mel jacobson on thu 14 jul 11
electric kilns are like car tires...they have specifications...detailed
and to be followed specs.
we see a kid get a new car and take off the wheels and tires,
replace with some gadget type/hot looking wheels and tires.
he forgets that automotive engineers worked hard to make
the wheels and tires match the drive line of that car.
the kids does not care. he will the first time that car goes
into a tumble turn and skid, upside down. can't figure it out,
why did that happen...? must be the cars fault
kiln specs are the same...different types of coils for
different areas of the kiln...relays, switches all worked on
very hard to be `right on`.
when kilns are repaired, coils replaced, make sure the
specs are followed...just makes sense. it is all online. easy to find.
ten minutes with google. or a quick call to skutt, l&l or paragon.
five minute chat. fun to do anyway. hell, arnold will answer the phone.
if you only bisque fire in your electric kiln..say cone 08...well
it does not matter much. low heat, long firing...works fine.
but still...i get my coils from a dealer...an entire set...coils
to spec. cheap. for what you get, a great product...take
care of things.
i just googled electric coils, kilns, repair.
got to euclid's in under two minutes.
all the info you need...1 800 etc. talk to a tech.
ship them the same day.
mel
got my new computer built. intel 5 processor, 16 gigs of ram,
and a 1000 gig hard drive...win7.
got every wire in the right place. took about an hour.
but, will take about a week to get all the files, software, folders
and email stuff perfect. then i have to learn win 7.
lots of new stuff to work on. exciting. like i always do, when
the shit hits the fan, burrow into my studio and get busy on a project.
work through it. as my dad would have said...`don't wallow in it, stand
up and respect those that have died...respect those you love.`
i still do what my dad says. he knew about stuff...orphan at 13. (flu of 1=
918
took them all, except dad.)
marine corps at 15. he did not wallow in anything.
from: minnetonka, mn
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
new book: http://www.21stcenturykilns.com
alternate: melpots7575@gmail.com
paul gerhold on fri 15 jul 11
Mel,
Your comments on engineering of kilns, cars etc. is almost correct. What
you have forgotten is that all the final products represent some degree of
compromise between the best engineering and cost.
Paul
On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 11:48 PM, mel jacobson wrote:
> electric kilns are like car tires...they have specifications...detailed
> and to be followed specs.
>
> we see a kid get a new car and take off the wheels and tires,
> replace with some gadget type/hot looking wheels and tires.
> he forgets that automotive engineers worked hard to make
> the wheels and tires match the drive line of that car.
> the kids does not care. he will the first time that car goes
> into a tumble turn and skid, upside down. can't figure it out,
> why did that happen...? must be the cars fault
>
> kiln specs are the same...different types of coils for
> different areas of the kiln...relays, switches all worked on
> very hard to be `right on`.
>
> when kilns are repaired, coils replaced, make sure the
> specs are followed...just makes sense. it is all online. easy to find.
> ten minutes with google. or a quick call to skutt, l&l or paragon.
> five minute chat. fun to do anyway. hell, arnold will answer the phone.
>
> if you only bisque fire in your electric kiln..say cone 08...well
> it does not matter much. low heat, long firing...works fine.
> but still...i get my coils from a dealer...an entire set...coils
> to spec. cheap. for what you get, a great product...take
> care of things.
>
> i just googled electric coils, kilns, repair.
> got to euclid's in under two minutes.
> all the info you need...1 800 etc. talk to a tech.
> ship them the same day.
> mel
> got my new computer built. intel 5 processor, 16 gigs of ram,
> and a 1000 gig hard drive...win7.
> got every wire in the right place. took about an hour.
> but, will take about a week to get all the files, software, folders
> and email stuff perfect. then i have to learn win 7.
> lots of new stuff to work on. exciting. like i always do, when
> the shit hits the fan, burrow into my studio and get busy on a project.
> work through it. as my dad would have said...`don't wallow in it, stand
> up and respect those that have died...respect those you love.`
> i still do what my dad says. he knew about stuff...orphan at 13. (flu of
> 1918
> took them all, except dad.)
> marine corps at 15. he did not wallow in anything.
>
>
>
>
> from: minnetonka, mn
> website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
> clayart link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/**clayart.htmlsi.com/%7Emelpots/clayart.html>
> new book: http://www.21stcenturykilns.**comom>
> alternate: melpots7575@gmail.com
>
Vince Pitelka on fri 15 jul 11
Mel Jacobson wrote:
"electric kilns are like car tires...they have specifications...detailed >
and to be followed specs. we see a kid get a new car and take off the
wheels and tires, replace with some gadget type/hot looking wheels and
tires. he forgets that automotive engineers worked hard to make the wheels
and tires match the drive line of that car."
Hi Mel -
I wish that were as true as you imply. What you say is certainly correct i=
n
most cases, and the following is just my own recent experience. I bought a
new 4runner in 2010, and during the summer on my travels west and after
returning to Tennessee I had flats on 4 of the 5 Bridgestone Dueler tires
that came on the rig. Someone showed me how to read the rating number on
the side of the tire that indicates it's life expectancy, and these tires
were really poor. This was on a 4runner "Trail Edition" that is supposed t=
o
be especially well-set-up for off-road use. Fortunately that summer I did
not take the vehicle into any really rough places, because I could have
experienced multiple flats on one trip and been in real trouble.
