Anyone familiar with Cress Kilns

[NJpotter]

Looking to buy a small Kiln for home hobby. Got a good price for a Cress ET18-220. Its good for cone 10 but I generally don't go above 5 or 6. All electronic and will be able to use my current utility without any modifications.

 

Any one have experience with it??

 

Rich

[NJpotter]

test-test

[Idaho Potter]

I have an old Cress kiln that only has a kiln setter--no electronic magic--and it's been serving me well since 1985. I should probably change out the sensing rod, but as I only use it for bisque firing now, I just up the small cone to 03. Cress has been in business for a long time, and if the electronics are good to go and you only fire to cone 5 or 6, it should last you a long time. Wish I could find bargains like that. Happy days are ahead for you.

[LawPots]

I've got an older Cress kiln (Firemate series) that I bought used; I've fired it twice so far, so I'm not a great judge, but the cones tell me that it was evenly fired from top to bottom with no apparent hot or cool spots at all. Now I just need to fire it a few hundred more times and I'll have started to understand kilns.

[DAY]

Electric kilns are basically kitchen ovens on steroids. The simplest ones have three power settings- low, medium, high- and a (probably) Dawson kiln sitter to turn them off. Like the tires on your car, the elements eventually wear out. As long as you can still buy new elements for the kiln, some of those Craig's List oldies are a good value. ("It is in our dead grandma's basement, and we need to clean out all the stuff").

 

If you are into reduction firing, crystal glazes, or want the kiln to turn itself on and off when you are not there, then more modern machinery is available. Remember, our ancestors fired their pottery in the left over coals from cooking dinner. . .

 

 

[neilestrick]

Any kiln that says it will fire to cone 6 will fire to cone 6. Some do it a little more efficiently than others, but they all work. The main differences are in durability and maintenance costs. As a kiln repair person, there are certain brands that I curse every time I work on them, since they are clearly not built for easy maintenance. Other brands have really expensive replacement parts. Others are not very durable due to their design. I'm not going to get into the details here and name names, since it would undoubtedly ignite some controversy, but I will say to take a look at the price for new elements and compare them to other brands out there and see if they are similar. There are only a few types of computerized kiln controllers on the market, so take a look at the keypad and see if the design appeals to you. I often compare controller design to Macs and PCs- some are just more intuitive and easier to use. Durability is not as much of an issue in a private studio as it would be in a school, so I think you'll be safe with just about any kiln out there as long as you treat it well. Also look at the lid hinge. The larger the hinge, the better, as it will cause less flexing of the kiln body and therefore less wear and tear. Happy shopping!

[MLW]

I have an older Cress kiln (w/ kiln sitter) that I bought used from its second owner. I fire to ^6, no more, and it has served me and its previous owners well. The elements needed replacing last winter, and I ordered new ones from Cress (check for their website). They have good customer service - I know b/c I've bugged them with questions a number of times.