Morrison McKenzie on sun 5 jan 97
-- [ From: Morrison McKenzie * EMC.Ver #2.5.02 ] --
Thanks for a tremendous amount of info about our "art".
A friend and I are establishing a ceramics studio in southeastern NC. We
are at the intense planning stage, leaving plenty of room for variability.
Our current plan is to install a propane gas kiln in the 40-100 cu ft range
, and an electric kiln in the 15-40 cu ft range. As you would expect, we
would like to get maximum bang-for-the-buck with not too much self-rear-
kicking a year from now because we made bad decisions.
Any recommendations and/or warnings (war stories?) the group has would be
greatly appreciated. Most helpful would be the success stories, especially
about gas kilns (kits, ready-to-fire, designs)
If this request is too broad or repetitive, please e-mail direct at
mmckenzi@ac.net.
Many thanks to you all.
Mo McKenzie
235 Murray Hill Rd Unit 134
Southern Pines, NC 28387
Talbott on mon 6 jan 97
Mo ... When you build you gas kiln make SURE that you design and build a
car kiln. That is one certainty... If you do build the car kiln you will
never regret it and if you don't build a car kiln you will always regret it
and so will your BACK!!! Nils Lou's book.."The Art of Firing" is an
excellent book with kiln designs and diagrams and information on
burners....Our kiln is similar to Nils' design except we incorporated an
arch roof. ALSO consider building a double arch roof.. we didn't but I
wish that we had... Marshall
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1ST ANNUAL CLAYARTERS' GALLERY-NAPLES, ME (Summmer 1997) {contact me
directly for more information}
Celia & Marshall Talbott
Pottery By Celia
Route 114
P.O. Box 4116
Naples, Maine 04055-4116
(207)693-6100 voice and fax
clupus@ime.net
web-site is "overdue" and will be coming soon...
Michael kline on tue 7 jan 97
I would be interested to find out what you mean by a "double arch
roof", and where I might obtain more info. Thanks.
michael kline
worthington
01098-0614
cpdunbar on tue 13 oct 98
Looking for info re: gas kilns. I am looking for one for personal use.
Can anyone make recommendations etc. ?
tia cp dunbar
Alan Lent Sr. on tue 13 aug 02
I am planning (read that hoping) to acquire and install a gas kiln for =
my wife and would like any comments anyone has regarding Olympic =
Torchbearer kilns and/or AIM kilns. Also, would it be better to put the =
kiln in a building? We live in Yuma, Az and it is usually "breezy" =
here. What difference would that make on firing? =20
Thanks,
Alan Lent
ranmcc on wed 14 aug 02
Alan
I just bought a Olympic 2831G but have only fired it twice. Right now it is
firing cooler on the bottom two shelves than the top. I have never used gas
before so I am trying to learn how to fire it. I called Olympic and they
suggested that I move the shelves out closer to the sides of the kiln. They
were nice when I called and very responsive. I also need to probably move
my top shelve about three inches from the top of the kiln. Will just have
to keep experimenting until I can get it adjusted.
The burners seem to be pretty powerful as I can get good heat rise without
turning wide open.
If anyone on clayart has some suggestions please post.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alan Lent Sr."
To:
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 7:46 PM
Subject: Gas kilns
I am planning (read that hoping) to acquire and install a gas kiln for my
wife and would like any comments anyone has regarding Olympic Torchbearer
kilns and/or AIM kilns. Also, would it be better to put the kiln in a
building? We live in Yuma, Az and it is usually "breezy" here. What
difference would that make on firing?
Thanks,
Alan Lent
____________________________________________________________________________
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Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
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Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
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Norman van der Sluys on wed 14 aug 02
I have an Olympic raku model (the larger one) and find it quite serviceable.
With these small updraft kilns, careful attention must be paid to loading and placement of shelves in order to get even temperatures. A "baffle" shelf about an inch and a half from the top is almost essential for normal (non-raku) firing. Because of this, and because the shelves used must be smaller than those used in an
electric kiln of the same diameter, the load space is reduced somewhat. Be aware that the manufacturers figure cubic foot capacity for these gas kilns the same as for an electric kiln. Usable space will be mavbe 20% less than a same size electric - so get one that is large enough.
My kiln is in a shed open on one side (unfortunately for the climate here in Michigan, the north side.) I do have trouble occasiionally on windy days, but the size of flame on the pilot bar is easily adjustable and I set up a baffle of cement blocks when I must fire under those conditions. I also made a box to cover and
protect the safety valve from the weather here.
Norman van der Sluys
Jackpottery! near the shore of Lake Michigan
"Alan Lent Sr." wrote:
> I am planning (read that hoping) to acquire and install a gas kiln for my wife and would like any comments anyone has regarding Olympic Torchbearer kilns and/or AIM kilns. Also, would it be better to put the kiln in a building? We live in Yuma, Az and it is usually "breezy" here. What difference would that make on firing?
> Thanks,
> Alan Lent
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
John Palmquist on mon 9 sep 02
I have a question for the firing experts out there. I know that a =
Raku kiln can be fired off a propane tank- gas grill size even! However =
someone told me that it wasn't possible to fire a cone 10 gas kiln on =
propane. I was surprised to hear that. It this true?
Thanks in advance for any responses.
