nuna

OK so my current plan for the second bisque will be to fire it face up/grid down to 022 on slow, atop a very even layer of alumina (the L&L manual said not to use silica which is why I switched), possibly also on a waster slab on its own layer of alumina. I may also use alumina and a bisqued waster slab for the eventual firing to 6. Thanks all.

Wow ok I didn't know this! Thank you.

I'm actually not too worried about the table warping a bit since this is part of a sculptural installation and not actual functional use. Do you still think glazed both sides would be safer? Also, I've never used sand/grog in a glaze firing (if I'm understand your suggestion correctly); I've heard it can blow around in the kiln during firing and I wouldn't want to get stuck in the glaze - thoughts?

@Pres @Bill Kielb I did put a significant amount of alumina oxide sand beneath the face-down tabletop for the first bisque firing. I'm happy to put more down again when it is fired face-up in the second firing, but since it has already shrunk in that first 06 bisque, will it actually shrink again when re-bisqued? I assumed it was done shrink as far as bisque went. The suggestion of a waster slab is a great idea, especially since my grid is definitely not perfectly even/flat. I will definitely make one for the eventual cone 6 firing, and maybe for the second bisque as well.

I usually paint underglaze on greenware so that the glaze application does not affect the painting. Occasionally, I paint on bisqueware for logistical reasons, eg the work is too fragile to risk a lot of handling; in these cases, I send the piece back through the bisque with no issues. At least, I DID... until I had a disaster where a large (2' long), thick piece got huge cracks in the second bisque firing. This second bisque was done at a different studio, and I don't know what schedule they used or how it was fired, so I'm not sure if anything strange happened. Needless to say, I am now very wary about double-bisquing very large pieces. I am currently working a large round tabletop (made with a 1/4" thick, 2' diameter slab, and a 1-1/2" rim and a grid underneath). I bisqued it facedown and am now painting the top with a lot of intricate details. I don't want to risk glazing it without "setting" the underglaze first before I pour or brush the glaze on, but I'm scared! Especially because it will have to be fired right-side-up now due to the underglaze (I've noticed some fluxier colors will stick to the kiln shelf). What would be the safest way to bisque this again? Options I've considered: Bisque super low at cone 020 or so. In this case, would it be safer to fire it fast or slow? A friend swears by a custom schedule that goes extra slow during quartz inversion for double-bisquing risky pieces. Has anyone heard of this? Bisque it normally. I don't know how the previous work was fired during its fatal second bisque, so maybe the studio fired it in a strange way, or the stress of transporting it damaged it and the issue has nothing to do with re-bisquing. Thank you so much for your help! And apologies for the long post.

Does anyone have any thoughts about adding a Skutt lid brace to an L&L e28T kiln? While the Easy-Lift Lid is in fact very easy to lift, I find the the last few degrees (when the lid goes from straight up and down to slightly leaned back when it's all the way open) to be pretty heavy/awkward—like the spring stops assisting with the weight of the lid after 90º. (I'm fairly small/short, so maybe this is why the shift feels significant to me?) I would presumably choose the lid brace meant for the comparably sized Skutt 1231. Thanks so much for your help!

Based on the many threads I've read here, I am planning to put my kiln in the right corner of my new studio. It will have 2 layers of concrete board underneath and be 18" from either wall. One wall is brick, but the other is drywall. Does the drywall need to be protected by cement board as well, or is it OK if it is 18" away from the kiln? If cement board is needed, how large an area should it cover? Thank you!