Steve Mills on sun 12 jul 09
Hi Conrad,
The process you are describing is identical to mine, but, I have no such pr=
oblems; I can fire up to 7 pieces in my kiln and take my time unloading wit=
hout any real cooling issues. My kiln has a lift-off lid as opposed to the =
"Top Hat" type of kiln, and I leave the burner "candling"while I unload.
This makes me think there might be something in your Kiln's design which mi=
ght be promoting rapid cooling, such as (for example) an over-large burner =
port, or it being wider then it is tall as opposed to the conventional prop=
ortions.
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
________________________________
From: Conrad Krebs
To: Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 12:59:03 AM
Subject: Transferring Raku from kiln to can
Hello,
Although I've been getting some very successful results with raku using
propane, where I'm running into trouble is getting all of my ware into
the burn barrels fast enough. Although I think that my operation has
become very efficient with very little fumbling, invariably the first
piece I remove from the kiln and place in a barrel is always the most
successful, while the last piece to go into a burn barrel (only one
piece per barrel, while the size of the piece and the size of the barrel
match pretty well) is always the least successful. Because my ceramic
design is such that it cools off very quickly after I open the kiln, I
have been keeping the burner going (somewhat) while I transfer pieces
from the kiln to the barrels. My question is this....would it do any
good to place the lid back on the kiln and let the temperature come back
up between removing items from the kiln, or alternatively, have the
burner running full blast (which I have not been doing) while I am
removing items. Or perhaps I should be doing both.
Thanks, Conrad
William & Susan Schran User on sun 12 jul 09
On 7/11/09 7:59 PM, "Conrad Krebs" wrote:
> Although I've been getting some very successful results with raku using
> propane, where I'm running into trouble is getting all of my ware into
> the burn barrels fast enough. Although I think that my operation has
> become very efficient with very little fumbling, invariably the first
> piece I remove from the kiln and place in a barrel is always the most
> successful, while the last piece to go into a burn barrel (only one
> piece per barrel, while the size of the piece and the size of the barrel
> match pretty well) is always the least successful. Because my ceramic
> design is such that it cools off very quickly after I open the kiln, I
> have been keeping the burner going (somewhat) while I transfer pieces
> from the kiln to the barrels. My question is this....would it do any
> good to place the lid back on the kiln and let the temperature come back
> up between removing items from the kiln, or alternatively, have the
> burner running full blast (which I have not been doing) while I am
> removing items. Or perhaps I should be doing both.
When you open the kiln the glazes are cooling and beginning to set very
quickly. If you can't have your load contain just one copper glazed piece
along with some white glazed ware or other types of decoration that doesn't
require getting into post reduction chambers quickly, then the best thing t=
o
do is close up the kiln for a little while and take out the next piece, and
so on.
Bill
--
William "Bill" Schran
wschran@cox.net
wschran@nvcc.edu
http://www.creativecreekartisans.com
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