Typical kiln firing schedule for studio

[potterygirl205]

I am doing some research on what a typical kiln firing schedule is for a studio and the number of members it serves. Also what is a typical turnaround time for a piece; bisque then glaze firing.

Thank you!

[Bill Kielb]

This varies quite a bit probably mostly dependent on kiln size, kiln fuel, firing cone, reduction / specialty firing etc….. So for let’s say a 7-10 cu ft electric kiln only and let’s start with a bisque progression, cone 04 electric non supervised.

• time to collect wares and let them fully dry - dependent on membership, classes, assignments - let’s say 3 days to a week
• time to load — volunteers? Paid staff, owner - I Would average this to 1/2 day
• time to bisque fire - 10 -14 hours
• time to cool kiln - 24 or more hours so from the time the bisque is loaded likely 36 or more hours. ….. 2 - 3 working days for single shift workday
• Time to unload and rack - let’s say 1/2 day

This is electric only, bisque only and very dependent on studio size,  staff size, ware storage and shelving,  classes and assignments, number of operating shifts, is there an independent kiln for glaze firing or does this kiln need to sequence all firings in, and so on, so maybe very approximate above. Others here likely will add considerably to this. Did you have a specific studio, cone firing, staffing situation in mind?

Edited July 5 by Bill Kielb

[Callie Beller Diesel]

Are you asking as a member who’s trying to track work, or are you trying to get an idea of something in order to create a business model for yourself?

At the studio I work at, which is very student focused, a lot depends on how many classes need student work bisqued in time for glaze day.  Because we prioritize student work over member work, I can give firm deadlines to instructors. Member work is a bit more dependent on what else is going on, so it’s a bit more vague. We don’t guarantee finish times for members. Although work on the member shelf is usually fired within the week. 
 

In terms of how fast we fire kilns, a glaze load fires for about 8.5 hours because of heavy kiln pack and a drop and hold cycle. It usually takes about 12+ hours for it to cool enough to unload. If that 12 hours ends some time between 10 pm and 7 am, it doesn’t get unloaded until the next day. 
Our bisque fires for 17 hours including a 3 hour drying cycle at the start, because we have a lot of raw beginners. I pack it pretty heavily, so it’s about the same amount of time to cool. All our kilns are 10 cu ft. 

[rox54]

16 hours ago, Callie Beller Diesel said:

Are you asking as a member who’s trying to track work, or are you trying to get an idea of something in order to create a business model for yourself?

At the studio I work at, which is very student focused, a lot depends on how many classes need student work bisqued in time for glaze day.  Because we prioritize student work over member work, I can give firm deadlines to instructors. Member work is a bit more dependent on what else is going on, so it’s a bit more vague. We don’t guarantee finish times for members. Although work on the member shelf is usually fired within the week. 
 

In terms of how fast we fire kilns, a glaze load fires for about 8.5 hours because of heavy kiln pack and a drop and hold cycle. It usually takes about 12+ hours for it to cool enough to unload. If that 12 hours ends some time between 10 pm and 7 am, it doesn’t get unloaded until the next day. 
Our bisque fires for 17 hours including a 3 hour drying cycle at the start, because we have a lot of raw beginners. I pack it pretty heavily, so it’s about the same amount of time to cool. All our kilns are 10 cu ft. 

When your kiln fires for 17 hours, I assume you feel comfortable firing it unattended?   I know studios fire night and day, but then some potters I follow warn against it. I think some of them, who fire in their homes, use a monitor to alert them, so thats a possibility too.

[neilestrick]

If you have proper safety clearances from the kiln and  inspect your outlet/plug periodically for wear and corrosion, leaving the kiln unattended is not a big deal. That said, you do need to check and make sure it turns off when it's supposed to. 

The larger the kiln, the slower the turnaround time, simply because bigger kilns hold more pots and therefore take longer to cool. Small kilns can cool in as little as 5 hours, large kilns can take 18-24 hours to cool.

[Bill Kielb]

7 hours ago, rox54 said:

I know studios fire night and day, but then some potters I follow warn against it.

I think with the advent of automatic controllers and as Neil said proper safe practices in kiln setup, very few folks these days fully attend their firings and rely on the over firing detection of the control. In days gone by with kiln sitters and even safety timers this might have been less acceptable and folks at least checked that it finished after a reasonable amount of time. 

Gas kilns, a different matter as most manage the entire firing and turn off by cones. In a commercial studio, fire proof construction, proper setup, likely even fire sprinkler protection,, not firing overnight would put serious strain on their turnaround.

For electric kilns with automatic controls, even home kilns likely fire overnight with only light supervision. Always important to setup correctly to code and check the firing finished as planned though, but I doubt there are many checking periodically or even refusing to fire overnight anymore.

Edited July 6 by Bill Kielb

[Callie Beller Diesel]

7 hours ago, rox54 said:

When your kiln fires for 17 hours

It’s monitored remotely via kiln app. And the owner believes in a lot of security cameras.