Poll: Kiln size/usage and firing frequency

[shawnhar]

It will be a while before my first kiln, but choosing a size seems difficult and many factors to consider. I am curious how often folks fire and how long it takes to create a load. 

I'm sure there is a huge difference between production and hobby but I have determined (guessed) I need to average 10 pots a day (sold) if trying to make a go of surviving on pottery but I'm getting overwhelmed by choices of size in kilns.

How many cubic feet is your kiln?

How many pots a day can you average? (and what are you throwing, mugs, vases, bowls, mixture?)

How long does it take to fill?

How often do you fire?

Do you ever wish your kiln was bigger? (I can't imagine one of these 18" tall kills and the tall vases or bowls I want to make being compatible)

[Mark C.]

35 foot car kiln  downdraft and a 12 cubic foot updraft-one 10 cubic foot electric(bisque only)

Never count pots

one week-two weeks

average every two weeks

No I do not wish they where bigger

I average 27 glaze fires per year in both kilns or 54 total per year-not counting bisques

 

The average size electric is 7 cubic feet-this works for many folks-keep in mind most are not in the business.

[neilestrick]

I know production potters who work out of 2 or 3 seven cubic foot kilns. I know others who work out of 2 or 3 ten cubic foot kilns. It all depends on how fast you work and what size work you make. For some people, a square or rectangular kiln is more appropriate because of the size and shape of the work they make. I think having one of each would be nice.

The most popular size kiln sold in the US is 7 cubic feet.

How many a day can I average? I'm working on a special order for 150 mugs right now. Tuesday night I spent 2 1/2 hours throwing 60 mugs. Last night I spent 2 hours trimming all of them. Tonight I'll spend 2 hours pulling handles on all of them. Glazing will take another hour or two. So figure a full 8 hour day to make 60 mugs all done. But that's not how it usually works for me. My time in the studio is spotty and random due to teaching classes and repairing kilns. This week I will get very little throwing done for building inventory because I have a lot of repair work, classes, and studio maintenance work going on. Other weeks I can get $1500 of pots made. I'm working on the big mug order at night so I can keep up on the other stuff during the day. But I still manage to get enough work made to do 15 art fairs between now and September.

[shawnhar]

WOW, that puts things in perspective! It took me 3 hours to throw 9 mugs, and 2 of them flopped! Neil, looks like you are averaging one every 2 1/2 minutes, 60 mugs ready for fire in 8 hours is amazing.

So most production potters have at least 2 kilns, I assume bisque and glaze, as minimum. Is that a fair assessment?

[neilestrick]

Two kilns so one can be firing while the other is cooling. I like having kilns of different size so I can get out small batches when needed.

[Russ]

Hi guys

80cf Woodfired

I do lots of throwing with sculpting added to pieces... lamps ,sconces ,banks , sinks, face mugs etc... Mugs are my "fillers pieces around 60 to 70 a day

I'll work about a month to fill it. So from beginning throwing and sculpting to glaze firing is a month and a half.

I'll really feeling old lately. . In my younger days I used to be able to fill the kiln in 3 days with thrown pieces.

 

 

 

[Mark C.]

Salt kiln about 18-20 cubic feet as well.Forgot about that one.

I need  and use gas kilns. 

I also own but do not use a 7 cubic foot electric-forgot to mention that one as well

[LeeU]

I think my L&L E-Z fire 23 S (short, so I don't kill my back reaching in/out) is about 6+-almost 7 cubic feet. I am a hobby clay artist and it takes me a while to fill it because I am in slo-mo most of the time anyway. I mostly handbuild and don't throw all that much, at this time, and don't usually go vertical over maybe 7". I love this kiln. It fires to 10, by the way. 

[GEP]

My first kiln was a 3 cubic footer (18 inches across, 2 rings]. I didn’t choose it, somebody offered it for free, and I jumped at it. My intention at the time was to run a side business only, while still working my full-time day job. In two years I had outgrown it, sold it and bought a 7 cubic footer. Luckily the 3 cubic footers are easy to sell, lots of potters want them. I was still only intending to run a side business. The one 7 cubic footer suited my needs for a long time, but now I am running a full-time business and have a second 7 cubic footer. I can’t imagine running a full-time business without two kilns. Like Neil said, the time spent waiting for one kiln to cool is not wasted. A full-timer does not have time to waste. 

