liambesaw Posted February 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2020 Here we go: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted February 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2020 And some detail: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted February 11, 2020 Report Share Posted February 11, 2020 Congrats on the new kiln Liam! I’m very curious about the backstory of the kiln. You say it’s “old” but it only has 12 firings. Plenty of potters buy a kiln, then end up not using it much, but rarely a monster-size kiln. My first kiln had that story (it was 25 yrs old and never fired!) but it was a small 3 cu footer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted February 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2020 1 minute ago, GEP said: Congrats on the new kiln Liam! I’m very curious about the backstory of the kiln. You say it’s “old” but it only has 12 firings. Plenty of potters buy a kiln, then end up not using it much, but rarely a monster-size kiln. My first kiln had that story (it was 25 yrs old and never fired!) but it was a small 3 cu footer. The guy I bought it from, bought it as a used but manufacturer refurbished kiln. He opted to have a v6cf installed as well. He was not using it as much as he thought was going to because he joined a group of retirees who audit ceramics courses at shoreline community college and all his firings are free, and he ends up doing all his throwing and firing at the school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted February 11, 2020 Report Share Posted February 11, 2020 7 minutes ago, liambesaw said: The guy I bought it from, bought it as a used but manufacturer refurbished kiln. He opted to have a v6cf installed as well. He was not using it as much as he thought was going to because he joined a group of retirees who audit ceramics courses at shoreline community college and all his firings are free, and he ends up doing all his throwing and firing at the school. I see. The controller has 12 firings. But the kiln is much older than that. Makes more sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted February 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2020 1 minute ago, GEP said: I see. The controller has 12 firings. But the kiln is much older than that. Makes more sense. Yeah, the controller and elements have now 14 firings. I can see spots where brick was patched and such but it does look brand new inside. It came with 8 brand new half shelves and a set of 40 posts as well which is great, I can really pack this sucker full Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted February 11, 2020 Report Share Posted February 11, 2020 The first kiln I ever bought was about that same size oval. Someone had bought it with the intent of taking classes and making lots of pots, but it never happened. She only fired it a few dozen times. Then her neighbor bought it with the same idea, and once again it never happened. So then I bought it, with shelves and posts, for $300! It was much larger than I needed at the time, so I just put it in storage, since I wasn't about to pass up that deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GypsyE Posted September 18, 2021 Report Share Posted September 18, 2021 Hello! My kiln is approx same age (brick) as yours. 11.5 cu ft. He’s a big ole daddy! :-) I bought it used and I just replaced all the elements, all the relays, all the wires. Has a Bartlett VCF controller, too. Now that youve had some time to properly use your own kiln, Do you mind sharing how long (duration of active firing time) it takes for your kiln to reach Cone 6 for glaze firing? Im trying to determine if I am on target with a 16 hr duration (from 80 deg F > 2165 deg F) thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted September 18, 2021 Report Share Posted September 18, 2021 5 hours ago, GypsyE said: Im trying to determine if I am on target with a 16 hr duration (from 80 deg F > 2165 deg F) These posts are from 2020 so you want want to DM the original poster. As far as on target a glaze fire can go more like 6-8 hours or about 450 degrees per hour with the last 200 degrees of the firing at about 110 degrees per hour. So for the Bartlett V6cf cone six fast firing, likely 6-8 hours. As your elements wear your kiln will not be able to keep up and your glaze firing times will grow towards that 16 hours you seem to be at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pres Posted September 18, 2021 Report Share Posted September 18, 2021 Just thinking, if the loading gets tough, you could always rig up a pulley system for the first section and lid. That would make loading that deep a tad easier. I had a friend in the 80s that had the same L&L J-23 that had 4 sections. . . he used a pulley on the 4th section. I never got around to rigging one on mine, but would lift off the 4th section to load then put it back on to load the top, Of late I have not used the 4 section in about 5 years. Didn't make as many large pots, mostly bowls, patens, and chalices. Great grab on the kiln, and nice that it does not need further calibration. You should get many years of use out of it. best, Pres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted September 18, 2021 Report Share Posted September 18, 2021 In a kiln that size I would expect the firing to be about 9-10 hours. It probably can't keep up with a 450F/hr rate, more like 300F/hr. Regardless, 16 hours is too long. What firing schedule are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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