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elements and gargle

updated mon 31 mar 97

 

mel jacobson on sun 30 mar 97

i have state before that i have a skutt kiln that i purchased
in 1966, have fired it hundreds of times to cone 08 bisque
and have never changed the elements.

all evidence given on this list conclude that temp, rough
usage, lack of cleaning and surface contamination lead
to short life of coils. and i agree with this conclusion.
the life of coils in school kilns fired to cone 6 is very short.

i am very fortunate to have one of my customers be a toxicologist.
he has often informed me that salt vapors can cause a sore throat.
and they do... gargle with maalox (sp) or other antacid and it goes
away very fast. we fire our salt kiln out of doors in a rural area.. i
would never salt in a confined space or with others near cuzz you
might get a really bad sore throat.

WOULD one of the chemists please inform people about what salt fumes are...
it is not what most people think.

and i am having all kinds of trouble wondering how carbon monoxide
sneaks into my electric kiln when i am not looking.

mel jacobson/minnesota.