Kimani

Thanks again for the input folks .... progress has been made ... trying to source a piece of fibre cement to put on top and we're good to go. Electrician coming on Thursday - unless we are further shut down before then (NSW, Australia) Hopefully I can at least get bisquing as I'm going to run out of space on shelves for greenware before I run out of clay...

Yep my conclusion exactly - it was apparently in use by the previous owner who had had the kiln for a year (or two maybe) in a small teaching studio - a bit alarming - I may rehab it for another use but definitely not going back under the kiln. (eta - the flaking stuff is rust and paint...) Taking all this info on board - not in a big hurry as January is a bit of a go slow for electricians and pottery supply shops - both of which I need to ramp up activities. Mark, Skutt kilns aren't real common here - my impression has been that historically at least they were a good kiln, sad if the quality has dropped I should mention I love this forum :-). long time lurker.

Thanks for the replies - My welding skills aren't really up to making weight bearing things :-) Bolted together sounds good. Supporting the walls sounds very sensible - the floor seems good so far so hoping to keep it so. Does the bottom surface need to be exposed to the air (for cooling)? Most stands I've seen have an open surface (like the skutt ones) although the occasional one has a solid sheet of metal - much like Mark describes. I'm thinking this is just to save materials rather than provide ventilation to the bottom surface of the kiln. Just for fun this is what it came with ... supporting something made out of soft brick material with a narrow edge seems counter intuitive.

I have an elderly skutt 818 which I am setting up. It came with a rusted stand which I'm fairly sure wasn't original - so looking to get a new one. Can any one point me to the dimensions of the original? I can find them listed for sale but no specs. I'm in Australia so will probably get it made rather than buying as shipping costs are prohibitive (and exchange currently awful). Any general recommendation on how to make a good stand for a small 8sided kiln?