're seeing in the examples are coming from the clay. 

Soda/salt does not attack silica on its own. Plain silica is quite resistant to salt/soda effects. It's the silica/alumina/salt eutectic that causes the glaze to form. We used to dust silica onto the shelves for salt firings instead of using wash. That said, I would use a high alumina wash as stated. I think a 50/50 wash is more likely to shrink away and flake off, though, so I would calcine half the kaolin.

Kiln had a dead relay overnight, so I will not be doing the absorption tests tonight. I did trim a piece I threw with the new 630, and it trims nicely, similar to the old body. It still has the same light grit, as before, but it seems like there are more fine particles. I'm really interested in seeing how the fired color differs, if at all. More updates tomorrow...

I would say that at least 2 of the samples you posted are raw clay. The third it's hard to tell, but it's either raw or has a very dry glaze on it. Personally, I wouldn't want to eat off of any of them. rough dry surfaces are not a pleasure to use or clean.
A matte glaze can't be transparent, but a satin glaze can be (mostly). It's a balancing act. Dark underglazes can come through a satin transparent, but lighter colors can get hazy. If you're looking for something as matte as the samples you posted, you won't get transparency. The surfaces and colors you're seeing in the examples are coming from the clay. 

I opened up a bag of the new 630 yesterday and tried it out on the wheel. It feels totally different than the original formula. It feels like they took out the fire clay and replaced it with ball clay, although the web site still says it has fireclay in it.  It creates a lot of slurry when throwing. Personally, I feel like it has lost most of the properties that made me like it, however it still seemed to throw well. I'm going to give some to my students and see what they think. I don't use it for my work so it doesn't really matter what I think, as long as it is still a forgiving body that's easy to throw and will work well for beginners. I've got a test tile in the kiln right now that I'm going to test for absorption tonight.

I opened up a bag of the new 630 yesterday and tried it out on the wheel. It feels totally different than the original formula. It feels like they took out the fire clay and replaced it with ball clay, although the web site still says it has fireclay in it.  It creates a lot of slurry when throwing. Personally, I feel like it has lost most of the properties that made me like it, however it still seemed to throw well. I'm going to give some to my students and see what they think. I don't use it for my work so it doesn't really matter what I think, as long as it is still a forgiving body that's easy to throw and will work well for beginners. I've got a test tile in the kiln right now that I'm going to test for absorption tonight.

All models are available with Quad elements without any change to the power requirements, so you can get the e28T-3 with Quads- you don't have to get the eQuad model that has higher power.

I've seen kilns that were destroyed in 3 years and less than 200 firings, and I've seen kilns (like one of mine) that have gone more than 2,000 firings without changing a single brick. It all depends on how they're cared for and how they're constructed.
Personally, I don't like using kilns specifically for bisque or glaze because every time you change the elements you do damage to the bricks (in non-L&L kilns), and the glaze kiln bricks don't last as long because they're always firing really hot (in any brand). So the glaze kilns get really beat up and the bisque kilns last forever. I think if you're doing both bisque and glaze in all the kilns you'll get a better lifespan from all the kilns as a whole, and won't have to live with half your kilns being crappy for years and years. I get being able to fit the smaller bisque kiln load into the bigger glaze kiln, but I would consider having two or three e28T-3 and one or two e23T-3 and using them all for both types of firings. If you load the big kilns with bisque you can reduce the total number of loads needed.
The L&L e28T-3 kilns will need a 50 amp breaker, whereas your current Skutt 1227 kilns only need a 40 amp breaker, so take a look at your electrical panel and see if that's doable. In the long run it'll be well worth the cost to upgrade the wiring for the cone 10 kilns, but make sure your center is willing to do that.
Get the quad element upgrade for any kilns you're using for glaze. It'll pay for itself.
The Genesis 2.0 controller is now standard on all L&L kilns!

I've seen kilns that were destroyed in 3 years and less than 200 firings, and I've seen kilns (like one of mine) that have gone more than 2,000 firings without changing a single brick. It all depends on how they're cared for and how they're constructed.
Personally, I don't like using kilns specifically for bisque or glaze because every time you change the elements you do damage to the bricks (in non-L&L kilns), and the glaze kiln bricks don't last as long because they're always firing really hot (in any brand). So the glaze kilns get really beat up and the bisque kilns last forever. I think if you're doing both bisque and glaze in all the kilns you'll get a better lifespan from all the kilns as a whole, and won't have to live with half your kilns being crappy for years and years. I get being able to fit the smaller bisque kiln load into the bigger glaze kiln, but I would consider having two or three e28T-3 and one or two e23T-3 and using them all for both types of firings. If you load the big kilns with bisque you can reduce the total number of loads needed.
The L&L e28T-3 kilns will need a 50 amp breaker, whereas your current Skutt 1227 kilns only need a 40 amp breaker, so take a look at your electrical panel and see if that's doable. In the long run it'll be well worth the cost to upgrade the wiring for the cone 10 kilns, but make sure your center is willing to do that.
Get the quad element upgrade for any kilns you're using for glaze. It'll pay for itself.
The Genesis 2.0 controller is now standard on all L&L kilns!

Definitely. I made a lot of mistakes when setting up my business. I received all of my training in the university system, which at the time (1990-1997) was heavily focused on cone 10 reduction and selling in galleries.  So when I set up my gallery/studio/classroom in 2004, I did it the only way I knew how: I built a gas kiln, found galleries to sell my work, and taught my classes with the same methods I had learned in school. None of that worked out very well. Galleries were closing left and right, the gas kiln was not at all practical for my business, and students weren't interested in the rigorous class structure I was trained in. So after 4 years in my original location, I made the decision to radically alter my business model. I moved to a location that was about 1/3 of the size and got rid of the big gallery space. I stopped selling other artist's work, bought a couple of electric kilns, and changed the way I approach my classes. I also started doing art fairs, which were a big problem in the academic world I was trained in- they were the realm of hobby potters, not serious artists. I also started really advertising kiln repair services. Finally everything started to fall into place with my business, after 4 years of struggling.
So my big regret is that it took me a long time to see past my training and consider other ways of running my business. To be fair, it was a difficult time to open any small business. When I opened in 2004, traditional methods of advertising- print ads, phone books, etc- were on their way out and ridiculously expensive, but the internet hadn't quite picked up the slack yet. Facebook was just getting started, Instagram didn't exist yet, and DYI website builders were barely available and not very good. It was going to be difficult no matter what, but my  lack of flexibility made it worse. I should have started smaller, jumped into cone 6 from the start, and considered other methods of selling.
In regards to clay work itself, no regrets. I've focused on a lot of different techniques over the years, and every one has made me a better potter.