Duff bogen on fri 25 jan 08
sell
I'm a pack rat so my m.o. is drag it the along because you never will know how it might be useful until you get there. It seems that the replacement cost for equipment is rising faster than the inherent value of the equipment
DRB SEattle
Betsy Sharp wrote:
I'm hoping to get some information to help me decide whether to bring my
small (about 3.7 cubic foot) electric kiln with me when we move to the
woods, off the grid...
We are planning to build a downdraft gas kiln, about 10 cubic feet interior,
which will use propane from our 500-gallon tank. We also have a 6000 watt
propane-fueled generator, which will be used for various shop tools and to
charge up the house batteries when there's not enough sun for the solar
panels.
We could use the generator to run the small electric kiln for bisque
firings, which don't take very long. I make tiles from Cone 6 Dove
Porcelain, and I usually bisque them at about cone 05 or 06. We figure it
would take maybe 5 gallons of propane to do a bisque firing in the small
electric kiln, and we could use the generator for other tasks simultaneously
during the part of the firing where the kiln is not turned to "high". So it
would only really monopolize the generator for 1 ½ to 2 hours. The generator
uses about 1 ½ gallons of propane per hour.
So we're thinking of maybe taking the little kiln with us, to use just for
bisque firings. Or, we could sell it for $350.
We certainly cannot use the generator for Cone 6 glaze firings; besides the
fact that I want to work with reduction glazes, hot firings would wear out
the generator.
We haven't yet built the downdraft gas kiln. My husband has been studying
kiln design, and studying the kiln book we got which seems to be the main
source book of how to build gas kilns. The kiln we're going to build will
have 3 burners. It would appear that downdraft kilns are less useful or
efficient at low bisque temperatures, and that they are more set up to work
at higher temperatures; or at least, this is our impression.
What we don't yet know is how many gallons of propane the kiln we build will
use. Will it use more than 10 gallons of propane for a cone 05 or 06
firing?
It's kind of a hassle to bring the little electric kiln out there when we
move, but if it makes sense financially we will do it.
Any advice would be greatly welcome.
Betsy Sharp
Currently in Seattle, soon to be on Waldron Island
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