Sjors Posted June 15, 2019 Report Share Posted June 15, 2019 Hi! I have just gotten a mini electric kiln, mainly used for enamelling, an EFCO 150. It goes up to 1.100 degrees Celsius apparently, in around 90 minutes (very fast indeed). I want to make use of it to bisque fire my tiny ceramic sculptures. Does anyone have any experience with them? I don't really have a budget at the moment, so please don't advise me to buy an expensive digital controller for it. I would, if I had the money :D. Is 90 minutes too fast? The figurines are solid, ~ 3 x 3 x 5 cm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted June 15, 2019 Report Share Posted June 15, 2019 90 minutes is too fast! You're lucky you didn't blow things up. Does it have a switch that can control the power (lo, med, hi)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted June 16, 2019 Report Share Posted June 16, 2019 On 6/15/2019 at 5:59 AM, Sjors said: Hi! I have just gotten a mini electric kiln, mainly used for enamelling, an EFCO 150. It goes up to 1.100 degrees Celsius apparently, in around 90 minutes (very fast indeed). I want to make use of it to bisque fire my tiny ceramic sculptures. Does anyone have any experience with them? I don't really have a budget at the moment, so please don't advise me to buy an expensive digital controller for it. I would, if I had the money :D. Is 90 minutes too fast? The figurines are solid, ~ 3 x 3 x 5 cm. Yes 90 minutes is likely way too fast and for bisque the quickest I have seen is probably 12 hours. Burning things out of clay also takes time. Google common bisque schedules and you should find a nice smooth slowish ramp that you can use. Finally the Efco requires a separate control so the question is do you have the optional control? pictures below Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted June 16, 2019 Report Share Posted June 16, 2019 this sounds like one of the strange chinese kilns that have hit the market recently. it is obvious that the person writing the description has english as a second language and does not understand what kilns are all about. i hope you have not been cheated in buying this thing. read the description of the "temperature controller" especially the last sentence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted June 16, 2019 Report Share Posted June 16, 2019 How fast you need to bisque depends entirely on your clay. The purpose is to harden the clay so it's less fragile for glazing, and to burn out all the organic materials. White stoneware and porcelain bodies can be bisque fired faster since they generally have less stuff to burn out. Brown clays and terra cotta need longer because they aren't as pure. Bisque firing should take anywhere from 5-6 hours to over 12 hours. Most people bisque in the 8-12 hour range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted June 17, 2019 Report Share Posted June 17, 2019 On 6/16/2019 at 3:03 PM, neilestrick said: How fast you need to bisque depends entirely on your clay. The purpose is to harden the clay so it's less fragile for glazing, and to burn out all the organic materials. White stoneware and porcelain bodies can be bisque fired faster since they generally have less stuff to burn out. Brown clays and terra cotta need longer because they aren't as pure. Bisque firing should take anywhere from 5-6 hours to over 12 hours. Most people bisque in the 8-12 hour range. We get this question so often I have attached a slow and fast bisque cone 04 schedule that are factory programmed in the Bartlett controller which has been in use on many kilns in the US for many years. Notice even the fast bisque schedule with no hold takes over 10 hours, so time at a given temperature is important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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