Is there a cheep way to make a reduction kiln?

[Brandon Franks]

Hey,

 

I do raku firing fairly often and have a raku kiln, but the problem is, with my rank kiln, it is really hard to (a.) tell when you are reducing and (b.) keep a common temperature throughout the reduction.

 

I am interested in starting to experiment with reduction crystalline, but am worried that my raku kiln won't do the job well.

 

Do you think it will be fine or do you know of any reduction kiln that are less than $1500 (that I can control the reduction in)

 

Thanks,

Brandon

[liambesaw]

You could dump a reduction material into your raku kiln if you're wanting that but can't get it to reduce.  I've seen anything from sugar to oil to charcoal used.  

[Brandon Franks]

2 minutes ago, liambesaw said:

You could dump a reduction material into your raku kiln if you're wanting that but can't get it to reduce.  I've seen anything from sugar to oil to charcoal used.  

Oh that's a good point, I never thought about that.

[neilestrick]

Raku kilns often have trouble getting hot enough for reduction work. They can get to low fire temps just fine, but getting to higher temps generally requires a kiln and/or burner system with a little more engineering. It will depend on the design of your kiln. If anything, I would expect it to behave like the converted electric kilns, which are notoriously difficult to fire evenly. If you're hoping to do cone 10, it probably won't happen with a raku kiln. There are people who have success with their converted electrics, and if you do some searching here on the forum you'll find a lot of information about that. The topic comes up at least once a month. You could pick up a junk electric for a couple hundred bucks and buy or build a decent burner system and come in under $1500.

[Babs]

Noticing your avatar and your cheep way:-))) ask your inner chook or in the US chicken...