Hyn Patty

The "Power Adjustment" section (page 7) may apply:
SHIMPO_West_RK-2.pdf (shopify.com)
Where "...to a point where the variable speed control will not work." suggests that moving in the decrease power direction may also decrease the pressure.
When looking at the machine per "DRAW. No. 4 [sic]" most if not all the linkage between the pedal and the Cone/Ring is exposed, and hence you may see where there is some binding to be eased by lubrication, cleaning and lubrication, cleaning, polishing/restoring and lubrication...
*** see here ***
ah, see this doc, where grease is recommended, and several parts/locations identified: 
RK-2B-FULL.pdf (shopify.com)
*** as you were... ***
WD-40 is useful for many things, however, it is not a particularly good lubricant.
Disassemble, clean, and grease could be a good choice.
Light machine oil where disassembly isn't an option?
Flushing with the WD-40 and then following up with something else could be a good choice.
Disassemble, clean, polish as necessary - if there's any galling, lube with good grease, reassemble.
Hope that helps!
Please do report back on your findings/results.
Added: my friend who transitioned from ceramics to glassware (oh, forty five years ago or so) had a large sponge with a hole in the middle that he'd push over the knob on the "gearshift" lever - it would rest against a larger knob he'd installed just below the end there - and so the sponge caught most all the hand muck that would otherwise ooze down and drip all over the pedal, his foot, the floor...

Emphatically agree!!! (I’m not a fan of triple exclamation points, but it’s warranted here) Clay gives us uncritical dispassionate feedback without exception. Our joy and despair tend to be projections of ourselves. I love that I can count on clay to be honest with me, haha! 
I made a mistake many years ago of explaining to beginners the catharsis that comes from smashing a pot that you’ve put a lot of time and effort into but just isn’t working out. Stop trying to save it, make the next one. We know this drill. That’s its own lesson, but it has a time and place and it’s not exactly where to start.
The next thing I knew students were destroying everything before it even had a chance. It caught me off guard, I had to put the brakes on “cathartic experience” and focus on “finishing the process” and “accepting where you and the clay are in this moment.” Very esoteric stuff, but I couldn’t believe how ready they were to smash it all up. The experience made me reflect on my own work. I find great potency in the object that is the best clay and I can do together right now. The idea helps me get over myself and just make work. 

I think it's worth adding that if you are /new/ to doing it, you really should work at NOT being too critical at first.  I find my students are scared to death of messing things up and failing.  And yet we learn so much from making mistakes!   The biggest issue for people starting out is being too critical and not just DOING IT.  Get over FEAR.  Do it anyway and not worry if it's not perfect. 
So it' a two edged sword.  Being critical of our own work is good to push ourselves to get better and better, and yet at the same time finding that sweet spot where you can be happy with what you are doing is also really important.  I encourage them to let things slide a bit more when you are new at it.  There will be time for fussiness or fixing things later.  Get the basics down first and don't let the little stuff trip you up and keep you from making work!

I think it's worth adding that if you are /new/ to doing it, you really should work at NOT being too critical at first.  I find my students are scared to death of messing things up and failing.  And yet we learn so much from making mistakes!   The biggest issue for people starting out is being too critical and not just DOING IT.  Get over FEAR.  Do it anyway and not worry if it's not perfect. 
So it' a two edged sword.  Being critical of our own work is good to push ourselves to get better and better, and yet at the same time finding that sweet spot where you can be happy with what you are doing is also really important.  I encourage them to let things slide a bit more when you are new at it.  There will be time for fussiness or fixing things later.  Get the basics down first and don't let the little stuff trip you up and keep you from making work!

