Deborah Thuman on mon 30 may 11
I've used the one at NMSU, and I don't like it. If it breaks, you get
to wait for a part to be shipped from the Netherlands. Good luck
finding someone to install the part. The last time it broke, it was
towards the end of the semester when the grad students have to fire a
ton of undergrad work. That's when the grad students started using the
fully manual gas kilns and I had to wait in line to fire my work.
Why do I hate this kiln? Because I have no control over what happens.
Because it's not something I could ever hope to buy. Because the darn
thing doesn't do a good reduction. Because there's a lot of wasted
space in the sucker (if you put a pot in the flame path, the pot is
likely to explode).
What kiln is my favorite? The fully manuel Olsen that's about 30 years
old. I love that kiln. I can watch and see what's happening. I keep a
firing log so I know what I did last time, when I did it, and what I
like or don't like. I never have to worry about whether the kiln will
be available when I want to fire because it's the Blaauw and the
electric kilns that are used most often. The only thing I need to
worry about is a student trying to "help" me. The last one offered to
close the kiln door while I was lighting the kiln. I usually fire on a
Saturday when there are few students around so that solves the "help"
problem.
As for computer controlled, I'm the one who programmed a 30 HOUR hold
when I wanted a 30 MINUTE hold using one of the electric kilns. It was
a kiln full of Jim's work. We figured out the problem after about 15
hours of holding and turned the kiln off. Fortunately, his work wasn't
melted and he actually liked the effect he got with a few of the
glazes. There's no way on earth that I'll mistake 30 HOURS for 30
MINUTES if I'm using a fully manual kiln!
How is it I learned how to fire the kilns? I insisted on knowing how
and was shown how. As far as I know, I'm the only ceramic undergrad
student who knows how to fire the fully manual gas kiln. This is
pretty sad. Olympic makes a gas kiln that looks like an electric kiln
for about $1,5000 - very affordable. Okay, so we don't have one
because we don't have the funds to build the structure around it yet.
Here, gas kilns go outside on a concrete slab, three walls, fence
front with locking gate, and a space between the walls and the roof.
Why don't I buy an electric kiln? Because I'm in love with ^6
reduction, which is a tad difficult in an electric kiln. Jim works
with ^04 and ^10. When we do get to buying a kiln, I can't see us
having more than one kiln (or one kiln and a raku kiln) and I want to
be able to do it all. This is what works for me - YMMV.
Deb Thuman
http://debthumansblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=3D5888059
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Deb-Thumans-Art-Page/167529715986
| |
|
