[QotW: How did you learn how to fire and maintain your kiln.]

2 hours ago, Min said:

my bad but couldn’t help it

Good one Min... you'd think getting folks to throw wood in the kiln would be simple.  BUT NO!!! Although having lots of good food helps alot.

[QotW: How did you learn how to fire and maintain your kiln.]

My education on firing came from the School of Hard Knocks aka trial and error. After 25yrs with this kiln Im still learning. With my type of kiln about 50% is people wrangling.

[emergency MATH problem!]

Yep.. im no math genius. .. it is 50%. Thanks Min.

[emergency MATH problem!]

Not a math genius by any stretch of the imagination but here goes.... from what i gather you put in 33% too much whiting than the recipe calls for and you want to correct it with a larger amount of glaze right?  So heres my attempt ...  frit 3134 is 1400g... multiply 1400 X .33 .. which is 462. .and then add that number of grams of frit into your bucket. Then go to the next...c&c.. 1800X.33 =594g and so on and so forth. Youve already added the whiting+33% so pass that one. You will end up with a corrected 13330g glaze batch. Oh by the way I never make ANY mistakes!

Correction (thanks to Min) multiply by .5...

[kiln wash and woodfiring clay kiln]

Most of my shelves are pressed alumina. The zircon wash protects then from the corrosive effects of the ash. I also have the nitrite bonded sio2 in the very hottest part of the kiln (because I've "melted" the pressed alumina ) and yes they are kiln washed also. If mixed and applied correctly this wont flake like the alumina/kaolin stuff. I recoat every glaze firing. 

I would imagine with soda you'll have to scrape or grind the wads off that stick depending on how much soda you use. I dont think there's any way of avoiding that.

[kiln wash and woodfiring clay kiln]

I coat the ENTIRE inside of my kiln with the zircon/glomax/cmc gum wash. AND both sides of my shelves and stilts. I have not had ONE flake of this kiln wash come off period.  Flyash will stick to it a bit but it protects the brick and shelves.

 

[Zircon Based Kiln Washes]

https://insight-live.com/insight/share.php?z=K5hHzDs2Kr

Ive been using this for several years now in a c10 wood kiln. Way better than traditional kaolin alumina.

[Worktable: Buy or Make?]

3 hours ago, Hulk said:

and used solid core doors for the countertops.

These work very well. And for temporary use  hollow core doors work great, are lightweight and will usually store upright behind studio doors.

[My kiln keeps blowing the electric when I turn it on !]

One possibility . .... It could be the breaker that is wearing out. Breakers over time become overly sensitive especially if theyre run close to the tripping point for a long time. An electrician could figure that out for you.

[Countering the effects of gum in commercial glazes]

I also spray a commercial underglaze (Coyote Clay) Thinning it down  helps with spraying but I try to do at least 3 coats. Being thinned it is absorbed into the bisque quickly allowing the next coat almost immediately.  Im just saying Ive never had any problem with gum in a glaze granted I dont and have never used a commercial glaze as I mix my own.

[Countering the effects of gum in commercial glazes]

Well thats a good question.. probably 1 to 3%.  I mix the cmc in a gallon jug with water and let it set a few days. Then add a quart or two to about 4 gallons of glaze when mixing.  In this amount it gives even the most powdery glaze a nice hard coat when dry.

[Countering the effects of gum in commercial glazes]

I use cmc gum in all my glaze formulas and I dip and spray. When spraying I add water so it goes thru the sprayer easier.  I didnt know there was a problem with gum and spraying and dipping for that matter.  My philosophy is this... its all just one big experiment and thats how we learn.

[Magnetic Clay]

In reduction the oxygen in the iron oxide is removed leaving the pure form of iron FE.  Ive done heavy reduction on pieces sprayed with straight iron oxide and come up with a silver gray finish.

[Is this an unusable wheel head? Please help me]

2 hours ago, oldlady said:

looks are only important to a fashion model.

!!!!

[Is this an unusable wheel head? Please help me]

That is a perfectly good used wheelhead.  You could clean it up a bit with some steel wool.

[First Wood Fired Kiln Build, Problem Stalling]

Good job! Firing a wood kiln is a very grand dance.     Porcelain is quite delicate and wont hold up to that heavy level  of flame impingement like a good grogged stoneware. It seems they were overfired by a few cones!  You might try to use stoneware pieces to act as a bagwall.     The rebar will sag. Even more so if the coals build up and block the inrush of cool air from underneath .    I see you didnt weld them to the tbar so you could just turn them over each firing and get several more out of them.  I pull mine and lay them on a concrete slab and beat them straight with a sledge hammer.

