[QotW: What is the feeling of your family as related to your studio addiction?]

Marcia and I are similar. We like to see folks excell and innovate  so as long as it’s not bizarre we have fun with learning new things or watching each other try new ideas or just create something that ends up suitable when finished. (Both are severely critical of our own work) For the most part when either of us are in a slump we like to see that excitement and enthusiasm again when engaged in a successful project. In Marcias defense, I like to fix everything and make Mechanical / electrical things better so I am sure she gets tired of me never buyIng something new. Besides that  old Admiral refrigerator has lots of life left in it!

[Skutt model 181 kiln?]

26 minutes ago, liambesaw said:

I dont have a good saw for that and they were about the same price so ...

Just giving you grief. What you ended up doing (whole project) turned out pretty amazing. Not All folks would have put in the effort.

[Argh!! Giffin grip gripe, anyone else have issues?]

2 hours ago, cstovin said:

I know how to use a GG; I don’t know if it is this specific one?  Combo of the wheel (shimpco) and GG, or what.  I’ve been successful on Brent wheel with GG, and I can trim on foam; I wanted to know if others had issues, and what they did to remedy......

I use routinely on Shimpo whisper and their lesser as well as  Brent with no issues. Maybe check and fit up the mounting legs a bit, there has got to be a reason.

[Skutt model 181 kiln?]

On 6/27/2019 at 2:03 PM, liambesaw said:

I bought a mounting box for mine, it was 50 dollars from a local kiln manufacturer, but better than what I was going to do which was mount it in a large metal junction box.

I have a fondness for grey rain tight electrical junction boxes!

[Gearbox help for an old Amaco 1-101]

On 5/27/2020 at 8:13 PM, Michaela C said:

Mark, 

The original motor RPM is 1725/1140 and the new motor is 1075. Any idea on what kind of gear box I should order? Do I just do some simple math to figure out the proper ratio for a new gearbox? Thank you for the excellent advice too! I hadn't thought of that

You can count the original gearbox ratio pretty easily, bump that up with the original RPM of the motor and you will have an understanding of the torque multiplication the thing was designed for which would lead you to a better idea of replacing it. Seems like a bit of work to me though for an old wheel. Speed control with constant torque for newer wheels is pretty nice to have.

[Geeks only - Raspberry PI controlled kiln]

1 hour ago, newps said:

@jbruce I have found this an interesting project and an excuse to see what I can do with an old Raspberry Pi, at the moment all I have is the Pi running the software emulation and I created a profile to roughly match the manually set temperatures and times for a bisque firing. I was surprised at the estimated cost for the firing  but then looked at some of the config settings, they were for a 5.5kW kiln mine is only 3kW, but then there are the other parameters 

im_c_heat     = 100.0  # J/K  heat capacity of heat element
sim_c_oven     = 5000.0 # J/K  heat capacity of oven
sim_p_heat     = 5450.0 # W    heating power of oven
sim_R_o_nocool = 1.0    # K/W  thermal resistance oven -> environment
sim_R_o_cool   = 0.05   # K/W  " with cooling
sim_R_ho_noair = 0.1    # K/W  thermal resistance heat element -> oven
sim_R_ho_air   = 0.05   # K/W  " with internal air circulation

Where can I find estimates for these? its only a small 40l kiln. (Cromartie Hobbycraft KLN40)

Thanks 

Newps

These are from 2019, maybe private message if he does not respond.

[What’s on your workbench?]

4 minutes ago, liambesaw said:

Beating the crap out of my hand (and my wire cutters) trying to cut this 12ga steel.  Need to get a pair with more leverage! Love my knipex piano wire cutters but they're not designed for this thick stuff

Lineman’s pliers! Piece of cake. All of Mine are 40 years old and I still cut 1/4” bolts with them in a pinch. Probably have four pair laying around after all these years.

[What’s on your workbench?]

3 hours ago, liambesaw said:

I bend wires for work, albeit much different wire for much different purpose.

