PurpleLama@aol.com on sun 9 mar 97
I have a few questions for those of you who would admit to doing raku in an
electric kiln or who have friends who do.
What kind of kiln are you / your friend using?
What is the size of the kiln?
What firing schedule are you / your friend using?
How do you know when the kiln has reached the proper temperature and what is
that temperature / cone?
If you are using a pyrometer, do you keep it in the kiln during the entire
firing or just check occasionally?
TIA
Shula is Baltimore (where early spring flowers are blooming, but I'm afraid
to say that spring is coming because we could always have a late snowstorm!)
PurpleLama@aol.com
Steven Branfman on sun 19 aug 01
Ivor wrote:
<Clearly waving metal tongs around in a hot electric kiln could be dangerous.
However, the lid has electric cutout switches which switch the power off when
the lid is open. Is there likely to be damage to the surface of the bricks or
the elements opening a hot kiln?? It is of recent manufacture using modern
lightweight bricks.
Ivor and Friends,
I'll tell you, alot happens on CLAYART! In case you don't realize it try not
reading your CLAYART for a few weeks and then go through it. Because of my
travel and schedule this happens to me often. I just cought up on about 3
weeks worth of CLAYART posts (and I'm still a week behind!) and when I do
this I feel like I've missed out and the pottery world is collapsing around
me and without me! Issues, arguments, info, disagreements,
YIKES!........................The moral is try to stay current with your
CLAYART and the and the sky will keep from falling!!
Anyway, some time over the past few weeks Ivor posted the question above
about using an electric kiln for raku that didn't appear to have been
answered. You can certainly use an electric kiln for raku and I fire many of
my pots this way. I discuss it at length in "Raku: A Practical Approach" but
here are the basics. Load the pots close to the top of the kiln to avoid
having to reach in too far. Turn the switches on high and depending on the
kiln and your glazes, maturity will be reached in 2-4 hours. For safety, turn
off the power before reaching in with your tongs. Have a helper open the lid
by using tongs to grab the handle. Remove your ware, closing the lid in
between your reaches in. Avoid touching the bricks with your tongs or pots.
Open and close the lid slowly, gently, and without twisting the hinges to
avoid harsh treatment. There will be negligible (if any) additional wear and
tear on the bricks and elements using your kiln this way. The most wear will
be on the lid hardware, the lid brick, and on the top course of bricks if
your touch with the lid is not gentle.
Happy raku,
Steven Branfman
Joyce Lee on sat 11 oct 03
My first firings were raku firings in a gas kiln.
At the time I only owned an electric kiln and
was told that the danger in rakuing in the=20
electric kiln was the possibility of tongs
coming in contact with the elements, which
could result in harm to the potter wielding
the tongs. There were no discussions that
I recall concerning damage to the kiln .....
just to the people involved.
Is this not so? Has it happened to any
claybuds? I like the idea of greater control
with an electric kiln, also.
Joyce
In the Mojave
mitzi on sat 11 oct 03
I too did my first raku firings with an electric kiln in college. However
since the kiln was inside the basement of an old building, we had to take
the pots with tongs and hand them out the window to someone else to grab and
do the reduction. So we didn't always get to "do" our own pots.
At the same college we also were able to go to a nearby farm and do a
woodfired raku. Sat around all day drinking sake and stoking the fire. Now
they have a new art building and a permanent raku kiln setup outside under a
shed roof. Not nearly as much fun or exciting as seeing if we can get the
pot through the window without dropping it.
Our high school also had an artist in residence come and build a raku
kiln from firebrick with our students. She brought her own propane burner
and we were able to have each student fire several pots. We used #10 cans
upside down on sawdust or whatever for the reduction. We even did a demo
for parents in the snow. Northeast PA gets cold rather quickly some years.
--mitzi
Pamela Watkins on mon 13 oct 03
Mitzi~
Sake and windows wouldn't work anyway.
I love the surrounds in a U of Whoever- Ceramics class, I've taken a few. Really, working alone isn't the same. The knowledge you gain depending on the instructor and the interactions with fellow classmates is nothing short of inspirational.
I get what I liked about a communion of a semester now, by attending workshops...And that has been great. Wish there was more RED WINE and not Sake, though!! (Dig at the Clennel thread)
With a smile,
Pamela
~jaq
mitzi wrote:
I too did my first raku firings with an electric kiln in college. However
since the kiln was inside the basement of an old building, we had to take
the pots with tongs and hand them out the window to someone else to grab and
do the reduction. So we didn't always get to "do" our own pots.
At the same college we also were able to go to a nearby farm and do a
woodfired raku. Sat around all day drinking sake and stoking the fire. Now
they have a new art building and a permanent raku kiln setup outside under a
shed roof. Not nearly as much fun or exciting as seeing if we can get the
pot through the window without dropping it.
Our high school also had an artist in residence come and build a raku
kiln from firebrick with our students. She brought her own propane burner
and we were able to have each student fire several pots. We used #10 cans
upside down on sawdust or whatever for the reduction. We even did a demo
for parents in the snow. Northeast PA gets cold rather quickly some years.
--mitzi
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