Jeanetta

Haha yes that was a lot! thank you for your explanation of the cup, and your thoughts The cup does have a spring, and it fits quite snugly. Helpful to read your words about steam too

oooh Great conversation topic! I have three notebooks: 1- a Throwing notes notebook for scribblings about things I’ve learned (shapes,sizes,techniques,timing) 2- A detailed firing kiln notebook, near the kiln 3-And a glaze notebook , with recipes at the front and notes and trials in the back The glaze and clay books have pretty dirty pages from my hands. The throwing book I’ve noticed can be hard to find the specific note I want to reference through all the pages, So recently I’ve taken to making a master list of the most important info all in one place (i.e. ESPRESSO MUG: x lb of clay, x inches tall by x inches wide) I’ve even gone so far as to put each particular pots’ details onto a que card which I’ve laminated and put a little hole in. Then when I’m working on that particular item (i.e. dessert bowls), I’ll pull out the “dessert bowls” que card, hook it on a nail in front of the wheel & chug away for the afternoon glancing at it as needed. At the end I can wipe it clean and put it back in the stack with the others and pull out the next project’s specs card. i find this works well for me

I have an Orton vent master on my Skutt 1027 kiln. I don’t think it’s ever really been working properly since I first installed it (have done maybe 10 firings since install) as each time I can still smell some off-burning during firing. The install: We carefully followed the instructions that came with the vent. We drilled two holes in the top of the lid and three holes in the bottom being very mindful of course that they fits within the collector cup diameter. The cup is snug up against the base and all the ducting appears to be tight as far as I can tell. I don’t think air pressure should be an issue as the kiln lives in a really big draughty old mill with giant doors open, so to my understanding this shouldn’t create pressure problems. The vent leaves one part of the building directly at the wall and then goes straight up and out a little chimney on the roof that we formed and added a little arch cap to allow exit but prevent rain . Am Including photos here of the set up.(When I was ordering the kiln vent I ran these plans by the supplier and he said this should all work fine). So I’m totally confused! I don’t know why this isn’t working. I just recently did my first firing since a big winter pause and there was so much moisture stream was coming out of the sides of the lid- I wound up turning off the fan vent and just propped the lid and removed a bung. I could hear some pieces breaking as well, eek! (very nervous to open when it finishes) eventually the steam all came out and I’ve closed the lid at 1000 F. This extreme steaming thing is new, I’m hoping it was maybe just from excessive moisture accumulated over the damp and icy cold winter season & hopefully won’t reoccur (the bisque ware shouldn’t be wet…) or the steam was maybe exacerbated by it being pretty windy today….But either way I would’ve expected the vent to be extracting what it needed to if there was moisture….? Regardless the vent setup has never functioned completely without some smell no matter the climate , winds or season. When I have been using the vent I keep all the bungs in and the lid is a good tight fit. 1 ) any thoughts tips or ideas??? 2 ) In the meantime (as I need to get firing), should I fire the old way before I had the vent? - propping the lid until 1000° then closing it and leaving the top bung out? Now that I have these holes existing in the top and bottom will this old method be problematic? 3 ) to fix the vent issue maybe I need another hole drilled in the bottom? Or my loads are too full? The instruction manual says heating rates shouldn’t be more than 300 Fahrenheit per hour but my cone fire program automatically does greater ranges than that at times…. I wonder if this could be a problem? 4)Also- this may be a ridiculous question but I can’t get my head around the holes in the Collector cup that attached to under the base of the kiln. How does that work with suction? Aren’t those holes letting the gases escape? It seems like a big area for holes to exist when I’m trying to remove everything from the kiln and keep all the other connections tight…. Thank you so much for your time!

This is a really great discussion topic!! I am thinking a lot lately about the sustainability of my most important tools- my hands/wrists! a friend recently shared this series of exercises with me and I’m trying to get myself in the habit of doing these before and after throwing sessions. I’m at the beginning of my Pottery journey and I’m hoping this will help me be able to throw for longer and with less troubles down the road ….at least it can’t hurt to try. sharing here for anyone who may be interested