Hulk

Good question!
My guess is the clay softens just enough to overcome the form, where a cylinder or even an open shape - bowl - has enough structure to resist collapse, your four twisted ribbons of clay cannot, so.
Perhaps if the four arms had some arc, and no twists, they would stay upright.
You might try using a prop - a narrow cylinder - to hold the form upright, where the interface isn't glazed and has a bit of kiln wash or somewhat to prevent sticking. Even so, the twisted ribbons may still sag.
Good luck! I'm curious to know how your project comes out.

Good question!
My guess is the clay softens just enough to overcome the form, where a cylinder or even an open shape - bowl - has enough structure to resist collapse, your four twisted ribbons of clay cannot, so.
Perhaps if the four arms had some arc, and no twists, they would stay upright.
You might try using a prop - a narrow cylinder - to hold the form upright, where the interface isn't glazed and has a bit of kiln wash or somewhat to prevent sticking. Even so, the twisted ribbons may still sag.
Good luck! I'm curious to know how your project comes out.

Good question!
My guess is the clay softens just enough to overcome the form, where a cylinder or even an open shape - bowl - has enough structure to resist collapse, your four twisted ribbons of clay cannot, so.
Perhaps if the four arms had some arc, and no twists, they would stay upright.
You might try using a prop - a narrow cylinder - to hold the form upright, where the interface isn't glazed and has a bit of kiln wash or somewhat to prevent sticking. Even so, the twisted ribbons may still sag.
Good luck! I'm curious to know how your project comes out.

Good question!
I don't have an answer, mainly just wanted to give your thread a "bump"...
...and suggest trying your insurance company again, as you might get another person on the line.
As for the building department, my guess would be that permits and inspections for any alterations/additions (electrical, plumbing, etc.) would be of interest to them.
Meanwhile, for your consideration:
  new smoke and CO detectors;
  functional primary and secondary ventilation*;
  correct wiring, including proper fusing/breakers;
  commitment to attending throughout each firing - the entire time the kiln is over 451°F;
  placing new/serviceable fire extinguishers at the kiln and all approaches to the kiln.
*primary: powered kiln vent that pulls a tiny stream of superheated kiln atmosphere from the bottom of the kiln and pushes it outside via a dedicated vent
secondary: overhead system that evacuates hundreds of cubic feet per minute via dedicated venting
important note for both: provision for "make up air" is critical - air must be allowed "in" to make up for what is being pushed "out"
Hope that helps.

Most everything like the seven.
The glazes I'm using don't move much.
The slight groove at the juncture of the wall and foot does serve as a glaze catch, however, I'd started doing that to make it easier to get a sharp glaze edge*.
There's a spiral mark between the chatter marking and the edge of the foot, which could help as a glaze catch.
The spiral and chatter marks are mainly for interest and to provide a bit of texture for grasping.
The foot ring itself provides edges for fingertips, particularly for washing (slippery!)...


* I tape the foot ring off with masking tape.
Tooling the top edge of the foot ring provides a nice sharp line to tape to.
The tape gives me something to hold on to when pushing the ware down into the glaze.
I pull the tape whilst the glaze is still damp, much less dust, and a cleaner edge.
I'm dipping the outside glaze(s), upside down, hence controlling the glaze layer near the foot ring is straightforward.

My skutt 10 cubic foot kiln -48 amps wired with copper #6 wire is hooked to a 60 amp breaker-the 125 rule is in effect and youir inspector is not familiar with that for kilns. You can educate them of do the 50 and swap out later if they are hardheaded .

Hi Frogesan,
Welcome to the Forum!
Kiln wiring comes up quite often here.
The experts (I'm not an expert...) point out the 125% rule, etc.; try using the built in search using "125%" to find a few, e.g.
https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/31343-skutt-822-wire-gauge-size-vs-breaker-size
As for burning down the garage, going with a too small breaker should just result in the breaker tripping, nuisance trips!
Running too small a wire with too large a breaker could get hot, I believe (I'm not an expert!).
For reasonable run lengths, #6 wire, correct? 
And for runs much over fifty feet, start looking at the next bigger wire?
Any road, the kiln manufacturer's documentation looks correct to me, and it lines up with what the more expert regulars on this Forum say.
The wiring for my new 48 amp kiln was recently completed, 60 amp breaker, per specification.
I only needed the two hots and a ground, however I ran the neutral (and left it capped off on both ends), just in case someone comes along years from now and needs/wants the 120v, having recently ran into a similar situation with our son's wellhouse (wiring for 240v well pump), where we wanted 120v to run some water treatment equipment...

