Janet H Walker on thu 5 dec 96
You asked about experience with the Skutt controller. I bought a new
one, Kilnmaster II, last summer to add to an existing Skutt kiln. It
worked out fine. Easy to hang on the wall and plug in. Hardest part
was coming up with a 31/64 inch drill bit for making the hole in the
side of the kiln for the thermocouple.
I've been extremely glad that I got this gadget. It does automatic
firing (you tell it the cone and the rate and it does the rest) or
programmed ramp-hold cycles. I've been doing the programming. There
are 8 cycles AND it can control cool down, which is very important to
anyone with an under-insulated (normal) kiln by Skutt or anyone else.
So I can program it to drop 50 degrees per hour through the temp
range for crystal development instead of the 200 per hour free fall
that it goes into otherwie (I'm talking Centigrade here).
Anyhow, I love the predictability because I can set it to start at
3 a.m. and be getting just to the point where I need to pay attention
to the cones when I arrive at the studio. In fact, I can set it to
start at 3 a.m. three days from now and be ready to deal with on a
Monday morning after a weekend away. Pretty nice. Makes scheduling
firings a lot easier.
So my experience with this thingie is positive.
Jan Walker
Cambridge, MA USA
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