Keep up the good work and let us know about your next firing.

[QotW: Where and how do you store your clay?]

I use rubbermaid trash cans. I first pug my clay and then put a layer of clay then plastic then another layer of clay so forth and so on. Then several layers of plastic film on the top and then the lid. Occasionally I will pour a cup or two of water inside to prevent too rapid of evaporation as we have quite a dry environment here. The trash cans are put on mover dollies for ease of storage.

[Im desperate]

What Neil said. Do you have sinks or toilets or tubs or showers that havent been used in a while?

[Connecting gas kiln to house natural gas supply]

4 hours ago, Mudfish1 said:

am assuming that the venturi burners just weren't pulling in enough air to burn enough gas to keep heating up the kiln?

This.  One thing Ive found with fuel burning kilns not reaching temp is not enough oxygen. It seems like youve found the correct amount of gas by adjusting pressure up and down. .. but at 5000ft plus above sea level we have way less oxygen per cubic ft than at sea level.

[Type of hypoid oil for pugmill]

Can you get Lucas oil products over there?

[Really old Amoco potter's wheel]

On 3/3/2023 at 8:35 PM, Pyewackette said:

I couldn't find a reverse switch but I'll look again.

Look for it on the bottom of the motor.

[Creating Flat Ceramic Plank]

Drying it sandwiched between two pieces of drywall sheetrock wallboard whatever you call it in your area works fairly well. Make sure its pretty dry before unsandwiching it because if its only partially dry it may still warp. When firing lay it flat on a shelf with fine silica sand under your slab.  ...works fairly well but some of the other fine folks here might have other ideas they can send your way.

[First Wood Fired Kiln Build, Problem Stalling]

16 hours ago, twsincich said:

I figured wood firings just always took multiple days. I now get you COULD fire them faster, just depends on what type of effects your after. I'm happy to ride the firing as long as it takes. 

It can take a long time  if thats what you want you want.  So in my experience burning wood with bark will produce the most fly ash. Im not saying that debarked wood doesnt produce fly ash but not to the extent as bark does. Keep this in mind if youre looking for that effect. It doesnt take lots of time for this to happen. And ash will only begin to melt and form a "glaze" at the upper end of your firing temp.

As far as firing time... if you really dont mind spending 12 plus hours firing (Im getting too old for that) by all means do it. If you want a naturally aspirated kiln then raising the chimney high high high is what you might need to do. It increases draft rate which in turn brings in MORE AIR....  enlarging the firebox and inlet will also bring in MORE AIR.

Let us know how the next firing goes!

[First Wood Fired Kiln Build, Problem Stalling]

4 hours ago, twsincich said:

And now that I have read Fred Olsen's book I do wonder if the kiln itself is inherently too small to be able to burn wood hot enough and have the thermal mass to be able to hold in the heat long enough to even fire to cone 10. 

Im going to say no, its not too small. With adjustments you should be able to get it to c14! The flames off the wood are hotter than that.  You just have to release the btu's stored up in that wood quickly with enough oxygen to burn it.

[First Wood Fired Kiln Build, Problem Stalling]

4 hours ago, twsincich said:

am realizing that I definitely need more air!

More air, more air and more air. If you can force air into the firebox and have that part adjustable  (a motorized fan of some sort with a speed controler) you can overcome alot of the"issues" youre having with undersized intake, exit and chimney size. My suggestion is to do as you proposed...enlarge your exit flue, enlarge the ashpit and forget about the chimney... with forced air chimney height becomes a non issue.  Adding more exterior insulation also helps alot.  When i first built my kiln i had some of the very same problems. It would take 12 to 16+ hours to fire. Ive now got it down to 5hrs +or- to c10 in the coolest parts which for me is the lower back portion .  When the blower was added to force air it cut the time down to 8 or 9 hrs.  Since then Ive changed stacking configuration leaving room for the flame to pass thru more readily along with a few more tweeks to get it to a consistent five hours. And its several times larger than yours at eighty cubic feet stackable space. Tons of wares, shelves and furniture along with the hardbrick mass to heat up.  So keep firing and tweeking things around. Dont worry about making mistakes... its how we learn!