Here's a little tidbit that may also help.  Read the labels on everything to see if there are toxic elements in them and add BRIGHT colored warning tape to them or stickers that say MUST BE VENTILATED.   Things like gold luster?  Definitely worth adding warning stickers or put up a sign where they are stored. 
Another tip?  Call your local fire department.  We do free air quality testing all the time for certain kinds of air born toxins.  Or you can also contact a home inspection company, or get your own test kits.  But if you put up a few signs, slap a few stickers or tape on things that you know are toxic, you can educate the people using the space to cut down on the issue a lot.  Otherwise you have lots of good advice here already.
Also you can ask whoever is running the space if ventilation fans can be put in to push air through the space and back out the other side when the kilns are in use.  Not a perfect solution but still better than no ventilation.  Good luck with it.

I think it's worth adding that if you are /new/ to doing it, you really should work at NOT being too critical at first.  I find my students are scared to death of messing things up and failing.  And yet we learn so much from making mistakes!   The biggest issue for people starting out is being too critical and not just DOING IT.  Get over FEAR.  Do it anyway and not worry if it's not perfect. 
So it' a two edged sword.  Being critical of our own work is good to push ourselves to get better and better, and yet at the same time finding that sweet spot where you can be happy with what you are doing is also really important.  I encourage them to let things slide a bit more when you are new at it.  There will be time for fussiness or fixing things later.  Get the basics down first and don't let the little stuff trip you up and keep you from making work!

"...only one of the three kilns have ventilation to the outside. Should this be a concern as pieces are fired? "
Perhaps.
A few articles:
Kiln fumes (digitalfire.com) 
Kiln Venting (ceramicartsnetwork.org)
If wax or wax emulsion (aka wax resist) are being used, the strong odors produced as they burn off may give you an idea - that you are also exposed to gases and/or particles that aren't as detectable.
The articles above, and discussion here (so far) doesn't mention that the kilns themselves could be a source, particularly if glazes containing lead were ever fired in them? Metal oxides in current use - e.g. cobalt, tin, chrome - could also be a concern.
I don't want to be around any hot kiln, nor in the same room as a hot kiln.

Hi Josh125,
Welcome to the Forum!
Good question.
"If you hear a chattering noise, the relay is about to fail. Keep a spare one on hand." from Please Explain Some Of The Sounds That A Kiln Makes. | Paragon Industries LP (paragonweb.com)
Check back for updates/input from kiln expert Forum regulars...

Suggest you post, make model of kiln, controller type and any pictures of the relay (s) showing the relay part number, operating voltage, etc…  and anything that might have been done to the kiln since they fired correctly in the past for some informed thoughts

Absolutely.  It drives me batty  if I don't get something perfect.  I'll try and make it perfect until I either get it just right, or get tired of working on it, or ruin it.  Thankfully the latter almost never happens but there's a chance I'll overdue it.  I'm so bad about it that I often go back and REDO older pieces just to bring them up to my current skill level if it's something I still own.  I can let some things slide if I must.  Everything comes to a point where I simply must stop and move onto something else but that doesn't mean it won't bug me forever after.
I do have a habit of looking at someone else's work and thinking about how I'd do it differently, or how it could be better.  But that's just because I also teach and I am always trying to offer ways to help my students improve their own work.  Without them necessarily copying my own style.  That said however, I really like seeing pieces that aren't done the same way as I would do them.  Variety is good and being able to recognize another artist's work through their choice of color or style is what keeps things interesting!
Little things that are sloppy though, that could have been done better, always jump out at me.  In my work or someone else's.  But only if it wasn't intentional.  Even in my very selective niche of equine art ceramics, realism isn't always the goal.  We also do some decorative glazing where it's just basic fun with ceramics and far less restrictive.  Always more to learn, or new things to try, even with my own work.

