Ashley78

Hello, I have a paragon home artist kiln, fired for the first time and have some questions. I live in a very humid place and after 3 weeks clay was still cool to the touch so I candled it for 2 hours to make sure clay was dry with ramp 100 degrees max 200 for 2 hours lid proppped. I then put in a cone 05, closed the lid, and used the cone 05 program. I was just doing green ware test tiles and a few with under glaze. They all appear to have come out fine. 1) do i need a vent? I set it up in a converted attached garage that’s approx 150 sq foot with central air, cieling fan and cracked a window. Could smell it through the entire house (1800 sq feet). -Are these fumes dangerous? -Should I leave an outside door open? Use a fan? Run it on my porch? 2) the cone barely bent - does this mean my kiln didn’t get hot enough? Or could it be affected by the fact that I put it in after candling so the kiln was already at 200 degrees? - if it means my kiln didn’t get hot enough how do I fix it so my kiln gets to required temp? - what does this mean for my tiles - can I go ahead and glaze and fire at cone 06 as planned? 3) When I opened my kiln it had new brown discoloration around the rim that had not been there before. What does this indicate? Kiln: https://www.paragonkilns.com/products/home-artist-120 I’m using these clays: Amaco 45015Y Moist Earthenware Modeling Clay, Low Fire, Multi-Purpose, 25 White Amaco Low Fire Terra Cotta 77 Earthenware Clay - Moist - 50 Lbs. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0044SET3S?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000KI7QAY?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image And this underglaze: mayco stroke and coat Any info / advice at all would be greatly appreciated! Best, Ashley