Bisque Firing

[Precious]

Hello,

So I've been looking into making my own raku kiln out of an old oven. My dilemma at this point is that there's an exhibition coming up at the end of the month and I'm doubting if I'll pull it off before then...and if my pieces will survive my experimental firings. The clay is midrange- 60 I think (has brown speckles when bisque).

I'm considering just letting someone else with an electric kiln fire them for me, but their prices are $100 for each firing....so I thought maybe I'd just let them glaze fire my pieces to save some funds and I trust the electric kiln to get the desired looks. So, my question is....would I be able to bisque fire my pieces in the raku kiln (more old oven  at this point honestly). They've been drying a while and I'd basically just be adding heat via a propane torch to reach temperature for them to bisque.

Can this work? Don't think a regular kitchen oven would be able to bisque them, correct? They're more sculptures than functional pieces.

[Bill Kielb]

This doesn’t sound like a tested plan and getting things to bisque temperature with a torch evenly and for a reasonable amount of time to burnout the organics and chemically combined water seems  pretty risky to me. Lots of bisque schedules go slow and last for 10- 12 hours

[liambesaw]

An oven can't take the temperatures needed for bisquing, it will burn!  You'd need to line the inside with ceramic fiber blanket first. And then you'd also need some kind of chimney to create draft.

If you need to make things before the end of the month, I think it's a bit late to be learning how to fire with a gas kiln now.  It's a skill that takes time to develop.

 

[oldlady]

precious, the temperature for firing bisque and for raku is about 1800 degrees f.    some people think they can fire in an oven that cleans itself because it gets "so hot".   that temp is about 800 degrees.   

scrap the idea of making a raku kiln from the old oven and forget about making anything finished in the 3 weeks you have.    

if you really want to make a raku kiln, look at the video on how to make one using a trash can lid.  just the lid, some wire garden fencing and some very high temperature insulation sold by pottery supply stores.   using all the skill you will develop, you might be able to finish something in time for christmas.  the best video i have seen is by cindy bracker and is about 9 minutes long.   you do not have to buy the kit she sells, you can get the parts separately.   i have seen this kind of kiln fire over many years, it works so simply, i cannot understand why people fool around with anything else.

remember, you do not start learning to bake by starting with a wedding cake.  it really takes time.

[Babs]

Get your stuff bisque fired by other person. Look up firing in barrels or pits.

Search these forums. Lots of examples and advice.

If you feel too much, select pieces you love , glaze and get friend to fire,and put prices on your pots to cover your outlay of$$

Good luck

[Precious]

Thanks so much for the responses and advice everyone!

[Sorcery]

Looks like you're between a hard place and a Precious stone.

I think you can get that oven to melt Raku glazes with the right torch, but a Little concerned about the pieces surviving.

Sorce