Absolutely.  It drives me batty  if I don't get something perfect.  I'll try and make it perfect until I either get it just right, or get tired of working on it, or ruin it.  Thankfully the latter almost never happens but there's a chance I'll overdue it.  I'm so bad about it that I often go back and REDO older pieces just to bring them up to my current skill level if it's something I still own.  I can let some things slide if I must.  Everything comes to a point where I simply must stop and move onto something else but that doesn't mean it won't bug me forever after.
I do have a habit of looking at someone else's work and thinking about how I'd do it differently, or how it could be better.  But that's just because I also teach and I am always trying to offer ways to help my students improve their own work.  Without them necessarily copying my own style.  That said however, I really like seeing pieces that aren't done the same way as I would do them.  Variety is good and being able to recognize another artist's work through their choice of color or style is what keeps things interesting!
Little things that are sloppy though, that could have been done better, always jump out at me.  In my work or someone else's.  But only if it wasn't intentional.  Even in my very selective niche of equine art ceramics, realism isn't always the goal.  We also do some decorative glazing where it's just basic fun with ceramics and far less restrictive.  Always more to learn, or new things to try, even with my own work.

Absolutely.  It drives me batty  if I don't get something perfect.  I'll try and make it perfect until I either get it just right, or get tired of working on it, or ruin it.  Thankfully the latter almost never happens but there's a chance I'll overdue it.  I'm so bad about it that I often go back and REDO older pieces just to bring them up to my current skill level if it's something I still own.  I can let some things slide if I must.  Everything comes to a point where I simply must stop and move onto something else but that doesn't mean it won't bug me forever after.
I do have a habit of looking at someone else's work and thinking about how I'd do it differently, or how it could be better.  But that's just because I also teach and I am always trying to offer ways to help my students improve their own work.  Without them necessarily copying my own style.  That said however, I really like seeing pieces that aren't done the same way as I would do them.  Variety is good and being able to recognize another artist's work through their choice of color or style is what keeps things interesting!
Little things that are sloppy though, that could have been done better, always jump out at me.  In my work or someone else's.  But only if it wasn't intentional.  Even in my very selective niche of equine art ceramics, realism isn't always the goal.  We also do some decorative glazing where it's just basic fun with ceramics and far less restrictive.  Always more to learn, or new things to try, even with my own work.

Absolutely.  It drives me batty  if I don't get something perfect.  I'll try and make it perfect until I either get it just right, or get tired of working on it, or ruin it.  Thankfully the latter almost never happens but there's a chance I'll overdue it.  I'm so bad about it that I often go back and REDO older pieces just to bring them up to my current skill level if it's something I still own.  I can let some things slide if I must.  Everything comes to a point where I simply must stop and move onto something else but that doesn't mean it won't bug me forever after.
I do have a habit of looking at someone else's work and thinking about how I'd do it differently, or how it could be better.  But that's just because I also teach and I am always trying to offer ways to help my students improve their own work.  Without them necessarily copying my own style.  That said however, I really like seeing pieces that aren't done the same way as I would do them.  Variety is good and being able to recognize another artist's work through their choice of color or style is what keeps things interesting!
Little things that are sloppy though, that could have been done better, always jump out at me.  In my work or someone else's.  But only if it wasn't intentional.  Even in my very selective niche of equine art ceramics, realism isn't always the goal.  We also do some decorative glazing where it's just basic fun with ceramics and far less restrictive.  Always more to learn, or new things to try, even with my own work.

Here are the latest from yesterdays kiln loads -all on porcelain. The overglaze highlights are honey luister glaze and rutile wash also som,e Billy Joes white squirted on with ear syringe
platter is about 15 inches long. press mold slab . Mugs are 12-14 oz. Tumblers are pints. french butter dish. The albany in mixed with cornwall stone (the real stuff) and a touch of Iron and some whiting for a glaze called Albany Cornwall
fired in redution to  soft cone 11

Part of the glory of paper clay is that you can attach pieces that have very different dryness levels. So don’t be afraid of letting pieces really set up before attaching.
Paper clay lends itself well to thin slab work as well as pinching. Because of the added green strength, you can make super thin walls that survive to bisque. I’ve made thin slabs into sealed hollow pieces that can then be built upon. The air pocket inside is enough to support a surprising amount of weight, if you’re adding equally thin walled pieces. 
Are you buying the prepared stuff or making it from reclaim?
 

