Russ

Hi and welcome!
Not a silly question at all. The good news is, hot won’t affect materials, but humidity might make a few things like soda ash or dolomite clump. Anything that is prone to this can be dried out on a baking sheet at about 175 F in a kiln or oven if it’s a nuisance. 

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

karo, hope the wheel is still available for you to buy.   looks are only important to a fashion model.

Oil might help your foot pedal and governor to work smoothly, but not advisable to have it on surfaces that come into contact with your clay. #0000 Steel wool should smooth out the wheelhead surface. Lubricate with a little water while rubbing out irregularities, rinse well.

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

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

what are you referring to when you say "handle"?

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

What have you cleaned with this? Your floors? Your walls? I'm thoroughly confused about this. Sounds to me like you have a sewer gas leak. 

We call that color ‘snot red 

Whatever you do do not powder coast it inside as it will all chip out into the clay.
Yes on the de-rust paint OUTSIDE ONLY. Yes on the sandblast.
If the barrel is aluminum it can be be welded at a shop if its steel its ever easier to weld
This pug mill looks like a beater so pay very little for it. It pre vacuum I assume which means you still need to wedge the air bubbles out so plan on that
They make nicer units and I have seen many a bluebird with the vacuum feature for sale used as well.
This unit is pretty far gone and will take some big work to get it cleaned up -hopefully it's free to start with

Just under 3% less inspired ! But to your excellent point, when estimating burner output elevation needs to be corrected for as well as the heat content of your natural gas supplied. Both can combine to be very significant in mid and high altitude burner deigns. While as a percentage O2 is still just under 21%  more space exists between air molecules so quite a different mixture and burner settings sort of  like quite a bit different O2 absorbed with every breath! Your body can adjust or acclimate much more so than your burners. Good catch! This is definitely an important part of understanding what you have and designing for what you will need.

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.

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.

Hello!  The white spots look like the glaze is too thick.  I have had the same problem at times.  Did you put cone packs in your kiln?  That would be the best way to see if your kiln is firing to the proper temperature.  
 

Can you get Lucas oil products over there?

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.

There's a reversing switch somewhere on the motor. It's a 3 position toggle, clockwise-off-counterclockwise. Make sure the power is off when you switch it.

That old Amaco is a cone drive. Under the wheelhead there's a large metal cone, and a small rubber wheel runs along the outside of the cone. The speed of the wheelhead is determined by the location of the wheel on the cone. Pretty simple design, and yes, they are heavy and noisy. The old Shimpo wheels were made the same way. They last forever, but if you get a flat spot on the rubber wheel it'll thunk every rotation, which is super annoying. If you want a heavy modern wheel get a Skutt with the built-in splashpan. They weight a ton and will run a lot smoother than the old Amaco, and they have a much larger splashpan and better speed control than Brent wheels.

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.