Identify Old Gas Kiln?

[Mudfish1]

I recently bought an old gas kiln from a retired potter, who also bought it used from an old potter. She had no idea how old it was or where it was from, but I immediately fell in love with it! Does anyone know what kind of kiln this is, who made it, how old, etc? I can't find a single manufacturing mark anywhere. It's a solid steel shell holding the soft brick, but with a strange top. Instead of a hinge that lets the top open upwards like a modern Skutt, the top is supported by a vertical steel rod and slides horizontally to open the kiln. It has an array of 5 burners coming up through the bottom of the kiln. I am including some pics, help appreciated! 

Here are links to some pictures: https://ibb.co/Qnh3RF2

https://ibb.co/vLXQVPD

 

https://ibb.co/h8hmXPy

 

[neilestrick]

No clue, but it should fire similarly to the modern Olympic round gas kilns. There's a lot of information here on the forum about them that you can find with the search bar.

[Mark C.]

This looks very simalair to one West Coast Brand  single burner I had for 30 years and sold last year without ever firing.

My west coast had a loose lid with two handles for removing. It was really uneven firing avcording to previoius owner.

Its not a West Coast but similar.  The more burners the better for evenness.

Edited December 30, 2023 by Mark C.

[Jeff Longtin]

My guess is that its a foundry type kiln. A crucible is set into it and the burners generate heat to melt some material: steel/glass?

The five burners would heat the material quickly. (and/or uniformly?)

The square hole in the top allows for some sort of metal apparatus that enables two people two lift the lid off while keeping a distance from the intense heat.

Perhaps a glass annealing kiln?

[Mudfish1]

Thanks for the replies! Jeff that was a good guess, but if you can see from my (bad) pictures the lid actually rotates out horizontally and is suspended by a hinge and support. The old potter I bought it from said it was a cone 10 gas kiln, but didn't know a thing about it. Frustrating!

Mark, I will start investigating West Coast Kilns and see if I can find any old models that match. This one has 5 burner ports coming up from the bottom, and the lid is attached by a rotating hinge, so I agree it's probably not from the same place that made yours. However, let's see what Google can find!

Neil, thanks for the comment and suggestion about similarities to the current Olympic gas kilns. I used to fire a huge rectangular West Coast gas kilns for years, but this would be my first time firing such a small gas kiln. I have no idea how this little kiln will behave in a cone 10 firing.

As a general question, who are the kiln manufacturers I should be Googling? Even old ones that have gone out of business!