Thanks for your input everyone. 
I don't think Square in the US is lowering their fees since our government isn't making CC companies lower theirs'. I guess one can hope.
I've used Square since almost from their beginning and back then many associates thought I was nuts.  Also back then the CC fees where astronomical, I literally saves 100s of dollars each month.  I was wondering if I wasn't aware of something Venmo was offering. Looks like I'm not.
FWIW, I use Paypal for online payments through my website, Square was to fussy to bother with. 

I use Paypal myself and have a good long while now.  My website however takes all kinds of payments.  I used to use Square but I don't really do in person sales anymore, everything is online.  I have thought about ditching Paypal and going back to Square but Square is all the time /still/ sending me other people's receipts randomly even after not using it for years.  It worries me that they are so screwy that they can't get receipts and charges to the right people, do I really want them handling my accounts?  I report the misfiled receipts and never get any response.

I get to several a year - but which ones vary.  I don't /sell/ at them though because I never have inventory on hand.  Everything I do gets listed to public auction as soon as it is finished and sold to the highest bidder, or gets listed on my website and usually is snatched up within minutes.  The last REALLY big craft show I went to was down in Atlanta probably ten years ago or there abouts.  But smaller local craft shows I get to most months of the year from spring to autumn.  I live in an area with a lot of festivals, pottery, etc.   My attending doesn't really have anything to do with my business though.  My niche is so precise that I just go to shows like that for fun and shop for gifts.  But once in a long while I see some idea I like for presentation.  Sculpture though is harder to find at craft shows so I don't see much of it outside of art galleries.

I still have cosmetic things to fix, a crack in the bottom and some chips around the top of the lid, but here's the Olympic kiln heating up for the cone 04 oxidation firing tonight after about an hour and a half later.  Tada!  Pretty easy job.  Now both of my kilns, my little Olympic and my larger Skutt, are both rewired and have new parts.  Hopefully they'll both be good for another 10 or 20 years but we'll see.  Sooner or later I'll have to swap out those mother boards in the controllers, I expect, but so far so good!
If you don't know how to do it, don't be afraid to look it up.  Wiring diagrams are often online or available from your kiln manufacturer.  There's also a Youtube video for almost anything.

My dog, Conan, an 18 month old German Shepherd (sable) was very helpful.  Every time I bent over to pull pins on the elements he kept licking me in my ear!  Thankfully, he didn't drink out of the toilet until after I was finished.  Thank you for that.  I kept laughing pretty hard so it took me a bit longer but pulling the elements and putting in the new ones is pretty easy.  Needle nose plyers for the win!
A fencing tool or bolt cutters is really helpful!  Kanthal wire used to make elements is really difficult for my little hands to cut but a fencing tool made that task easy when I needed to shorten up the ends.  Once the ceramic insulators were slid into place my husband did help me with the heavy duty crimping.

So, my Olympic Doll E kiln is 21 years old and just died on me.  Threw a vague error but without a code.  WAY overdue to gut this puppy as the only thing I've replaced on it over the years is the thermocouple and more recently the relay.  My project for today was to pull out the wiring and rebuild the wiring harness, swap out the transformer for a new one, and swap out the elements.  Took me a bit over an  hour to do, maybe an hour and a half.    A few quick photos of the poor old thing to follow.
First shot is the Bartlett electronic controller removed and set out on my work table.  Care was taken to make sure I got a photo of how the elements were wired up before I cut the connections with bolt cutters.  Here you can see my new elements on the upper left ready to install.  Ordered high temp wire of the same 10 AGW by Radix.  The thin wires I can pick up at my local hardware store.  I /think/ and hope the motherboard is still all right and the fuse is fine.
Second photo is to remind me how and where the K thermocouple was attached.  I removed it just to get it out of my way so I could clean the inside well and get to the rest of the wiring easily.  Taking photos step by step before I disconnect anything helps me know how to hook it back up afterwards.  All that gunk inside got vacuumed out until the inside of the controller box was as clean as possible.  All of the connectors were either replaced with new or steel brushed so they were clean contacts, then checked with the multimeter.
 