I recorded a video of me doing it on another jug, should be able to edit it in the next few days and get it up.

No teeth marks, symmetry and equal lengths. It shows. Angle cuts might be the only issue but I think I like them. Authentic! For folks that have never tried it, it does take practice especially with heavy wire.

[What to do with old Alpine kiln]

34 minutes ago, neilestrick said:

Did you get them through Alpine or somewhere else?

I believe alpine, a couple months ago. They were so cheap decided not to move the burners out at this point.

[What to do with old Alpine kiln]

1 hour ago, AaronRotchadl said:

My partner and I have an old Alpine gas kiln model HF-24 that was given to us when we took over a lease. We're wanting to get rid of it within two months and was looking for some input. Like I said it was given to us, so we're not hellbent on making any money off of it. It was allegedly operational til right before it was delivered. It's been under a tarp, but also been rained on a little bit. When it was delivered, one of the two red electric controllers(?) on the right side got knocked and is crushed beyond fixable(I think). The screen that plugs in(temperature reading I think?) reads "oooo" on the top line when plugged in. We haven't gotten the burner fans to work though. Anyways- Based on what I've read about these kilns I don't think I want to sink any time or money into it.  I'm wondering a few things:

1- Anyone have any idea what it would take to get it running if it's just the crushed box that's bad?

2- If it was just the crushed box that needs replaced, how far would someone be willing to drive to even just take it away for free?

3- If we scrapped it- what useful parts could we save from it? I'm mostly wondering about the powered burners? the fans spin freely so I imagine they're fine, but how much would I need to spend on everything to make them run(variable speed controller and whatever else) to power a smaller ~12 cubic foot gas kiln with natural gas?

4- Are there any actual "bricks" that are salvageable from this?

I know this is far from a complete picture but I appreciate any input! See some photos below and please let me know if you need more information! Thanks!

Hard to see the gas trane but it appears to have redundant gas valves so that is a later model. Someone should be able to make this work for hundreds not thousands. For free and the cost to pick it up and take it, Maybe a school or small studio. Interesting in that the radiant panel or make shift bag wall is blocked up about an inch so this was used for reduction firing. Nice kiln! As of a couple months ago I just bought the silly ceramic retention tips, super cheap actually (5-10 bucks As I recall)  so this still can be put together and used as is. Hopefully the fire eye (red thing) is still ok with some surgery on the cover, else a new one cost about 700.00 for the part.

[What’s on your workbench?]

4 hours ago, liambesaw said:

Ok, here's my custom swingtop lid on the growler.  Wasn't too bad!  I'm using a silicone gasket, it's a little stiff, but it holds water, is very nice and tight with a good solid click when its locked.  Basically a miniature jam jar setup.

I didn't want the typical grolsch style cap, it comes with too many design restrictions.  So I'm glad this came out well.  

Nice bending! A bit of a pain as I recall. I think you can buy that size as well (maybe) pretty cheap online. Been a long time since I ordered them. Still have ten sets for mason jars around here somewhere.

[Replacing Bearings on an OLD Lockerbie Wheel]

On 4/24/2020 at 10:25 PM, AveryO said:

Entire shaft 

My best idea.
The top collar appears to have two set screws and no threads appear to be in the hole of the set screw already removed so I believe you will need to pull the wheel head. I would double check if two set screws up top, remove both and use penetrating oil as has been suggested. It will probably be easier to pull this head by rotating it to break the rust then pulling it once it moves freely.
So something to try, remove all set screws from top collar and lubricate, block or trap the wheel head and rotate the shaft with a pipe wrench to break the rusty connection. Just in case it’s threaded you can test rotation in two directions. To block or hold the wheel head you might need to get creative if it does not provide enough leverage to hold by hand. Clamps, band wrench, etc.... you may have to pull the lower bearing if this has one. It most likely pivots on something. Whatever that something is takes the axial load so it could be worn as well.

[QotW: What are your beliefs about the time to reopen the economy and returning to Summer craft shows?]

