Firing cone 5 clay in an electric kiln listed as cone 4

[Elliot]

I have a 110 Olympic Kiln rated for cone 4 and am just getting into the nuances of firing.  Up until now I have just set my controller and let it alone.  My only experiment has been mixing a low fire clay and with high fire and firing at the high fire temp (really interesting results if anyone is interested).

Now, I want to experiment with firing, but I would like some advice/opinions before I do.  I know cones are more then temps, but is it possible for a cone 4 110v kiln to safely reach the levels needed to mature cone 5 or (potentially 6) clay without damaging the kiln?  If so, what type of firing schedule would I need to write or use?

Lastly, does anyone have any tips on learning about writing firing schedules?

Thank you,

Elliot

[liambesaw]

Might be able to drop a cone 5 with an extended soak on a cone 4 kiln with one caveat: only if the kiln has new elements.  Once you get a number of firings onto the elements they'll struggle to even reach cone 4.

[Fred Sweet]

Elliot-

Which specific kiln model do you have? Knowing this may be helpful in responding to your questions.

Regards,

Fred

[Elliot]

23 hours ago, Fred Sweet said:

Elliot-

Which specific kiln model do you have? Knowing this may be helpful in responding to your questions.

Regards,

Fred

I have the Olympic 1214-120E.  It is fairly new with only a half dozen or so firings since I haven't been able to do much lately.

[Babs]

Might be worth posting your firingschedule as a separate question. Lots of discussions re firing schedules forr specific effects but get the basic requirements from many books etc and read why there are differences in the ramps. i.e temp rise/hour depending on stage of firing.