mudified

I really appreciate the comments. Bill, I posted the schedule below out of the operating manual--it seems fairly similar to my log (except the schedule shows a five-minute hold at the end which I didn't do.) I left the top peep open because the operating manual indicated, "If your kiln is not equipped with a down-draft vent system ... Leave the top peep plug out throughout the entire firing." Yes, I do have a shelf about an inch above the kiln floor; then two more shelves placed so that the cones could be set in the vertical center and a few inches below the lid. The firing speed was "medium". Neil, thanks for your recommendations! Likewise, I thought this morning about firing to Cone 05 and using a hold. After I get some safety glasses and the enough cones for a pack with a "guide, target, and guard" I'll attempt to actually "witness" the witness cones so that I can make any manual adjustments as the firing process draws toward it's end during the last half hour or so. And I'll do what you said about loading the kiln. Thanks again!

The first test fire of my new Skutt KM822 yielded uneven cone indications as shown in the photo of the pyrometric cones (04 target and 03 guard) left to right in photo equals top to bottom kiln shelves. I placed each pair of cones (I don't have any 05 cones right now) about three inches from the brick, and the center shelf cones about three inches from the thermocouple. All cones were facing toward the center). I don't have safety glasses yet, so I didn't look into the spy holes to observe at what time in the firing the cones dropped; and maybe that should be my next step--it seems the kiln temperature was much higher than 1946° despite what the controller display showed. I'm looking for tips to even out the results. Would a 5 to 10 minute hold at the end of the Cone Mode program make a helpful difference? Perhaps that and running another test with Cone 05 as the objective given the excessive drop of the overly bent target cone where Cone 04 was the objective? Guess I need to wait until I can obtain some 05 and 06 cones. Or, am I overly obsessing? Should I go ahead, I wonder, and do a bisque fire with the appropriate preheat and a 5 or 10 minute hold at the end? Thoughts anyone?

Hi. I recently bought a Skutt KM822 which also breaks down into two sections. With furniture blankets to cushion against chipping the bricks, in my Corolla and/or RAV4 I'm quite comfortable carrying them separately from hither to yon. I'm getting old, too, but I've carried them around between the garage and basement. (Lifting and carrying them buckled together is more difficult for this old guy. Hope this is helpful.