20 minutes ago, Hulk said:

"Did anyone live through the chalk blackboard era...."

yeps, and music class as well

 

 

I really liked chalk boards! Much more than white boards of today. It made writing (legibly) much much easier for me. When they converted to all white boards I was devastated and routinely would find some knucklehead wrote on one of the boards with a regular marker. Mostly instructors BTW judging from content and handwriting. Never screeched my chalk .............. unless I wanted to of course.

[QotW: What are your beliefs about the time to reopen the economy and returning to Summer craft shows?]

On 4/21/2020 at 11:48 AM, liambesaw said:

Looks like way more of a pain than a swing top lid.  I took the wire bails off of an old swing top mason jar last night and bent all the parts out of new wire, put it back together and it worked a dandy.  I think I'll just bend my own swing top lids!  I bend wire all day for my day job, so it only took a minute to bend the swingtop

Couple bucks for mason jar pre made wiring and silicon gasket. Used to use them as a lesson in shrinkage and fabrication. Can  you plan this project and all the parts and shrinkage required? Fun project to show folks, it’s not so hard and they get a very useable  cool container when finished.

 

[Replacing Bearings on an OLD Lockerbie Wheel]

38 minutes ago, AveryO said:

To anyone that can help! 

I’ve been trying to repair and OLD second hand Lockerbie kick wheel that I’ve had for awhile now. Initially I thought it just needed grease because I started to hear a high pitched scratchy/squeaky sound a few months ago, but even after greasing the bearings, the wheel was still making the same sound and slowing down significantly after kicking the wheel. I could feel the difference and it became difficult to throw on the wheel. I’ve used a kick wheel in the past and none have ever slowed down to the extent of the wheel I have at home, so I knew something was off. After consulting with several experts from laguna and axner, it was decided that my wheel needed new bearings. I ordered the bearings to replace the old ones however it took quite a bit of time to be delivered due to factories being closed down, however I finally got the parts in. 

Of course now with the parts, I needed to take apart the wheel but this is where I got stuck. I’ve realized that the wheel I have does not allow for the wheelhead to detach separately from the shaft and therefore I can’t seem to get to the bearings. I’ve gotten some vague instructions from some people at laguna, but because of the quarantine, they’re unable to get back to me when I asked for further instruction. So far I’ve managed to remove all the bolts holding the upper bearing in place and even removed the hex bolt by the flywheel to remove the shaft, but I can’t seem to get the shaft off of the flywheel to remove the upper bearing and ultimately move the flywheel to get to the bottom bearing either. 

If anyone out there can help me out that’d be much appreciated! I’d love to get back to throwing ASAP! (: thanks in advance! 

Just a suggestion add some decent pictures of the bearings and wheel head area. As good as you can get like we are seeing through your eyes. Not easy to do I know, but good pictures from far are probably far from good to see if some of this is pressed in place.

[Kiln build from scratch]

19 minutes ago, liambesaw said:

@Bill Kielb hello Bill. That's a super helpful answer and the video is very educational. Thank you. 

The insulation I'm looking at is 3"IFB backed up by 2-3" of ceramic fiber blanket and a 4"  ceramic fiber board lid. 

I am indeed thinking of SSRs. Two of them with  copper heat sinks and a fan to tie it all together. I'm adding a PDF with my rough sketch of the wiring to the post if you have time to take a look. I didn't factor in a contactor but the SSRs in series should take the chance of the system getting  stuck on the ON position to next to 0, and lid switches should provide extra safety. If this is not enough I can always change approach.

Wow. PLC. This is a topic I have never touched, even in passing . I just know what the acronym stands for :)). 

 

I would suggest using an economical mechanical switch, dual SSR are an ok idea but theoretically they will have leakage even when good. The definite purpose contactor is an industry established norm and cheap if you take screen shots of the video. Additionally no need for the copper heat sinks, although better you can get larger surface area aluminum for cheap. PM me if and when you decide and I can send you some sources that are very reasonable in price.

