[New skutt kiln - Best program for bisque firing]

4 hours ago, neilestrick said:

What Denice said. Explosions are caused by moisture. Even totally dry pots contain some moisture, which must evaporate out before it turns to steam and blows apart your work. When water turns to steam it expands 1700 times in size, so it's a powerful force. With thin pieces, the regular ramping rate of the kiln is slow enough to avoid explosions. But if you have large or thick pieces, it takes longer for that last bit of moisture to evaporate, so you need to do a preheat.

Thanks for the advice Neil. But I'm 100% sure that the pieces were completely dry. They were produced 1 month ago.

Yes, I will definitely preheat for the next firings. But if this problem persists, do you suggest contacting a technician?

thank you again. 

Amanda

[New skutt kiln - Best program for bisque firing]

17 hours ago, neilestrick said:

@Amanda Hummes What exactly made the first two firings unsuccessful?  Explosions? Cracks?

Hello @neilestrick!

Oh big explosions! The pieces literally exploded completely.

My first thought was: - probably the temperature range up too fast? but on the second firing it happened again and I think maybe it's a cooling problem?

Today I will do a glaze firing test with the pieces that have survived  the last 2x bisque firings. 

Thank you,

Amanda 

[New skutt kiln - Best program for bisque firing]

On 10/20/2022 at 4:10 AM, Pres said:

I moved this strand here so that it would be where most of the recent questions about new kilns and kiln firing is posted now. Sounds like you may have a calibration situation, and at the same time need help with the firing cycles @Amanda Hummes. @neilestrick who is very knowledgeable about kilns and firing will probably post in on this soon.

Welcome to the forum, we hope you find many of your answers to questions here. Enjoy the journey!

 

best,

Pres

Thank you so much Pres!
I'm so excited to be here sharing knowledge and thoughts about the ceramic process!

thanks for the tip =)

[New skutt kiln - Best program for bisque firing]

On 10/19/2022 at 7:40 PM, Kelly in AK said:

Hi Amanda, congratulations on your new kiln, but sorry to hear you lost some work.

If the pieces exploded you should definitely put in some preheat time.

I fire a lot of student work, some of it not quite dry, and err on the side of caution. Eight hours preheat is my usual. If it’s all my work, it’s totally dry, and I know how thick every piece is, I still preheat for four hours. I’ve done less time successfully, I’m just so over blowing up pots that I don’t fool with it anymore. 

Thank you so much for your answer Kelly!

I will definitely try to use a pre-heat program. By the way, I don't have a vent, so I keep my first peephole open. With a pre-heat program, should I continue like this? Or do you suggest anything else?

Also thought it might be a coolingdown issue but let's see the next chapter Lol. thank you again!

[New skutt kiln - Best program for bisque firing]

Hello guys!

I finally got my first kiln. It's a Skutt electric kiln. I have already did 2x bisque firings and unfortunately it was not a success.

I programmed my bisque firing using CONE 04 - NO PRE-HEAT - NO HOLD, and for the second time I lost large pieces that I put in the same place inside the kiln.

Any tips or suggestions for my third firing? What should I do to not lose some pieces again?

Thank you, Amanda! =)