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itc users, let us hear from you!

updated thu 8 jan 98

 

Talbott on tue 30 dec 97

I am just curious about how the ITC users are doing. I was quite
skeptical back a few months ago and I am curious to know how they made out
since we had the last round of discussion on these products. ITC is
developing a web-site. I am not sure if the site is completed or not. At
any rate I would be interested to hear from these folks. ....Marshall

101 CLAYART MUGS
2ND ANNUAL CLAYARTERS' GALLERY - NAPLES, MAINE (Summer 1998)
E-MAIL ME FOR AN APPLICATION
http://fmc.utm.edu/~dmcbeth/cag/naples.htm

Celia & Marshall Talbott, Pottery By Celia, Route 114, P O Box 4116,
Naples, Maine 04055-4116,(207)693-6100 voice and fax,(call first)
Clayarters' Live Chat Room, Fri & Sat Nites at 10 PM EDT & Sun at 1 PM EDT
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Hrnce on wed 31 dec 97

After I had sprayed the inside of my electric kiln (elements included), the
kWh usage remained the same as before for about three firings. After this I
had a dramatic increase ofabout 15-20 % of kWh per firing and that is where it
is now.Maybe it was caused by the ITC ,maybe there is some other
reason,however I will not spray my kilns in the future.And by the way I have
not noticed a change in the quality of my glazes.That is of course a
subjective judgement and can not be quantified as easily as the kWh usage.I am
hoping that my bricks will last longer .



Jiri in Berkeley

Terrie Lambert on wed 31 dec 97

At 09:18 AM 12/30/97 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I am just curious about how the ITC users are doing. I was quite
>skeptical back a few months ago and I am curious to know how they made out
>since we had the last round of discussion on these products. ITC is
>developing a web-site. I am not sure if the site is completed or not. At
>any rate I would be interested to hear from these folks. ....Marshall
>


The ITC has been great. I had a 22% reduction in the firing time. Also the
protection it provides for my kilns seems to be very good. I built a kiln
that goes up to ^5 in 1hr 30min. It's just under 3 cubic feet. A glaze I
use requires this firing to get the surface needed.

I have been using it just under 2 months and haven't had a problem.

I would highly recommend (in fact already have) ITC to anyone. The people
there, especially Alice, are extremely wonderful to work with.

Terrie Lambert

Talbott on sun 4 jan 98

>Marshall,
>I lost our exchange on the computer please post to CLAYART if you preserved it
>Jiri

Marshall.
I do not think the ITC had any effect on my glazes.I am somewhat disappointed
that not only did I not realized any energy savings but the kiln performance
worsened (though I had been warned by the Skutt people not to mess with the
elements). I keep my mind opened to the fact that it might have been a
coincidence and the drop in performance might have been caused by other
things.Though I am not aware of having done anything differently
(deterioration of elements?..possible)I also applied ITC on the bottom shelves
and the lid in order to even out the temperature(it seems there are some cold
spots) but the cold spots remained.
Jiri in Berkeley

101 CLAYART MUGS
2ND ANNUAL CLAYARTERS' GALLERY - NAPLES, MAINE (Summer 1998)
E-MAIL ME FOR AN APPLICATION
http://fmc.utm.edu/~dmcbeth/cag/naples.htm

Celia & Marshall Talbott, Pottery By Celia, Route 114, P O Box 4116,
Naples, Maine 04055-4116,(207)693-6100 voice and fax,(call first)
Clayarters' Live Chat Room, Fri & Sat Nites at 10 PM EDT & Sun at 1 PM EDT
http://webchat12.wbs.net/webchat3.so?Room=PRIVATE_Clayarters
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Linda Blossom on mon 5 jan 98

I guess I should weigh in on the itc performance thing. I wanted to point
out that refractory is a big deal. I single fire so my firings are a lot
longer than most. When I have three sets of half shelves in my kiln and rod
setters, it takes me about 18.5 hours to reach temperature. If I add one
shelf and about 11 stackable setters this usually increases my time to 21.5
hours. When I fill out my kiln log, I write in the kwh, the number of
shelves and setters, what the load is and of course the times. I also
vacuum those elements and make sure I have every advantage for a good
firing. I never forget the fiber gasket between the body and the lid. Once
I cleaned the kiln and forgot this and thought I'd never get to temperature.
However, the single greatest determinant, in my experience, to how long it
takes to reach temperature, is how much is in the load, in particular
refractory. I do all I can to reduce it.
Linda Blossom
2366 Slaterville Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850
6075397912
www.artscape.com
blossom@lightlink.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Talbott
To: Multiple recipients of list CLAYART
Date: Sunday, January 04, 1998 9:13 PM
Subject: ITC Users, Let us hear from you!