Heat sink pic and a PLC teaser of what we build for under 1000.00 at this point.

[Kiln build from scratch]

3 hours ago, Jeryko said:

Heyya @Hulk. Thanks for the answer. I would love a gas fired kiln. The concept scares me a bit, but would love one. Only issue there is with management (please read the Mrs ) . She agreed to an electric one but will probably divorce me if I make what she calls 'an improvised bomb' in the backyard. Except for that, she's pretty cool :)). 

Totally get the equipment buying. I do the same for all my hobbies and then milk them for all they're worth :). 

The 2cubic ft is probably the max size for which I could squeeze out sufficient Wattage from my electric system. I'm limited to 230V and 16A. So it's gotta be electric and it's gotta be small. Good part is that I only do it for a hobby and occasionally take on a pot commission but the size should be enoughish. 

About the controller, looked through 30 pages of this forum, and a whole lot of internet. I found a couple of interesting ideas and implementations. Was wondering if I can get a little more first hand feedback as to how they behave. Most of the threads are a couple of yeas old and look quite dead. 

Hello @CactusPots. Thanks for the reply. I actually found shelves that fit my proposed kiln size :D. So i'm hoping to be able to stick to it. Did the math already, so it's just that I need confirmation about whether the power is enough or not and if the wire gage is suitable.  I'd kill for a discussion with someone who owns a Nabertherm Ecotop 60. That's the one that has 60L with only 3.6kW. There aren't really any speciffics about the model on the internet except for some basic stats. 

 

Here is my take:

Yes you can build and super insulate a kiln (compared to typical 3” brick kilns). It is most likely needed for your electrical restriction.  Fiber is certainly king with respect to having to heat a bunch of brick mass each and every firing.

Arduino or equal is fine if you have the time, lots of very nice  temperature controllers out there though for super cheap (20.00 - 50.00 usd) PID, Fuzzy logic, auto tune, and I find their type K interfaces more industrial compared to Arduino. If you are contemplating the arduino then likely  are anticipating solid state relays.  They are very doable and will actually add some capacity to your kiln. They need to be done right though, so use the manufactures cooling data and design conservatively with protection for your SSR.

I personally like using low cost PLC because it’s super easy and proven super reliable by industry but, it’s sort of old technology. Having said that even the most basic have web interface capability, standard k type inputs, data gathering, email engines, etc... without too much custom  effort.

And finally, this is a lot of design work with adaptation of available hardware so getting a used kiln to use as is, or to modify seems to me to be  something I would  seriously contemplate. 
 

Finally - finally, an economical  Raku kiln sounds really doable and fun as a warmup step.

At one time a few folks asked what does it take to design an SSR retrofit for an existing kiln, to which we made a very general video so folks could get a real feel for some of the thought that goes into just that part. You might find it interesting.

 

[Creative Industries Pottery Wheels]

On 3/26/2019 at 5:41 PM, Connie Rae said:

Does anyone know how to fix a pedal in an HP model?  I push the pedal almost the whole way down to get the wheel to start - then it goes too fast.  Any ideas?

 

Sounds like a dead spot in the potentiometer.. post a picture of the inside of the pedal circuit board and we might have some doable ideas.

[QotW: What are your beliefs about the time to reopen the economy and returning to Summer craft shows?]

My best thought sooner than later. More testing is great but get tested today and catch it thirty minutes later so not the cure and can create false security. The raw problem, it’s highly contagious. I have high hope in treatments which I believe will be key until a vaccine so I would hope the economy ramps  up albeit, slowly and differently over the next two months. Masks, social distance, self awareness hopefully will take hold for the next 12 months but provide some level of normalcy. Stay safe as you can, most folks seem to be pretty understanding and flexible.

[Looking for info on Slipmaster King Carl]

55 minutes ago, SoCalBoomer said:

Hi all

Yes - first post. Sorry to be asking right away but I've not been able to find anything on this.

My wife found and purchased a Slipmaster King Carl kiln with a KilnSitter on it. It's not in bad shape - will have to replace some bricks and all of the coils. 

