Ryleigh Posted April 5, 2020 Report Share Posted April 5, 2020 Hello, I fired my first glaze kiln (electric) last night and it was finished around 6am this morning. Once the temperature started to go down after it got to temp I turned my kiln off and left everything shut. I have been coming down to check the temperature every so often and I have noticed a very faint crackling noise kind of like Velcro being taken apart or electrical crackling.. All of the glazes are supposed to be guaranteed to fit my clay body (I have friends that work at a distribution center making both clay and glaze). My clay is a buff stoneware that fires between cone 2-7 and I am using Amaco PC cone 5-6, I fired to cone 6. I know what the pinging sounds like when a kiln is opened too hot, but this isn’t a ping noise. I haven’t opened the kiln at all and have left the peep holes shut, could it be cooling too fast still? This is my first time firing a kiln on my own (with instruction from the clay friends). I’m afraid to see what my pieces look like when they’re finally cooled.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted April 5, 2020 Report Share Posted April 5, 2020 14 minutes ago, Ryleigh said: Hello, I fired my first glaze kiln (electric) last night and it was finished around 6am this morning. Once the temperature started to go down after it got to temp I turned my kiln off and left everything shut. I have been coming down to check the temperature every so often and I have noticed a very faint crackling noise kind of like Velcro being taken apart or electrical crackling.. All of the glazes are supposed to be guaranteed to fit my clay body (I have friends that work at a distribution center making both clay and glaze). My clay is a buff stoneware that fires between cone 2-7 and I am using Amaco PC cone 5-6, I fired to cone 6. I know what the pinging sounds like when a kiln is opened too hot, but this isn’t a ping noise. I haven’t opened the kiln at all and have left the peep holes shut, could it be cooling too fast still? This is my first time firing a kiln on my own (with instruction from the clay friends). I’m afraid to see what my pieces look like when they’re finally cooled.. Pretty unlikely as it’s naturally cooling while shut. It’s awfully hard to guarantee glazes fit without the something that says you always need to test them with your clay. Kilns probably cool in the range of 12- 30 hours, mostly due to size. You are doing the right thing in letting it cool and keeping it closed. It will be interesting to see if your pots are the source of the noise. When you unload, If you find defects take a picture or two and post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryleigh Posted April 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2020 9 minutes ago, Bill Kielb said: Pretty unlikely as it’s naturally cooling while shut. It’s awfully hard to guarantee glazes fit without the something that says you always need to test them with your clay. Kilns probably cool in the range of 12- 30 hours, mostly due to size. You are doing the right thing in letting it cool and keeping it closed. It will be interesting to see if your pots are the source of the noise. When you unload, If you find defects take a picture or two and post. True. I don’t have a test kiln, I would like to get one, so I don’t have to fire my big one. My kiln is a very lightly used Evenheat Perfect fire 1822, and looks brand new. It almost sounds like static electricity crackling. So maybe it could be the kiln? I suppose I’ll find out in a few hours, I’m at 690° now. Will do! Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted April 5, 2020 Report Share Posted April 5, 2020 Could just be the kiln bricks shifting as it cools, mine will make a similar noise if I crack it too early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted April 5, 2020 Report Share Posted April 5, 2020 Kilns make alls sorts of noise while cooling. All the parts have expanded a lot during heating, and they contract and shift during cooling. Totally normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted April 5, 2020 Report Share Posted April 5, 2020 690 degrees might seem like it is only a short wait to open but those last few hundred degrees seem to take longer than anyone could imagine. just be patient and wait until it is truly cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryleigh Posted April 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2020 10 minutes ago, oldlady said: 690 degrees might seem like it is only a short wait to open but those last few hundred degrees seem to take longer than anyone could imagine. just be patient and wait until it is truly cool. I don’t plan on opening it till it is around 100° Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryleigh Posted April 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2020 3 hours ago, liambesaw said: Could just be the kiln bricks shifting as it cools, mine will make a similar noise if I crack it too early. That makes me feel better! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryleigh Posted April 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2020 2 hours ago, neilestrick said: Kilns make alls sorts of noise while cooling. All the parts have expanded a lot during heating, and they contract and shift during cooling. Totally normal. I didn’t notice it making any noise when I did my bisque fire to 04 the other day, but I suppose I was firing around 250° hotter in the glaze firing. I’m a little paranoid since this is new to me I guess! Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted April 5, 2020 Report Share Posted April 5, 2020 9 minutes ago, Ryleigh said: I didn’t notice it making any noise when I did my bisque fire to 04 the other day, but I suppose I was firing around 250° hotter in the glaze firing. I’m a little paranoid since this is new to me I guess! Thank you! Out of sight (hearing?) Out of mind. When I fire now I ignore the kiln til it says 100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted April 6, 2020 Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 Best remedy for waiting for the kiln to cool? Go make more work. The joy of having a kiln at home is that you can check it in your pjs first thing in the morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted April 6, 2020 Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Ryleigh said: I didn’t notice it making any noise when I did my bisque fire to 04 the other day, but I suppose I was firing around 250° hotter in the glaze firing. I’m a little paranoid since this is new to me I guess! Thank you! Hopefully it’s not your pots, but if it is at least you know you have a glaze mismatch in fit so much so that it begins quickly. Had you simply ignored it, you might have been surprised with a delayed defect. I used to believe out of sight out of mind was good, sort of ignorance is bliss. Having had to work through some glaze fit issues I now believe the little bits of knowledge obtained by observing are worth the time to observe. Early on, other potters said that the wares were just talking while cooling so don’t worry. Later on I realized anything that is making noise while cooling almost certainly has a glaze fit issue to which then I wished - someone would have just told me that in the beginning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryleigh Posted April 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 10 hours ago, Bill Kielb said: Hopefully it’s not your pots, but if it is at least you know you have a glaze mismatch in fit so much so that it begins quickly. Had you simply ignored it, you might have been surprised with a delayed defect. I used to believe out of sight out of mind was good, sort of ignorance is bliss. Having had to work through some glaze fit issues I now believe the little bits of knowledge obtained by observing are worth the time to observe. Early on, other potters said that the wares were just talking while cooling so don’t worry. Later on I realized anything that is making noise while cooling almost certainly has a glaze fit issue to which then I wished - someone would have just told me that in the beginning. I feel that it is good to observe also, but I definitely should try to stay away from my kiln more. I’m sure as I gain more experience I will be able to fight the urge to check it as often. That’s what I have been told by many people, if your wares are making noise something isn’t right. My kiln was at 150° this morning, so I cracked my lid open and checked out the pieces. A few of my pieces at the front look like they have pinholing unfortunately, but I didn’t notice any crazing (yet). Should have an update soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryleigh Posted April 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 11 hours ago, Callie Beller Diesel said: Best remedy for waiting for the kiln to cool? Go make more work. The joy of having a kiln at home is that you can check it in your pjs first thing in the morning. Very true! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted April 6, 2020 Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 That static crackling noise is the kiln. Pinging pots sound different than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryleigh Posted April 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 8 hours ago, Ryleigh said: I feel that it is good to observe also, but I definitely should try to stay away from my kiln more. I’m sure as I gain more experience I will be able to fight the urge to check it as often. That’s what I have been told by many people, if your wares are making noise something isn’t right. My kiln was at 150° this morning, so I cracked my lid open and checked out the pieces. A few of my pieces at the front look like they have pinholing unfortunately, but I didn’t notice any crazing (yet). Should have an update soon! Everything looks alright except for all the pinholes... every piece has at least a few pinholes or bubbles. No crazing or anything. Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe the glaze and clay body fit well together. Here’s one of my mugs (first picture) that has a lot of pinholes and bubbles. The second only has one or two but they’re still there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnolia Mud Research Posted April 6, 2020 Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hulk Posted April 7, 2020 Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 Nice! Does it look like there's a pattern of little holes that have "healed over" at all? Hard to tell in the pics, looks like not; the red and black clays I'm working with appear to fizz bubbles, however, have a clear glaze that "clears" the bubbles very well. Those lil' spots might be where the glaze didn't "wet" the clay in a tiny spot - when the glaze was applied - due to a microspot of wax, oil, dust, or? Any road, keep having fun! As for fit, not crazing right away is a good sign, however, there are some tests you can run to stress that fit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryleigh Posted April 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 The first mug that is brownish does have some that appear “healed over” but all of the other glaze combinations do not. I was talking to some friends and they also thought it could be dust, firebrick or something of the sort. I’m going to try to refire tomorrow and hopefully it fixes my problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted April 7, 2020 Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 4 hours ago, Ryleigh said: The first mug that is brownish does have some that appear “healed over” but all of the other glaze combinations do not. I was talking to some friends and they also thought it could be dust, firebrick or something of the sort. I’m going to try to refire tomorrow and hopefully it fixes my problem! Refiring is tough on pots and your chance of success is generally not the best. In the first glaze firing your clay and glazes are maturing. The combination of flux, alumina and silica melt into a glass. The fluxes help the alumina and silica to do this as they on their own will not melt below three thousand degrees. Since your pot is already glass a second glaze firing is very different than the first and often stresses the pot. Good luck, sometimes it works for folks but probably an equal number do not turn out as intended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackthorn Posted April 7, 2020 Report Share Posted April 7, 2020 I'm reminded of this recent article which discusses the coin toss Bill describes. https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/daily/firing-techniques/salt-firing-and-soda-firing/refiring-pottery-to-build-up-beautiful-layers/ and this one which describes pinholing somewhat... https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/daily/ceramic-glaze-recipes/glaze-chemistry/how-to-fix-five-common-ceramic-glaze-defects/ Helpful I hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryleigh Posted April 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2020 23 hours ago, Bill Kielb said: Refiring is tough on pots and your chance of success is generally not the best. In the first glaze firing your clay and glazes are maturing. The combination of flux, alumina and silica melt into a glass. The fluxes help the alumina and silica to do this as they on their own will not melt below three thousand degrees. Since your pot is already glass a second glaze firing is very different than the first and often stresses the pot. Good luck, sometimes it works for folks but probably an equal number do not turn out as intended. After talking with the kiln guy at the place I get my supplies I decided I’m not going to refire. He said the same thing you pretty much said. It isn’t going to do me any good and could actually make it worse. Thanks for the help, it is much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryleigh Posted April 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2020 16 hours ago, blackthorn said: I'm reminded of this recent article which discusses the coin toss Bill describes. https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/daily/firing-techniques/salt-firing-and-soda-firing/refiring-pottery-to-build-up-beautiful-layers/ and this one which describes pinholing somewhat... https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/daily/ceramic-glaze-recipes/glaze-chemistry/how-to-fix-five-common-ceramic-glaze-defects/ Helpful I hope. I’m not sure how I missed your reply, I’ll definitely check it out, both links look interesting and helpful just from skimming. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted April 8, 2020 Report Share Posted April 8, 2020 ryleigh, there is small correction you can make if you see tiny holes just after glazing. if you lightly rub the surface of the glaze over the holes you can fill them in with glaze. sometimes the holes are just because the pot is so dry and the glaze is so wet they cannot be merged into one. if you quickly dunk your dry bisque into clean water before you start a glaze session, the clay will not be so dry when you get to the individual pots. if you have ever brushed wet glaze onto dry bisque, you might have noticed the bisque sucking the water out of the glaze before you finish the brush stroke. btw, i have successfully refired many pots, usually in the coolest part of my electric kiln. if you do decide to refire one of the mugs, rub a tiny bit of wet glaze into the holes and try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted April 9, 2020 Report Share Posted April 9, 2020 May be a soak at end of firing can "heal" the glaze. Also slowing down the last hour of glaze firing. Ditto Old Lady or wipe with damp sponge all over pot prior to glazing. You'll be amazed what collects in the bucket! And non oily hands when glazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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