These days, I have a glazing session every 2.5 weeks. It typically consists of 3 bisque loads, and 4 or 5 glaze loads. 

[Stephen]

when we started doing shows we had a 9cf oval and it was a bottleneck not having a second kiln in the week leading up to a show because as Neil pointed out we could not get another load going while one cooled and that really meant only one load all the way through that week which always seemed limiting, with pots we would have liked to take left on the rack. We added a 7cf round and the resulting tandem seemed to be a good combo. A bisque load is more tightly packed and bowls stacked etc, so the 7cf bisque load expanded well into the 9cf oval.  

Combinations of pots types decide load size but 50 pots a load in our tandem is about the average and in a crunch upcoming show week with both working we can move around 100 pots through with some long days of glazing, loading and unloading to keep them going.

On normal weeks though, with throwing and trimming mixed in we really do not use the tandem so I wouldn't think it would make sense to start out with two unless you just want to put together your studio from the get go that way and grow into it. 

Also keep in mind you could get a smaller kiln for now while your experimenting and want to load/fire faster and then just regulate it to a test kiln or as GEP said just sell it off when you can justify moving up. 

 

[GEP]

@shawnhar One note about starting with a 3 cubic foot kiln, for you or for anyone else trying to decide what size kiln to buy first. Again, I wasn't about to turn down a free kiln, but I also knew I'd probably want a larger one eventually. I talked about this with my electrician, so he installed a wire that was heavy enough for a 60amp breaker, even though I only needed a 30amp breaker at first. When it was time for the larger kiln, the electrician replaced the 30amp breaker with a 60amp breaker, and replaced the outlet, but didn't need to replace the wire. Saved me a bunch of moolah. 

[neilestrick]

1 hour ago, GEP said:

@shawnhar One note about starting with a 3 cubic foot kiln, for you or for anyone else trying to decide what size kiln to buy first. Again, I wasn't about to turn down a free kiln, but I also knew I'd probably want a larger one eventually. I talked about this with my electrician, so he installed a wire that was heavy enough for a 60amp breaker, even though I only needed a 30amp breaker at first. When it was time for the larger kiln, the electrician replaced the 30amp breaker with a 60amp breaker, and replaced the outlet, but didn't need to replace the wire. Saved me a bunch of moolah. 

Super smart. At the very least, put in conduit that will handle the larger wire.

[hitchmss]

I have two electric kilns(oval 2728, and 1027), and one gas kiln (65 cu ft downdraft shuttle/car). Takes me about a week-two to get work made, bisqued, glazed and loaded to fire. My firing cycles for glaze firings, once I do have a mountain (500-1000# of pots) are one per day. I glaze fire about 60 times per year.  Depending on what I am making that day its anywhere from 20-200 pots per day. My baseline is that whatever I am making that day, whenever I sit down to throw, I want to make $1000 of pots at that session. If thats (50) $20 mugs, or (10) $100 bowls. More often than not an avg day produces around $2k in pots(not finished, but made). Last two weeks Ive made $17k in pots. An associate of mine, when thinking about becoming a full time potter, called a bunch of potters inquiring about the money making side of the process. One potter told him he needed to make $1000 per week. That was a couple decades ago; For me, I shoot to make at least $1000 per day in the studio making. Not every day is spent making; about 1/3'rd of the year is though. I make between 10-12 thousand pots a year (including all the small stuffs); use 8-10 tons a year, a few hundred gallons of glaze, and maybe 1500-2000 gallons propane. Ideally new studio will have 130 cu/foot shuttle/car kiln, along with 65; two ovals running bisque, and soda kiln for when I want to play.

[Denice]

I do mostly handbuilding so I don't fill a kiln very fast,  I have a small Paragon, a Skutt 1027 and a AIM test kiln.   My Paragon needs rewiring at the moment,  it is so old I am thinking of replacing it.    Denice