skutt and L&L are correct.  I ran into a similar situation when I got my kiln.  And  because the building it was going into was new construction and we had to upgrade our electrical,  and the inspector didn't have experience with kilns.....we ended up hardwiring my kiln at the inspector's command.   And we went with the 60 amp breaker.  I talked to Steven Lewecki at L&L and he was proper upset with our inspector, but....there it was.  The upside of hardwiring it was that my insurance company was very happy about the hardwiring. So I guess there is that.  Would hardwiring it make a difference to your inspector?
Roberta

I'm not finding any images where I can see how much room there is to work in.
Any road, wire wheels and cup brushes might serve? I've used both to restore rusted steel doors, frames, etc., driven by angle grinder, seven inch grinder (careful, that's a dangerous tool), drill motors and Dremel tool.
Be sure to wear gloves, eye protection and thick clothes against the flying wire and rust fragments! Protection against the noise and dust would be important as well...

Most everything like the seven.
The glazes I'm using don't move much.
The slight groove at the juncture of the wall and foot does serve as a glaze catch, however, I'd started doing that to make it easier to get a sharp glaze edge*.
There's a spiral mark between the chatter marking and the edge of the foot, which could help as a glaze catch.
The spiral and chatter marks are mainly for interest and to provide a bit of texture for grasping.
The foot ring itself provides edges for fingertips, particularly for washing (slippery!)...


* I tape the foot ring off with masking tape.
Tooling the top edge of the foot ring provides a nice sharp line to tape to.
The tape gives me something to hold on to when pushing the ware down into the glaze.
I pull the tape whilst the glaze is still damp, much less dust, and a cleaner edge.
I'm dipping the outside glaze(s), upside down, hence controlling the glaze layer near the foot ring is straightforward.

I do more hand building than throwing so I don't have any inventive ways of creating a foot.   Your number 4 is the way I would trim for a runny glaze, number 2 I would use this for quickly made cups.   I made bisque molds for recycled glass casing  I  had to break the molds off of the fired glass,   I  had seventy of them to make.    Number 7 is the look I like to trim on more elegant well balanced pot.    Denice

My foot is a glaze catcher-its a no trimmer on most forms but on trimmed forms like bowls its even larger.You can see it on my pots on my photo posts.
for the no trimmers its put in with a wooden tool on the wheel . With my runny rutile glaze it has to be there.

Once again I will try to elicit a question that raises a little discussion. Often I wonder as it seems folks take time to think before posting as much of the posts come later in the week. Maybe it takes time to get under your skin enough so that you have to post to kill the itch!
This week there have been discussions of runny glazes, failing glazes, and other problems with glazes. I have had some problems over the years with some runny glazes especially when used over other glazes. I loved the colors created by these layers, but hated the fact that often I had to quit the glaze line of the culprit 2/3 from the top of the pot. Back in those days, I was using commercial glazes and not really cognizant of the methods of modifying a commercial or other glaze. That has changed a little.  However, are there other options?  In a discussion of late I suggested changing the foot of the pots being thrown to alleviate much of the over run that caused problems. Often though even these need other measures to come to a good solution.
These thoughts got me to wonder. . . . what type of foot do people use on their vertical forms? So I did a quick sketch of feet that I have seen on vertical forms and would like you to comment on the type of foot you use and maybe even include a picture.
QotW: What form of foot do you use on vertical forms? Is it one of the ones listed or other? Please include pictures if possible.
best,
Pres

It was a safety thing -- it (understandably!) didn't like the debris in the valves.
Unpacked the kiln this morning -- beautiful firing and in the shortest firing timeframe reflecting the original manual. So happy a potter all round!

I have plenty of room, the mixer is on casters so it can be rolled out the warehouse door and it can be done outside. I'm gonna leave the tool business for someone else to handle. Think I'll just supervise 

I'm not finding any images where I can see how much room there is to work in.
Any road, wire wheels and cup brushes might serve? I've used both to restore rusted steel doors, frames, etc., driven by angle grinder, seven inch grinder (careful, that's a dangerous tool), drill motors and Dremel tool.
Be sure to wear gloves, eye protection and thick clothes against the flying wire and rust fragments! Protection against the noise and dust would be important as well...

