QotW: Do you fire your own kiln, . . .

[Pres]

My firing experiences over the years have been limited in some ways, and yet extensive in others. While in college undergrad and grad, I was involved with reduction firing to some degree, loading and unloading, helping with firing and firing a salt kiln with a partner. All of this was done with cones and rings for the salt. Lots of fun, but not much use for someone living in an urban environment. I started firing Ox electric with an old square Amaco kiln in my first year of HS teaching. It had a setter, and would reach ^06 for glaze. . .just barely! Then I was involved with planning for a new building where there would be a Jewelry & Metalcraft/Ceramics classroom. We ordered a new L&L stacking octagonal  kiln with setter/timer rated to ^10. We changed clay bodies from buying from an art supply house to Standard Ceramics just south of us by 2 hrs in Pittsburgh, clay bodies were ^6. We fired lots of pots for the kids, and liked the setter. However, when it came to buying a new kiln for myself,  the same L&L, but with a special order no setter or timer! I had wanted complete control over the firing much like the firings with the gas reduction kilns. I wanted to be able to set a slow cool down to 1000F. and to choose a hard ^6 or a soft one. In this manner I would baby sit the kiln til all times of the day and night until fired. Lucky for me I was younger! Then @36 years later the old L&: was worn out. My wife bought me a new L&L kiln with all the bells and whistles, and not I fire a program that allows for all of the particulars I liked in my manual firings without the constant baby sitting.

QotW: Do you fire your own kiln, is it manual by cones, setter, or program? Do you fire Ox or Reduction, and to what cone?

 

best,

Pres

[Russ]

Yes .c10 reduction . My kiln is as manual as it can get and is done strictly by color and cones.   Although Ive tried to get the firing time as short as I possibly could without compromising the kiln or wares, I still have plenty of factors that limit my control .   It has always been a fun friends and family gathering to fire our wood kiln but its a bit like herding cats.... weather has alot to do with the firing also. Decades of firing has taught me one thing. I have SOME control over firing but definately not  like a gas or electric kiln. But thats where the fun lies... the adventure of manual firing.  The adventure of herding the cats to keep the temperature rising  so when we finish we can get to the good food awaiting and the resting calm of knowing we accomplished yet another "successful " firing.

[Pres]

Never did wood or other types of fuel firings, but thought it would be fun. Funny as I live very near a very renowned wood firer.

 

best,

Pres

[Kelly in AK]

Not long after I got really into clay I realized I needed my own kiln. It’s the one thing that you can’t just whip up on the fly. If I have fingers and clay I can make pots, all the other tools and gadgets come along easy enough. No kiln, no pottery, though. A big hot fire works, but it’s not long before you see that putting a ring of bricks around the fire works better. Then making inlets for air, then a top, then a chimney…

Next thing you know (many years later and many kilns later) the fire pit is a 15 cu. foot downdraft and instead of burnished terra cotta I’m doing cone 6 soda. Yes, I have my own kiln. I’ve made several from fiber and a couple from fiber board. I’ve gotten away from that miracle material though, I have enough risks in my life without worrying about respirable silica. My kiln is fairly low tech and firing requires that I babysit most of the time. 

Along this evolution was a cone 6 wood/soda kiln, which was a blast. The occasional columns of thick black smoke and endless need to replenish the woodpile nudged me to gas though. Every firing produced anxiety the fire department was going to show up. 

An electric kiln is on my wishlist, I have access to a few and that’s how my bisque is usually done. I can bisque fire in the gas kilns, it’s not so bad, just adds a lot of time to an already long process. Pushing a few buttons and going to bed is hard to beat. 

[Dick White]

I have 3 electric kilns in my personal studio. The small test kiln is the only one bought new, the others were acquired in roundabout ways. All have been renovated and Bartlett Genesis touchscreens added for total control. I also manage the community studio of the local park system where, because of a political issue at headquarters they owed me a favor, which I used to buy 4 new L&Ls to replace the Skutt dogs. Although we don't do any fancy firing, the Genesis touchscreens are foolproof for the kiln volunteers to run. At my other part-time gig, I am the studio monkey for the ceramics program at one of the campuses of the community college. There we have 4 L&Ls for bisque and cone 6 oxidation, and a Bailey gas kiln for cone 6 reduction. I am the only one there knowledgeable about the gas kiln, so several times a semester I spend the day tweaking the gas and air dials and the damper every half hour. I have it down now to even temps up and down and uniform reduction throughout in 7 hours. But that took me five years to perfect.

[Mark C.]

