grumpykidstudio Posted February 28, 2021 Report Share Posted February 28, 2021 Hi all, I bought my kiln a month ago and fired it around a dozen times. It is showing these hairline cracks around the brick and I am wondering whether that is normal. And please let me know if you think my shelves are a bit small for my kiln best, Grumpy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted February 28, 2021 Report Share Posted February 28, 2021 Interested to see if the kiln guys say different but looks just fine. I get it these things are expensive but I would try not to be too protective of them, it will drive you crazy. They last for a really long time with normal wear and tear. Ours have lots of stuff like that and have never been an issue. You kiln is constantly going up to 2k degrees and cooling and the bricks expand and contract a bit each time so small cracks develop. Totally normal and hurt nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted February 28, 2021 Report Share Posted February 28, 2021 Small hairline cracks often form because the brick grows and shrinks. Predicting how much and if there is precisely enough room is impractical so these can occur anywhere a brick ends up trapped in place and cannot grow. My feeling, minor and hard to avoid no matter the manufacture / model. Leveling the kiln when first obtained and installing everything very true may help some but I have not found a way to for sure eliminate the occurrence of these. The famous high speed airplane (SR71) was designed to leak fuel on the ground but when it was going Mach 2 and very hot, no more leaks. An amazing feat for sure that took crazy design skills, testing and jelled fuel to minimize the leaks when cool. A bit overkill for kilns actually. As long as the cracks do not become structural or reduce function such as an element groove, they don’t overly concern me. To me the shelf borders on too big, a whole kiln full of them would be quite restrictive. I like to see more clearance from shelf to wall. 3/4 to 1”+ all around. If you have 1/2 shelf’s this becomes more adjustable as you are loading and allows the radiation from elements to be “seen” more evenly by all the wares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted February 28, 2021 Report Share Posted February 28, 2021 Hairline cracks are normal in both wall bricks and floor/lid slabs. You should have at least 1" between the shelf and kiln walls all the way around. Any less and you reduce air flow and risk cracking the bricks as you load/unload. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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