Diane
Kurt Wild on mon 9 sep 02
I have fired propane for years! You will not be able to fire any
reasonable size kiln on a small (grill size) bottle and if you try to do a
small raku size kiln it will need to be very well insulated - more than for
raku firing.
At 01:25 PM 9/9/02 -0400, you wrote:
> I have a question for the firing experts out there. I know that a =
>Raku kiln can be fired off a propane tank- gas grill size even! However =
>someone told me that it wasn't possible to fire a cone 10 gas kiln on =
>propane. I was surprised to hear that. It this true?
> Thanks in advance for any responses.
From my favorite chair - - new laptop on my lap.
Kurt
chris clarke on mon 9 sep 02
can't fire a gas kiln to ^10 on propane???
I've been firing mine that way for about two years, amazing, I never knew I
couldn't.
I even had it run to ^12 once when it was windy and I was occupied. Yes,
you can totally fire a gas kiln on propane, just make sure you have enough
propane to make it to temp.
chris
temecula, california
chris@ccpots.com
http://www.ccpots.com
Marvpots@AOL.COM on mon 9 sep 02
Yes, untrue.
See all the Clayart postings on gas kilns fired with propane.
Your source is inaccurate, to say the least.
Marvpots
marvin flowerman
Dannon Rhudy on mon 9 sep 02
Diane said:
.........I know that a Raku kiln can be fired off a propane tank- gas grill
size even! However someone told me that it wasn't possible to fire a cone 10
gas kiln on propane. ;
...... It this true?.........>
Of course you can fire to cone 10 with propane. It will take more than
it takes to fire raku, though. You just need an adequate tank size and
burners with the correct orifice size to fire with propane.
regards
Dannon Rhudy
Steve Dalton on mon 9 sep 02
on 9/9/02 9:25 AM, John Palmquist at john.palmquist@SNET.NET wrote:
> I have a question for the firing experts out there. I know that a Raku kiln
> can be fired off a propane tank- gas grill size even! However someone told me
> that it wasn't possible to fire a cone 10 gas kiln on propane. I was surprised
> to hear that. It this true?
> Thanks in advance for any responses.
> Diane
No it's not true, I have a 500 gallon tank out in my yard that looks like a
mini submarine...just need to paint it grey and add 'US'.
--
Steve Dalton
Clear Creek Pottery
Snohomish, Wa
sdpotter@gte.net
Glenn Allenspach on tue 10 sep 02
As you are finding out, it's entirely possible to fire to cone 10 & beyond
with propane. The pertinent issues are the same as with any kiln, BTU's in
vs. BTU's out.
Assuming that your kiln is well designed (correct sizes of inlet and exit
flues) the three issues with propane will be:
Gas Pressure: the standard regulator that most people are familiar with is
set deliver what's called 11 inches of water column, which is pretty low
pressure. It's enough for gas grills, small home heaters, etc. An adjustable
regulator will let you get to around 2 pounds of pressure, which is about
what most industrial gas burners fire at.
Gas volume: The size of the orifice in your burner must be calibrated for
propane. A qualified professional can do this for you. A burner that's
configured for natural gas has an orifice that's 2.5x too large for propane,
so don't just hook LP gas up to a natural gas setup.
Tank pressure: Propane works by vaporizing itself inside the bottle. You then
burn off the fumes. As this occurs, the pressure in the tank drops. Lower
pressure causes a drop in temperature, which in turn lowers the tank
pressure, which causes a drop in temp, etc. A bigger tank does not suffer
from this phenomenon as readily.
Hope these concepts help; to work out your own specifics, talk to your local
qualified dealer in "Propane and propane accessories," as Hank Hill would say.
Good Luck,
Glenn Allenspach
Steve Mills on wed 11 sep 02
As we say in the UK Bumble Bees can't fly (wings too small, body too
big); trouble is, nobody's told them!
Steve
Bath
UK
In message , chris clarke writes
>can't fire a gas kiln to ^10 on propane???
>
>I've been firing mine that way for about two years, amazing, I never knew=
> I
>couldn't.
>
>I even had it run to ^12 once when it was windy and I was occupied. Yes,
>you can totally fire a gas kiln on propane, just make sure you have enoug=
>h
>propane to make it to temp.
>
>chris
>
>
>temecula, california
>chris@ccpots.com
>http://www.ccpots.com
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
HOC Studio on sat 1 nov 03
i am interested in building a gas kiln for a school situation, perhaps the
old brookfield kiln. can anyone suggest an experienced person who will come to
long island to do a kiln building workshop?
Linda T Ferzoco on mon 13 feb 06
I've read many of the emails about gas kilns and how
some folks, beginners especially, don't get it right.
And although I read Mel's emails and thought I
understood, I didn't really.
For some crazy reason, I thought about the old manual
choke in my old Ford pick-up (when I was in New
Mexico, even had a gunrack and a hat, no gun though).
You had to pull the choke out quite a bit to (to get
plenty of gas/petrol into the system, but once things
got warmed up, you had to push in the choke, or the
car would stall from a lack of oxygen.
Once you got the balance right, she just hummed along.
For those of you not old enough to have experienced
the pleasure of a manual choke, think of your
lawnmower or gas chain saw.
Cheers,
Linda Ferzoco
California
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