I still have cosmetic things to fix, a crack in the bottom and some chips around the top of the lid, but here's the Olympic kiln heating up for the cone 04 oxidation firing tonight after about an hour and a half later.  Tada!  Pretty easy job.  Now both of my kilns, my little Olympic and my larger Skutt, are both rewired and have new parts.  Hopefully they'll both be good for another 10 or 20 years but we'll see.  Sooner or later I'll have to swap out those mother boards in the controllers, I expect, but so far so good!
If you don't know how to do it, don't be afraid to look it up.  Wiring diagrams are often online or available from your kiln manufacturer.  There's also a Youtube video for almost anything.

I agree with the others,  no need to wait.  If you want to pursue the opportunity and seek out more like it, go for it!  Have fun with it.  But I totally agree, don't be afraid to ask for help at your ceramics studio.  They were all new once and some will simply adore the opportunity to lend you a hand and help you get going.  I myself really like trying to help others and assist them in dodging the mistakes I've myself made.  A little shared experience can be invaluable - but do ask more than one person.  A single point of view may be limiting so take any advice and weigh it against what your gut tells you is practical for your own situation.  One size doesn't always fit all.  But definitely do NOT be afraid!  Jump in with both feet, learn, have fun, and don't be afraid of failure either!  You got this.
When you decide that you do want to get a small kiln and start firing at home, there's a ton of help to be had here too.  Bring your questions and we'll be happy to assist.  My smallest kiln plugs into a 110 standard wall socket and is small enough for me to pick up and carry it around.  I fire it outside on my porch or inside of my garage, or I take it with me for workshops and classes if my students will be working on small items.  That way you don't have to shell out a lot of money or dedicate a lot of space to get started at home.
Back when I first started in ceramics I used a kiln at my High School.  Then at college.  But as soon as I was reasonably able I went out and bought my own and never looked back.  Now I have more than one and it's my full time occupation.  Good luck and don't be stranger if we can help you with your new goals.

Yes, I work alone - usually.  I keep saying I'm going to approach the local university and ask them if they would be interested in my writing up a class for internships.  It would be nice to get college kids out there to my mountain cabin to help me with mold making, casting and cleaning of greenware, assembly, pouring and cleaning of resins, 3D printing and the cleaning up of prints, packing, etc.  There is so much I could teach interns!  Free help I wouldn't have to pay, but I would have to invest time into.  On the other hand, if any of them turned out to be pretty good, I might be able to lure them to stay on and hire them.  I could really stand to scale up and build a small /team/ of people to help out there like they do in the UK.  The kind of work I do is very labor intensive and isn't pottery, but there are a lot of 'jobs' that someone could specialize in that would save me a ton of time in studio and let me focus more on sculpting, less on the tedium.
I get my son to help me out with cleaning resins but I've never asked him to help me with my ceramics.  I do host workshops and offer private classes but sadly very few of those people live anywhere close enough  to me or have the time to stop by with any regularity.  Else I'd trade classes for work in studio time!  I've tried several times but that's never worked out.  They come take the classes and then never repay me back with time spent doing any real work for me so I had to give that up. 
I live in a pretty remote wilderness mountain area with a fairly low population out here so it's not like I'm in or close to a city.  

I have about 40 students using my studio. I have my own small personal space in the corner of the studio, but it's not private or closed off. There aren't students in my studio all day, so I can find plenty of time to work alone, which is what I prefer. It's a good balance for me- making pots alone but having social interaction during the classes I teach. Given the option, I would work alone all day every day, so this forces me to interact with people other than my family.