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Thanks for the suggestion. Swamp coolers are common here and have similar dimensions. I'll have a look at what's available. Thank you.

Hi, I am looking for a nice tidy solution to protect our new kiln from getting dusty when it is not in use. The kiln is stored in and will be operated in our garage, and will only be used occasionally. The cover would only be placed upon the kiln when it was cool to touch and unplugged from the electrical outlet. We live in the desert so condensation is barely a concern. Typical relativity humidity stats are posted as "to low to measure". Having said that, I would still prefer a fabric that breathes rather than any sort of waterproof material. We are using some basic sheets as covering now, but would prefer something that form fits if it is readily available for purchase. I am hoping someone here may have seen something offered and can point us in the right direction. Thank you.

Hi, The Kiln is an L&L EasyFire E23M-3 that Neil helped us select. It is rated to cone 10. We have no idea if she will ever need cone 10. The hope was to have lots of options. She is primarily enthused about working with locally found clay and has a goal towards learning to find and use locally found finish colorants. She had been taking some classes at a local open to the public studio, where she was constrained to use of materials that conformed to the workflow of that facility. Now she can experiment and develop her other interests. She has a shelf of small to be fired local clay pots ready to go, and we expect that there will be at lot failures before she gets the temperature just right. It will be complicated by the fact that she greatly enjoys working with clay from different deposits from different geologic periods. We live in the desert cliff region and have easy access to a cross section of material that was deposited over a range of 400 millions years. She hand builds, and her output is very modest. This is a pure pleasure hobby for her. She has been putting off purchasing a kiln for far too long, so I thought it was time to make it happen. I'll probably make a few things but I'm inclined to use store bought clay. I took pottery classes in college 40 years ago, but didn't learn much about the tech because we had a marvelous professor who made everything work so we could focus on shape and form. It's great that now a days the tech information is so accessible, so we figure we can learn at our own pace and see what happens.

Thanks for posting the photos and examples. If the paint on this cart reacts poorly I will post about it here. I used "Engine Paint" which is rated to 500 degrees F. If I could have sourced it in a timely manner I would have used Bar B Que or Wood Stove paint which is rated to about 1200 degrees F. While I was searching for paint I learned that there are products made for coating engine exhaust pipes that are rated at 1800 degrees F. I was mainly concerned with the paint becoming volatile and maybe combustible. It seemed like most of the discussion I found about high heat paint seemed to regard stability and appearance as the issues being considered, so I am hoping that the 500 degree engine paint will be ok and that I was just overthinking everything. I saw some articles that say the steel bands can reach 500 degrees F so I thought I should be cautious. I'll keep an close eye on it for the first few firings.

Hi, I finished up welding, painting, and assembling the kiln cart, so we were able to mount and assemble our new kiln's parts on the cart to see if it will work OK. It seems very stiff. It did not seem to deflect at all. We only need to move the kiln a few feet back and forth from a storage location to an operation location. The floor is smooth and level. I hope I have not made a mistake by building our own cart, but it was fun to fabricate, less than half the price of a ready made version, and made out of the sort of heavy weight materials that are impractical to specify for a consumer grade mass distribution product. Thanks for all the help getting started with a new kiln.

Hi, Thank you for the suggestions and the reassurance that high heat paint is not inappropriate. The steel frame I have fabricated is connected to the factory plate that was intended to serve as the center support of the static stand, so all but about 1/2" on the outer edges will be resting on a solid surface. The factory plate makes it easy to use the venting system with the connections supplied. I have been planning to add support under the outer edges, and add some side plates as well, but I have not gotten that far. To be honest I did not realize how the bottom of the kiln was just glued together until we received it. I wanted my wife to have her own kiln and figured we would just get started and figure it out as we go. I had waited for the kiln's arrival to take a look at it and the supplied stand. Then I figured out a design that I hope will work ok. The center support you mention seems like a must have feature. I had some 5" polyurethane caster's on hand that are very similar to what you suggest, but after worrying about possible heat issues I overcompensated and purchased some heavy industry 6" steel wheel casters with the top locks. The 6" wheels are sized so that the over all height of the center plate matches the original stand dimensions, so the vent ducting will clear nicely. Thank you!

