neilestrick

@Dana Stripe Welcome to the forum! Thank you for sharing your build. It's a nice setup, excellent craftsmanship!
This tends to happens when the kiln room is not adequately vented. In a properly vented room it should never happen. In the case of your setup, the fans are a great way to go because you don't have a layer of insulation between the kiln and the box from what I can see (the standoff will help though). I've got an SSR panel that sits next to the kiln (L&L DaVinci panel), and I'm amazed at how hot the surface facing the kiln gets even though it's 18" away. With a single fan in the bottom of the box (which is about 4 times the size of yours) the controller never gets above 105F. I've also got a little controller box with a single SSR that I use for my baby kiln, but because it's wall mounted I just put a heat sink on the box, no fan.
        

@NancyE Do you have any potter friends in your area that could go in on buying a full ton? The shipping cost would be much lower per pound, and you'd get the ton rate on the clay itself.

Are you running the wheel counter-clockwise? Some of mine run really loud when in reverse.
In general they do tend to quiet down after they have a few hours on them, but using a commutator stick on the motor will quiet them down faster (assuming they're still using the same type of motors I have on mine). Post a video of the wheel so we can hear it.
Removing the wheelhead and turning it 180 degrees will usually make it sit more solid. Check that there's not a big glob of anti-sieze lube in there making it sit uneven.

Interesting. We see quick error like that that on multi zone kilns if the relays and thermocouples aren't set together properly, like if the zone 1 TC is paired with the zone 2 relay. But on a single zone it would only happen if the TC system is backwards or it's not getting any power.
Just to rule out any programming issues, what firing program is she using when this happens? It could be that if she's putting in a rate of 500F/hr or something very fast like that, that the kiln simply can't keep up with the traveling set point at the start of the firing since it takes a little time for things to get hot. Does it happen with a rate of 9999? At 9999 the controller doesn't follow a traveling set point, it just goes as fast as it can and is happy with whatever speed that is.

You'll want to get the elements and thermocouples from L&L. Relays you can find online for 1/3 of the price, like HERE. If you're going to replace the wiring,  getting a wiring harness from L&L would be the fastest way to go, but you can buy  insulated wires, controller wiring, and terminals ends by the foot online and save some money there. Search SRML wire for insulated wire, I buy HERE. For jumper cords make sure you get cords rated for 105C/220F- you can buy SEOOW cable from McMaster and put your own plug ends on it. You can use SEOOW for the power cord, too. You can get insulating sleeving on Amazon. For the element blocks, use stainless steel hardware from the hardware store. You don't have to use the hex head bolts since they're hard to find, just use 10-24 panhead bolts.
Make sure all your wires are the appropriate gauge for what you're doing.
Get a Bartlett Genesis 2.0 controller. There may or may not be deals out there, just order from Bartlett if not.

There are two spots on the lid: one on the inside and one on the outside. #3 is the one on the inside.
Sounds like another call to L&L for bricks. They were super helpful with the elements, thermocouples and other items, so I am sure they will be able to help with the question about the new bricks and the element holders.
Thanks!

I just dip the whole mug and use a glaze that breaks well. No wiping or scraping. But a glaze and wipe technique works well.

You can't easily combine parts from different kiln brands. From the picture it looks like the Sitter tube won't line up properly with the hole for it in the kiln, and there are other parts you'll need even if it does line up. Unfortunately, this is really a job for someone who knows how to fix kilns. The Cress probably had a single long control box. Do you still have it?

I just dip the whole mug and use a glaze that breaks well. No wiping or scraping. But a glaze and wipe technique works well.

I like to use a darker clay for the mug, and white clay for the medallion. That way I can dip one glaze on the whole thing and still get good contrast between the two. Just make sure the two clay bodies have the same shrinkage rate.
I roll out 1/16" thick slabs for the medallions. Anything thicker than that looks pretty bulky. I've used simple rubber stamps that you can order online from any number of places for very little money, and I've used more expensive stamps that make a raised emblem (I think I got them from 4clay.com). I spray the slabs with cooking spray to keep the stamp from sticking. After stamping, I cut out the shape and set the medallion on a rolling pin or pvc pipe so that it can dry in a curve that roughly matches the curve of the mug, and clean up the edges once it has set up. You want the medallion to be as close to leather hard as possible when attaching it, otherwise you risk it cracking as is dries. Also, the stiffer the better so you don't mess up the image. To attach, I do some very light scoring (can't do much since the medallion is so thin) and coat the entire backside of the medallion with slip. I like for the slip to ooze out around the medallion so it gives a really clean edge where it meets the mug. No little voids.

This also assumes that the dry clay is the same cost per pound as the moist clay. When I worked for A.R.T., we charged more for dry mix because mixing and bagging dry clay was a much slower process for us than making moist clay.

Here are a few glazes that we use in my studio that are very stable and consistent.
Butter is great on top of other glazes, and also looks good alone on brown speckled clay.
Harris Red is a great iron red glaze, tends to be the most red on brown bodies.
Runny White is quite stable on its own, but flows a bit on other glazes. Looks great by itself on speckled brown bodies or on top of just about anything.
S-4 Blue looks a lot like denim, has nice surface variation, and looks good on both white and brown clays, especially on speckled brown.
Spearmint is a nice green with good surface variation.
Nutmeg is a fake shino, which I normally hate, but this one's not bad. Goes lighter as it gets thicker.
*edit- These tiles all show double dips. They are not runny with a single dip.

Nutmeg.pdf Spearmint.pdf S-4 Blue.pdf Runny White.pdf Harris Red.pdf Butter.pdf

The owner of Bluebird replied and said he can help with info once I know the serial number of the unit so he can look up the specifics for the mixer.
Thank you!

