Lisa P Skeen on fri 17 oct 97
In the never-ending search for information, I visited several potteries
in Seagrove, NC today, and basically took a poll wherever I went. I'm
trying to decide which electric kiln to buy, and I know what size I want,
but I can't decide what brand. Here are my questions/concerns, and any
help is appreciated. For those of you whose first question is: "Why do
you want to fire electric?", let me just say that this is my first kiln,
I'm just getting started on my own, and there is no gas line where my new
house is being built.
1. Do I need a 3 phase or a 1 phase kiln? I don't know what the phase
part means.
2. L&L kilns: Tom Gray tells me that most folks who fire electric in
Seagrove use the L&L kiln. The only person I know who has an L&L says
the rings don't fit together well and you can see the orange heat between
the rings. Another guy I talked to in Seagrove says his L&L fires ok,
but the computerized ones aren't very good. I like the element holder
thingy in the L&L and also the square shape.
3. Skutt Kilns: I have used Skutt kilns since I started throwing
because that's what we had to fire in at City Arts. They seem to present
little problem with "normal" use, but sometimes fire a little hot. City
Arts fires an average of 2x per week.
4. Olympic: We had an oval Olympic at Warnersville and it's as old as
the hills and much abused since the woman who teaches the molded ceramics
classes
(A.) knows very little about kiln use. (ie: She thinks the limit timer
should be set to whatever cone you're firing, and the timer doesn't work
anyway), and
(B.) is prone to forgetfulness and often leaves the thing propped open
during firings.
I have fired this kiln many times to ^6 with no problems. It fires
evenly every time, but since I don't stay there with it, I don't know how
long the cycle is.
The person in Seagrove who sells Olympic kilns gave me a great price
quote, but then he started talking about how I'd need increment switches
and a pyrometer, plus cone packs at each peephole to monitor the
temperature difference and adjust as needed. This is something I've
never heard of before with an electric kiln.
The same guy who told me about the L&L computers also said that he had an
Olympic and sold it for $1k less than he paid for it just to get rid of
it, and wouldn't have another one if it was given to him. Yikes! This
sounds bad.
5. Firing Schedule: This is the way I was taught to fire the kiln. Is
there anything wrong with this plan, if so what and why?
a. Load kiln
b. turn kiln on low
c. 2 hours or so later, turn up to medium.
d. 2 hours or so later, turn up to high.
e. Next day, firing is done and can be unloaded when it cools.
Thanks in advance!!!!!
Lisa Skeen
Living Tree Pottery and Soaps
http://www.uncg.edu/~lpskeen
YesIAmRU?
Danny Bird on sat 18 oct 97
Lisa,
> I'm just getting started on my own, and there is no gas line where my
new
> house is being built.
> 1. Do I need a 3 phase or a 1 phase kiln? I don't know what the
phase
> part means.
I can't explain the technical differences, but I know that residential
power is single phase and three phase power is used mainly for
commercial buildings and offices. You can call an electrician and get an
explanation. I'm sure your new home will have single phase.
As for the rest of your questions, I wouldn't lend much credence to the
comment about one kiln having space between the rings. All of these
kilns are stacked rings, and probably all have gaps or no gaps,
depending on how well they've been cared for. The more you move them
around the more likely you are to create gaps, whether you've got an
Acme kiln or a Brand X.
I have an L&L, and no complaints. I also like the element holders too.
Its not rectangular or square though, it's:
______
/ / \ /
\______/
Damn this creativity!
Birdboy-
| |
|
