Long Lake Jake Posted October 22, 2020 Report Share Posted October 22, 2020 Hello friends. I filled my electric kiln (three rings) with a bunch of work, mostly dry, some needed a tad of drying. I propped the lid and figured I would fire it for four or five hours with the bottom ring on low to completely dry things out. I just cracked the lid and realized that the middle and top ring were still set to high, from my last firing. A few, or more, things blew up. Oh well. But my question now is.... do I toss everything out? Has the clay already gone through a chemical change, or can I start the bisque process? So the kiln had the bottom ring on LOW, the middle and top on HIGH for five hours. I can feel that the pieces seem to have a light bisque to them, I can still break a piece easily in my hand. If I have to toss everything out, so be it. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted October 23, 2020 Report Share Posted October 23, 2020 Take everything out and clean out all the shards and broken bits and vacuum out the element channels (power off to the kiln). Reload the kiln, look for hairline cracks in the surviving pieces and start the bisque firing again. The intact pieces will be fine to run through the bisque, don't need to toss the entire load. Welcome to the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted October 23, 2020 Report Share Posted October 23, 2020 LLJ welcome to the wonderfull world of ceramics -and to the forum . Min has the best advice above for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sorcery Posted October 23, 2020 Report Share Posted October 23, 2020 Jake, did you dry your work in the Lake too Long? Weigh for dry, after a day of no weight loss, you are safe. Do whatever it takes to get further ahead of schedule! #neveragain Sorce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Lake Jake Posted October 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2020 Thanks all for your help. I really appreciate it. Whew.... was looking at all the work I put in the kiln and how much time I spent on it. That's great that I can still bisque the pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted October 23, 2020 Report Share Posted October 23, 2020 Aaaand this is why I obsessively check on any kiln I have used over the years, to make sure the switches are where I thought they were at, or that the program I have set is the correct one, and that I turned the vent on, that there is nothing too close to the kiln like a garbage and... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted October 23, 2020 Report Share Posted October 23, 2020 hey glad to hear it is looking like the damage was minimal. ya know the problem I see with candling is that it gets real easy to think of it as a way to just push wetter and wetter stuff on through until boom. Now ya got get yourself through PES (pottery explosion syndrome) and hope you have a mild case. Some potters with a bad case of PES will struggle to fire stuff they threw 6 months ago. Every pot feels cold and clammy and they have flashbacks of when they initially opened the kiln and saw the carnage. ...I find that Mexican food and margaritas will help. But I actually think Mexican food and margaritas helps everything (even too much Mexican food and margaritas). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted October 23, 2020 Report Share Posted October 23, 2020 (Now ya got get yourself through PES (pottery explosion syndrome) and hope you have a mild case.) in ceramics speed kills well in many things as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted October 23, 2020 Report Share Posted October 23, 2020 4 hours ago, Benzine said: Aaaand this is why I obsessively check on any kiln I have used over the years, to make sure the switches are where I thought they were at, or that the program I have set is the correct one, and that I turned the vent on, that there is nothing too close to the kiln like a garbage and... Esp with fiiring your students work! I also recheck everything, also flick thro' the chosen prog.to ensure I didnt tweak it for whatever reason. Murphy with me day and night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 On 10/23/2020 at 4:03 PM, Babs said: Esp with fiiring your students work! I also recheck everything, also flick thro' the chosen prog.to ensure I didnt tweak it for whatever reason. Murphy with me day and night. Yeah, I entered my bisque program a decade ago. No one knows how to change them except me. Despite this I always check to make sure all the segments are correct. I don't worry too much about the student projects, because I take plenty of precautions with the drying and firing. If they fall apart or explode, there was generally little I could have realistically done. I recently had a batch of Middle School work, and a couple students made what could have been a "bomb". They were thick and barely hollowed out. Despite all this, they survived, and likely tossed, once they got home... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.