I wondered if anyone had any place to get info on these kilns? I've been doing Internet searches (I'm typically pretty good at them - I'm an IT guy so I typically live on search engines) and if I put King Carl in there, I get returns about how King Carl of Copenhagen is not letting his children out (probably wise), and it seems that Slipmaster went out of business. 

I'm planning on tearing it way down anyway, but wiring information would be nice. 

Any directional pointing would be nice!   I'm happy to do research, but fruitless ones are frustrating!

 

Thanks and Cheers!

Mike (SoCalBoomer)

Call Euclids. Since you are internet savvy https://www.euclids.com/ for elements

[QotW: What are you doing for exercise during this coronovirus time, beyond working in the shop?]

1 hour ago, LinR said:

A 2 mile walk weather permitting every day best recent time 33 min 33 sec.  Not bad for a pair pushing 80 very hard.  Good weather has also meant the garden getting a lot of attention.  Good thing because there was a lot of neglect over the past couple of years.  Wednesday 3 yards of garden soil will be dumped on the driveway.  That should keep us out of trouble or kill us. Lin

3 yards? Wow!

[QotW: What are you doing for exercise during this coronovirus time, beyond working in the shop?]

I’ve taken to make a point daily of a decent two mile stroll with weights on. 1 mile on the ankles,  remaining mile on the wrists to give the knees a break. Not hard 5# each just enough to make sure I do something  aerobic each day. Along with my regular slow mo (20 sec. reps to exhaust the muscle group) workout which has always been a habit. Probably adds up to 10000 steps or better of walking. Gets me outside for at least 45 minutes ensuring I don’t get stuck behind a computer. Throwing some stuff at home, custom  requests.

[What’s on your workbench?]

4 hours ago, Mark C. said:

OH snow -well I like snow and this is how I like mine-1st it falls in some place that has rath for winter months long cold dark snowy nights. It melts and flows down rivers to the sea. This is where the process I like begins. That water is diluted with salt water and the ocean currents slowly take it towards the warmer latitudes where it slowly warms to the right temps-say about 82 degrees -then slowly tropical fish as well as other inhabitants take over and make it thier home-corals and such. My snow is shaded by a plam tree on white tropical sandy beach. Thats how I like my snow.-No shovel needed but fins and a mask will help as well as a snorkel.An underwater camera is the right tool in my snow world.

Interesting! There are folks in the northern latitudes that swear as the snow disappears even while its technically too cold to do so is simply sublime!

[What’s on your workbench?]

24 minutes ago, neilestrick said:

@Bill Kielb I just did a smoke test, and not only is there not backdraft between the two 4" line, there's actually draft  from each line when the other is on. So that's all good. We'll see if that changes at all when the big fan is installed. If it is, I can just install a 45 degree takeoff higher up ad keep the 6" with the cap as a cleanout.

Nice! Good test. At some point if you are in need I have the test equipment to measure this stuff and have the data of several measured factory functional systems. It’s impressive how little air flows through these things. In the winter this may down draft till  you warm it, but  no worries, you will figure it out.

We are geographically close and you are welcome to use  the test equipment and  have the typical operating data if you ever have a need.

[What’s on your workbench?]

4 hours ago, neilestrick said:

Yeah, I though about that but figured I could add backdraft dampers later if needed. It was never an issue on the old system, but we'll see what happens once the big fan is installed. I don't love the idea of using them because I'm sure they'll get corroded and stop working pretty easily. The cap on the 6" is a standard cap but it's really old and rusty! There are just toggle switches on the power cords.

FYI They do make plastic counterweight dryer duty dampers. I don’t really like them either though.  

As long as there is no bird screen on the exhaust, your chances of obstruction are minimal and you might be able to sequential stack two 45 degree take offs (on the same vertical axis) to minimize the chance of this. At that point the bottom of the eight inch becomes a clean out. This is common  in multi family and community dryer installations.

Just a thought for future.