----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Marshall,
>I lost our exchange on the computer please post to CLAYART if you preserved
it
>Jiri

Marshall.
I do not think the ITC had any effect on my glazes.I am somewhat
disappointed
that not only did I not realized any energy savings but the kiln performance
worsened (though I had been warned by the Skutt people not to mess with the
elements). I keep my mind opened to the fact that it might have been a
coincidence and the drop in performance might have been caused by other
things.Though I am not aware of having done anything differently
(deterioration of elements?..possible)I also applied ITC on the bottom
shelves
and the lid in order to even out the temperature(it seems there are some
cold
spots) but the cold spots remained.
Jiri in Berkeley

101 CLAYART MUGS
2ND ANNUAL CLAYARTERS' GALLERY - NAPLES, MAINE (Summer 1998)
E-MAIL ME FOR AN APPLICATION
http://fmc.utm.edu/~dmcbeth/cag/naples.htm

Celia & Marshall Talbott, Pottery By Celia, Route 114, P O Box 4116,
Naples, Maine 04055-4116,(207)693-6100 voice and fax,(call first)
Clayarters' Live Chat Room, Fri & Sat Nites at 10 PM EDT & Sun at 1 PM EDT
http://webchat12.wbs.net/webchat3.so?Room=PRIVATE_Clayarters
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Talbott on wed 7 jan 98

Marshall,
You may have seen my reports of ITC use before-I will repeat it for your
survey.

We have a 125 cu ft., double Boury box, flat top, car kiln that is lined
with 6" fiber modules. Until we coated with ITC, we had terrible problems
with fiber bits flying into the glazed ware and the modules slowly melting
from ash.

After the ITC, we have had no fiber bits and no fiber deterioration from
the wood ash. I can't say that the ITC caused any fuel savings or not. I
think it might be insignificant in a wood kiln due to the turbulent
atmosphere drafting out.

We fired once every two weeks on average for about a year after the ITC
coating. We have saved at least 25% in loses due to the fiber and we have
saved the modules from melting (even fired to cone 12 each time). For our
use, the ITC has saved us thousands of dollars-all for about $260.00.

In our electric kiln, I'm afraid that I don't have the pristine data to
comment on the energy savings or not. I am not really concerned with this
aspect. I am pleased with the ITC coated elements. We have fired a year and
bisqued the dog out of our 20 cu ft. Olympic and the elements still read
the same ohm resistence and the same amp draw. The elements are holding out
beter than any I've ever used. We fire a line of glazed pottery to cone 5-6
and bisque all the pots for the wood kiln, the salt kiln and the electric
glaze firings-all in this poor electric kiln. We fire 2-4 times a week all
year long. We have fired to cone 10 about 6 times also. The elements are as
good as new. I will never replace elements without coating them again.

I have coated our shelves in the electric kiln with ITC but not the shelves
in the wood kiln. (Procrastination is rather perverse isn't it?). I like
not painting the shelves with kiln wash and I am pretty happy with it, but
if a bad glaze blob slides down, it will penetrate the coating if it is
light. (light due to stinginess-the kiln gets the preferencial treatment
with the sprayer). I think, overall, I like the ITC shelves better and I
will coat all the shelves later. We never have to grind off the "kiln wash"
this way and the shelves clean off ok with drips. You can turn the shelves
over with no worry about flaking also.

For us, the ITC has been a terrific time and money saver and I recommend it
highly.
(I am not affiliated in any way with ITC other than as a satisfied customer.)

Pat Chesney
Pat-Chesney@easy.com
Waco, Texas

101 CLAYART MUGS (Summer 1998)
2ND ANNUAL CLAYARTERS' GALLERY - NAPLES, MAINE (Summer 1998)
E-MAIL ME FOR APPLICATIONS
http://fmc.utm.edu/~dmcbeth/cag/naples.htm

Celia & Marshall Talbott, Pottery By Celia, Route 114, P O Box 4116,
Naples, Maine 04055-4116,(207)693-6100 voice and fax,(call first)
Clayarters' Live Chat Room, Fri & Sat Nites at 10 PM EDT & Sun at 1 PM EDT
http://webchat12.wbs.net/webchat3.so?Room=PRIVATE_Clayarters
---------------------------------------------------------------------