Hi, I am fabricating some heavy gauge steel tube into a DIY welded rolling cart for my wife's new kiln. I know it's not ideal to roll a kiln around but the mobility was a requirement for the space we have available. The factory supplied static base is finished to result in Aluminized Steel, which is a nice finish application, but I can't produce a plated coating in my DIY home metal shop. It had not occurred to me before, but now I am wondering if it is going to be ok to use paint on my fabrication, or if the items in near proximity to the kiln will get too hot for paint to remain stable. I have been planning on using something like engine paint to protect the steel tubing from corrosion. Will the legs get hot when the kiln is cycling through a firing sequence? If so how hot might they get? Thank you.

The owner of Bluebird replied and said he can help with info once I know the serial number of the unit so he can look up the specifics for the mixer. Thank you!

Thanks for the info. I sent them an email yesterday. Thank you!

Any thoughts about general maintenance on the Bluebird 12? Is bearing replacement a straightforward process? Thank you.

For us it would be an alternative to doing all the work by hand. I would not have imagined buying one of these but saw it on the local classifieds, and thought my wife could use it with the slip and clay she collects in the local arroyo bottoms.

Hi, A used Bluebird 12 Clay mixer is available for local purchase. The current owner has upgraded to a pug mill and is offering the mixer at a too good to dismiss price, so I am thinking about acquiring it for our modest home studio clay work. This mixer seems like a low powered tool when regarding what is available and used by serious potters. I think the motor is rated at 1/3HP and the max wet weight is 50lbs. The 50 lbs is more than enough for our use, and we would likely utilize it for smaller batches. I am wondering if this is a practical appliance. For instance, does it have enough power to get its job done, or will this model leave use feeling that it was designed with a bit of wishful thinking? I am projecting from other workshop experiences, and reflecting on the idea that many power tools offer a desirable feature set at an affordable price but they don't have enough power to do their job gracefully. Do any of you have any first hand experience with the Bluebird 12 Clay Mixer and do you have any insights you may share? Thank you!

Thank you @Bill Kielb for sharing the info. I asked in the OP about store bought wash, and the Lee's product seems like a great choice, but the only online source I found that listed a retail price was Axner and as I mentioned I am reluctant to pay $54 shipping for a $39 dollar jug. I have learned a lot from everyone here and have become accustomed to the idea of mixing the materials "from scratch". I can buy 10lbs of Alumina Hydrate, 5lbs of EPK, and 5lbs of Glomax for less than $39 and don't have to worry about shipping costs, so I am leaning towards that choice. I also appreciated the suggestion about the Continental Clay Alumina based wash, but their website did not mention what the other ingredients were, and their website doesn't calculate shipping prior to placing an order, so mixing in house seems like a good way to go, plus it will accelerate our journey to making glazes from scratch. The wealth of information packed in to the John Britt article and the Sue McLeod web page has finally started to sink in. I am still curious about the Feldspar, the Darvan 7 Deflocculant, and the Zircon refractory filler, and trying to learn what I can while I wait on the kiln and shelves to arrive. It seems obvious that the input I am missing is years of first hand experience. Many here have accumulated a lot of knowledge and I am thankful that they are gracious enough to share. Thank you!

It occurs to me that I should ask a follow up question about the possible use of a small amount of Feldspar. Why would the increased resistance for removal be regarded as unhelpful? Isn't the resistance to removal a benefit of sorts? The accounts of coating both sides of a shelf with Lee's Kiln Wash and occasionally flipping the shelves seem to portray the tenacity as a benefit. Would the Feldspar offer the same benefit, or will you find yourself still having to strip the shelves before flipping and cursing the choice of Feldspar flux for making the task more difficult? It almost seems, when "reading between the lines" that some people have learned to prefer to use a light duty kiln wash that makes periodic stripping more convenient. I will appreciate it if some can lend their perspective on these ideas. Thank you!

Thank you for the detailed suggestions. Between your help and all the reading it seems as if the article I linked to in the original post has started to make more sense. The content was concise and specific. I did not recognize it as such one first, or second, third, etc. read, but it is finally sinking in. If I try the Feldspar I will try it on a scrap of a kiln post that arrived damaged. Thank you!