Leigh Whitaker on fri 13 apr 07
I posted earlier about getting a kiln, but I don't think it went through.
Got it off ebay. It's pretty old (I'm guessing) Skutt 185. It's 18" wide x
23" deep, with a blank ring and 4 elements. It's rated to cone 10. Thanks to
everyone who offered me advice on kilns!
I did my very first small bisque firing a few days ago to check everything
out, and that went fine (not counting the first test where everything
exploded...). I did a glaze test today. It's not spectacular, but I'm pretty
excited that anything worked at all. I don't have a pyrometer yet (got one
ordered) and I didn't use the kiln sitter. I just watched the cones and then the
colors to try to figure out how slow to cool it down. I think the elements
must still have some good life in them because it got hot way quicker than I was
expecting it to for the glaze firing (is that any indication of element
age?). I actually went a little past cone 6.
If you want to see my pictures you can look here:
_http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcOG7ZyzatGIj¬ag=1_
(http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcOG7ZyzatGIj¬ag=1)
Waterfall Brown looked pretty good. I did a 50/50 mix of Waterfall Brown
and Caribbean Sea Green that turned out really pretty (IMO). There's a
layering of Waterfall Brown and Bone that's... interesting. Bright Sky Blue turned
out pretty nice. (All are from the book Mastering Cone 6 Glazes, of course).
There's a few that didn't work out too well.
I did have major drips though, all over my nice new shelf. Sigh. All in
all I'm pretty excited (in case you can't tell) to have gotten anything to work.
Thanks again for all the tips!
Leigh
************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
Arnold Howard on tue 17 apr 07
From: "Leigh Whitaker"
I think the elements
> must still have some good life in them because it got hot
> way quicker than I was
> expecting it to for the glaze firing (is that any
> indication of element
> age?).
Firing time is a reliable indicator of element life. The
newer the elements, the faster the kiln will fire.
Keeping good firing records will help you to develop a feel
for when it is time to change the elements. You will
discover, with experience, that firing times may also change
with seasonal demand for electricity in your area.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
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