This thread is jumping off from this one where the subject of the efficacy of magnesium as a flux in a cone 6 glaze came up and the prospect that  the magnesium alumino-silicate eutectic is unlikely to form at cone 6. It's probably best to read that thread for background before this one.
To test whether or not magnesium acts as a flux at cone 6 I'm going to run a test with the  glaze below. Purpose of the test is to see what effect the MgO has on the melt. I know the first version of it does melt well at cone 6 and results in a clear gloss glaze. For the second version I have removed the talc  (that  supplied nearly all  the magnesium). I have rebalanced the silica and alumina but left everything else the same. Testing if the removal of the talc effects the melt fluidity of the glaze. In theory the first glaze should have more fluidity if the MgO is acting as a flux.
There is 0.1 MgO left but this is as low as I can get it without messing around with the other materials. It's a bit of a wonky recipe insofar as materials used and totals as it was part of an experiment I was doing blending different recipes.
@BobMagnuson, does this look like a suitable recipe candidate for this test?
Also, if anyone has the eutectics for a boron calcium magnesium silica alumina melt that would be terrific! Or even one with boron magnesium alumina silica. I found some for boron + magnesium here.  The last column is in degrees C.

 

 

I don't use Stroke & Coat so I went ahead and emailed Mayco, their response below. How well the underglaze will show through is something you will have to test.

Vacuum when there's new bits/dust; if I'm careful, that's not often.
Sieve every time, unless I'd sieved and used the glaze within the last few weeks, and I'm sure there's no bits/chunks/things dropped in there...

There are different methods of creating a matte glaze. Some matte glazes employ more than one mechanism to do so. The mechanism and oxides used will create different types of matte, some will feel butter soft (like a good magnesium matte), others will feel dry (like one created with barium), some cutlery mark easily (often these are high alumina mattes that don't use a secondary mechanism or oxide to create the matte) and so forth. Oxides that when used in higher amounts can cause matting are magnesium, barium, strontium, titanium, zinc, calcium and alumina.
There are also underfired glazes that will be matte but this is simply because they haven't been fired hot enough to melt properly.
Slow cooling a glaze is one method of achieving a matte glaze if the glaze is high in one or more of the matting agents.  Particular oxide(s)  combine with silica and precipitate out to form a microcrystalline glaze. These micro crystals will scatter the refracted light causing a matte surface. In effect what is happening is the glaze is devitrifying as it cools.  Since these matting oxide(s) + silica micro crystals have a different composition from the remaining glaze I would argue the calculated R2O:RO flux ratio is no longer valid. 
There are exceptions to the slow cooling method of achieving a matte glaze, barium carb for example will cause a matte glaze regardless of the cooling schedule. Adding excess alumina oxide will also cause a matte as an excess of it will simply not be taken into the glaze melt. 
 

This is very helpful! Thank you! 

I  used bags that the newspaper came in,  I no longer take the paper so I just put the clay directly in it.  My extruder is homemade so I think it has more areas for the clay to hide in.    When I am finished with it I take it apart and let it soak for a day before I clean it.     Denice

Great! Thanks for the recommendations!

Hi Summerss,
Welcome to the Forum!
Could be the recommended bisque fire is 04 and the clay is fully mature at cone 6.
Can you provide identification/source of this clay?
Expect clay to become fully "closed up" - about as impervious to water as it will get, without starting to slump, melt, bloat, fizz or present any other typical overfired characteristic - at a particular cone. When fired much under the ideal cone, the clay will likely take more water, be less strong...
Some clays are more flexible that others in terms maturity range.
Some mid-range clays I've tried misbehave when fired much over cone 5; others tolerate a bit over cone 6 without issue.
That said, might be best to verify by test.
Fire the clay to 04. Is it fairly strong, does it "ring?" Does it take the glaze well - absorbs some water, but not too much?
From there, fire to target - try cone 6. Do the glazes come out smooth and shiny, no fizzy bubbles, no pinholes or other defects?
Fire some bare bars to test absorption with; weigh the fired bars, soak in water, pat dry, reweigh.
Put cones on each level. If part of your kiln fires cool, perhaps cone 5, good place to put more tests.
If cone 6 is too much, cone 5 might do.
Test!
The vendor may be able to provide some guidance.

The glaze will not adhere to Baileys or advancer shelves (kiln shelve.com) You just knock off any glaze drips and it does not affect the next pots fired
You should get a total quote from both suppliers which includes trucking /shipping before buying
in terms of washing I am an all porcelain studio and the pots  are fired to soft cone 11  and will pluck on unwashed shelves -meaning the foot will stick in small amounts sometimes. Leaving sharp bottoms .
That means for me I use a Quaility home made wash on the shelves. 50% alumina hydtrate 25% EPK and 25% calcined EPK. I thin this to cream constentancy and roll it on with a paint roller and sun dry it on sun heated shelves .
I ahve about 65 advancers and a few Bailey German shelves-they all act all the same. I have fired them a zillion times. I have broken some as well . You need to keep them dry not stacked on concrete (I use wood under them on concrete) Never blown one up . After washing them I slow bisque them with pots on them in a regular bisque fire.