I have an 10 cubic skutt electric-I fire it rarely now at best -once in 2023 so far, only for overflow bisque.It's a cone setter kiln with an automate turn up control. No computer

I have a 35 cubic gas car kiln I made long ago and its my workhorse. Bisque and glaze in it . soft cone 11 reduction-soft brick inside hard brick outside

I have a 12 cubic updraft fired to soft cone 11 reduction--soft brick (Berman brand) usually same time as the car kiln -at least in the last few years always a simi fire going on with both kilns

Just last month I got a new to me gas 18 cubic Geil downdraft  gas softbrick kiln, and have done two glaze fires and two bisques in it. I just ordered 20 14x28 Bailey advancer shelfs that should be coming  just after my 5 weeks here in Bali diving  ends .I fired it to soft cone 11 reduction. This kiln has a very  basic DD controller which can turn off at a set temp or hold a set temp. 

My plan is to use this kiln more and more in my future as it super cost affective and a joy to fire.How it will fit into the mix is an unknown. best laid plans and all.

I also have a homemade 24 cubic salt kiln-gas fires to cone 10 out in the side field . its a new age hard /soft and fiber combo fired 10 time so far.

[Hulk]

Second seven cubic foot electric has been test fired to cone 5 (first bisque later this week maybe); it's brand-new touch screen three zone Bartlett/Genesis controlled*.
I fire to cone 5, oxy with downdraft fan, 100°F drop and hold after peak, controlled drop to 1850°F with fan on, then all off.

First kiln was a manual, three segments, each with Low/Medium/High switch.
Initially, I watched cone packs through the peeps; later on, I checked cone packs afterwards and just watched the pyrometer during.
I set the sitter with +1 small cone - which almost always dropped at about the right time - for a safety backup. 
I'd kept notes on each firing - times, temps, cone packs, results - which I'm poring over now, for upcoming firings in the new kiln...

I was so sure that gas was the only way to go!
However, there just wasn't a place to set one up at our last house (there isn't a place at our new house either); I'm happy with electric.
Both power sources have shot up in cost over the last several years. We have enough solar here to run everything and then some - new system went online last month - that helps a lot.

*Per others' shared experiences, I'll be closely monitoring cone packs as the kiln reaches target! ...for the first several firings.
Looks like the new kiln's pyrometers read ~35°F lower than my portable; although the portable very likely reads the same as before, I'll be watching a cone pack through the peeps!
...with appropriate kiln glasses on, o' course, against harmful rays any any flying bits... and make adjustments from there.

Everyone I've spoken with that has gone from fully manual to full auto loves the clickety-clicks.
I love the clickety-clicks as well!

[JohnnyK]

On 10/15/2023 at 8:27 AM, Pres said:

My firing experiences over the years have been limited in some ways, and yet extensive in others. While in college undergrad and grad, I was involved with reduction firing to some degree, loading and unloading, helping with firing and firing a salt kiln with a partner. All of this was done with cones and rings for the salt. Lots of fun, but not much use for someone living in an urban environment. I started firing Ox electric with an old square Amaco kiln in my first year of HS teaching. It had a setter, and would reach ^06 for glaze. . .just barely! Then I was involved with planning for a new building where there would be a Jewelry & Metalcraft/Ceramics classroom. We ordered a new L&L stacking octagonal  kiln with setter/timer rated to ^10. We changed clay bodies from buying from an art supply house to Standard Ceramics just south of us by 2 hrs in Pittsburgh, clay bodies were ^6. We fired lots of pots for the kids, and liked the setter. However, when it came to buying a new kiln for myself,  the same L&L, but with a special order no setter or timer! I had wanted complete control over the firing much like the firings with the gas reduction kilns. I wanted to be able to set a slow cool down to 1000F. and to choose a hard ^6 or a soft one. In this manner I would baby sit the kiln til all times of the day and night until fired. Lucky for me I was younger! Then @36 years later the old L&: was worn out. My wife bought me a new L&L kiln with all the bells and whistles, and not I fire a program that allows for all of the particulars I liked in my manual firings without the constant baby sitting.

QotW: Do you fire your own kiln, is it manual by cones, setter, or program? Do you fire Ox or Reduction, and to what cone?

 

best,

Pres

Check to see if your new digital timer has the capability to develop User Programs. My after-market Orton does, and I've set up a couple of John Britt's programs as well as a couple of my own. You should be able to do so with yours and incorporate all the steps that you used in your manual firings...

[Denice]

I went from firing three manual kilns to,  a LL with Genisis controller,  a Paragon Caldera test kiln with a Genisis controller and a small Duncan manual kiln.   I decided to go with the controllers because of my age and my MS,  I was afraid I would forget that I was firing.   The last couple of months I have had trouble with my memory and concentration,  I managed to get through a manual firing and a controller firing.  It really scared me how fuzzy my brain was,  it was a MS relaspe.  They can last several months or never clear up,  my brain is clear now .   I am so happy that I have automated  my home and studio.    Denice