Here are a few glazes that we use in my studio that are very stable and consistent.
Butter is great on top of other glazes, and also looks good alone on brown speckled clay.
Harris Red is a great iron red glaze, tends to be the most red on brown bodies.
Runny White is quite stable on its own, but flows a bit on other glazes. Looks great by itself on speckled brown bodies or on top of just about anything.
S-4 Blue looks a lot like denim, has nice surface variation, and looks good on both white and brown clays, especially on speckled brown.
Spearmint is a nice green with good surface variation.
Nutmeg is a fake shino, which I normally hate, but this one's not bad. Goes lighter as it gets thicker.
*edit- These tiles all show double dips. They are not runny with a single dip.

Nutmeg.pdf Spearmint.pdf S-4 Blue.pdf Runny White.pdf Harris Red.pdf Butter.pdf

It won't work for pottery. Even if you could slow down the rate of climb, it doesn't get hot enough for pottery. Even low fire work needs to get to at least 1000C.

Dear @neilestrick,
Wow! This is GREAT! I very much appreciate you taking the time to send the recipes and test tiles. These look like they will work wonderfully in our studio. I am going to make some tests. 
Again, thanks so much!
Caroline 

Here are a few glazes that we use in my studio that are very stable and consistent.
Butter is great on top of other glazes, and also looks good alone on brown speckled clay.
Harris Red is a great iron red glaze, tends to be the most red on brown bodies.
Runny White is quite stable on its own, but flows a bit on other glazes. Looks great by itself on speckled brown bodies or on top of just about anything.
S-4 Blue looks a lot like denim, has nice surface variation, and looks good on both white and brown clays, especially on speckled brown.
Spearmint is a nice green with good surface variation.
Nutmeg is a fake shino, which I normally hate, but this one's not bad. Goes lighter as it gets thicker.
*edit- These tiles all show double dips. They are not runny with a single dip.

Nutmeg.pdf Spearmint.pdf S-4 Blue.pdf Runny White.pdf Harris Red.pdf Butter.pdf

Here are a few glazes that we use in my studio that are very stable and consistent.
Butter is great on top of other glazes, and also looks good alone on brown speckled clay.
Harris Red is a great iron red glaze, tends to be the most red on brown bodies.
Runny White is quite stable on its own, but flows a bit on other glazes. Looks great by itself on speckled brown bodies or on top of just about anything.
S-4 Blue looks a lot like denim, has nice surface variation, and looks good on both white and brown clays, especially on speckled brown.
Spearmint is a nice green with good surface variation.
Nutmeg is a fake shino, which I normally hate, but this one's not bad. Goes lighter as it gets thicker.
*edit- These tiles all show double dips. They are not runny with a single dip.

Nutmeg.pdf Spearmint.pdf S-4 Blue.pdf Runny White.pdf Harris Red.pdf Butter.pdf

For me, contrast is key, whether it's matte and shiny or light and dark or opaque and transparent. Light over dark is generally more interesting than the opposite. You also need the glazes to be fluid enough that they move. Glazes with titanium in them tend to make for interesting layering. A over B does not look that same as B over A, so test every combination.

Here are a few glazes that we use in my studio that are very stable and consistent.
Butter is great on top of other glazes, and also looks good alone on brown speckled clay.
Harris Red is a great iron red glaze, tends to be the most red on brown bodies.
Runny White is quite stable on its own, but flows a bit on other glazes. Looks great by itself on speckled brown bodies or on top of just about anything.
S-4 Blue looks a lot like denim, has nice surface variation, and looks good on both white and brown clays, especially on speckled brown.
Spearmint is a nice green with good surface variation.
Nutmeg is a fake shino, which I normally hate, but this one's not bad. Goes lighter as it gets thicker.
*edit- These tiles all show double dips. They are not runny with a single dip.

Nutmeg.pdf Spearmint.pdf S-4 Blue.pdf Runny White.pdf Harris Red.pdf Butter.pdf

Here are a few glazes that we use in my studio that are very stable and consistent.
Butter is great on top of other glazes, and also looks good alone on brown speckled clay.
Harris Red is a great iron red glaze, tends to be the most red on brown bodies.
Runny White is quite stable on its own, but flows a bit on other glazes. Looks great by itself on speckled brown bodies or on top of just about anything.
S-4 Blue looks a lot like denim, has nice surface variation, and looks good on both white and brown clays, especially on speckled brown.
Spearmint is a nice green with good surface variation.
Nutmeg is a fake shino, which I normally hate, but this one's not bad. Goes lighter as it gets thicker.
*edit- These tiles all show double dips. They are not runny with a single dip.

Nutmeg.pdf Spearmint.pdf S-4 Blue.pdf Runny White.pdf Harris Red.pdf Butter.pdf

I think he is good 24v ct so 12 and 24VAC.  His original picture is 5 va (5 watts) too small. 12 va (12 watts) sounds right

Is this a gas kiln or an electric kiln? Electric kilns need to be 16-18 from the wall. I've never heard of insulation in the wall making a difference in the clearances. Can you post  the specs you're reading?

They look like kiln wash chunks to me, too. I think you would have noticed them when you applied the glaze if they were in the glaze. Run the glaze through an 80 mesh sieve and see if you get anything on the screen.

A standard AGC fuse and holder will work fine, 1/2 amp.
HERE is a wiring diagram for an L&L Easy Fire kiln. You may or may not want to include an on/off toggle like they do. Everything would be the same except the output from the relays will go to the outlets on your control box that the jumper cords plug into.