At 18K miles I was fed up, and went to Costco and bought five new Michelins=
.
This summer I have had that vehicle in some amazing places out west - far
rougher than anything I subjected the Bridgestones to in the summer of 2010=
,
and the Michelin's are doing great. It is no credit at all to Toyota that
they equipped this vehicle with such poor tires, and in this case the tires
certainly were not matched to the vehicle.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka@dtccom.net; wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka
James Freeman on sat 16 jul 11
On Fri, Jul 15, 2011 at 10:23 AM, Vince Pitelka wrote=
=3D
:
> I wish that were as true as you imply. What you say is certainly correct=
=3D
in
> most cases, and the following is just my own recent experience. I bought=
=3D
a
> new 4runner in 2010, and during the summer on my travels west and after
> returning to Tennessee I had flats on 4 of the 5 Bridgestone Dueler tires
> that came on the rig. Someone showed me how to read the rating number on
> the side of the tire that indicates it's life expectancy, and these tires
> were really poor.
Vince...
All new vehicles come with crappy tires, unless you pay for the
upgrade. They are all name brand, but are specially made for the auto
company to the lowest possible specs they can get away with (Remember
the Ford Explorers with the self-destructing tires? Killed Firestone,
even though the tires were exactly as spec'ed by Ford).
My wife has owned nothing but 4Runners since 1991. As soon as the
stock tires wear out (fast!), we replace them with Bridgestone Dueler
AT Revos (did a ton of research before selecting). Expensive tires,
about $200 each, but incredible traction, and we get close to 65,000
miles out of them, which is quite good for a knobby, aggressive tire.
My Dodge Ram 2500 HD came with huge E-rated Goodyear tires, 85 PSI.
They wore out in 16,000 miles, not because Goodyears are bad, but
because Dodge ordered crappy ones to save money. Replaced them with
Dueler AT Revos, and couldn't have been happier. Like most things in
life, "Ya gets what ya pays for".
Also, high performance tires have WAY shorter lifespans than do lesser
tires. To get that awesome grip in the curves, they employ much
softer compounds and few, if any, sipes in the tread. My old car ran
really low profile, ridiculously wide Z rated Michelins and Pirellis.
If I got more than 20,000 miles out of them, I was doing well!
Take care.
...James
James Freeman
"...outsider artists, caught in the bog of their own consciousness,
too preciously idiosyncratic to be taken seriously."
"All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice.=3DA0 I
should not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed."
-Michel de Montaigne
http://www.jamesfreemanstudio.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesfreemanstudio/
http://www.jamesfreemanstudio.com/resources
pdp1 on mon 25 jul 11
Latter 1970s I bought a set of four 7:50 - 17, 8 Ply Tires for my 1946
Chevrolet One Ton Truck.
I bought old 'Dead Stock', 'No Name', "Blems" and they were about $65.00
each if memory serve.
Nice 'live' Rubber, good smell...nice Tires.
Anyway, 450,000 odd miles and 22 years later, they still had good
deep-enough Tread...but that was when I sold the Truck, so...dunno after
that.
They had no 'rating' for life-expenctancy that I recall.
No stupid 'metric' BS on them.
Plain clean Sidewalls which just said "17:50 - 17...8 Ply" in inch high
font, and their weight and pressure info, in small font, and that was it.
I sure miss that Truck...and I am sorry I ever parted with it.
It was good on Tires, and good on Brakes.
I think I re-did the Brake linings about three times was all...adjusted the
Valves about likewise...changed Oil every 2,000 Miles, Greased all Zerks an=
d
Oiled other things every other Oil Change...flushed the Coolant and Brake
Fluid every few years...everything on that Truck was sensible, well
engineered, durable and well made to where you could almost cry just
thinking about it.
Sounded good, smelled good, felt good...everything easy to get to, easy to
maintain, always started up with just a touch of the Starter
Pedal...Vah-Voom! Nice Grease Cup on the Distributor Shaft...just give it
turn every now and then to be nice...Carter W1 Carburetor, Cast Iron Body,
Die Cast top...Leather Accelerator Pump Gasket, anyway...
...sigh...
----- Original Message -----
From: "James Freeman"
On Fri, Jul 15, 2011 at 10:23 AM, Vince Pitelka wrote=
:
> I wish that were as true as you imply. What you say is certainly correct
> in
> most cases, and the following is just my own recent experience. I bought
> a
> new 4runner in 2010, and during the summer on my travels west and after
> returning to Tennessee I had flats on 4 of the 5 Bridgestone Dueler tires
> that came on the rig. Someone showed me how to read the rating number on
> the side of the tire that indicates it's life expectancy, and these tires
> were really poor.
Vince...
All new vehicles come with crappy tires, unless you pay for the
upgrade. They are all name brand, but are specially made for the auto
company to the lowest possible specs they can get away with (Remember
the Ford Explorers with the self-destructing tires? Killed Firestone,
even though the tires were exactly as spec'ed by Ford).
My wife has owned nothing but 4Runners since 1991. As soon as the
stock tires wear out (fast!), we replace them with Bridgestone Dueler
AT Revos (did a ton of research before selecting). Expensive tires,
about $200 each, but incredible traction, and we get close to 65,000
miles out of them, which is quite good for a knobby, aggressive tire.
My Dodge Ram 2500 HD came with huge E-rated Goodyear tires, 85 PSI.
They wore out in 16,000 miles, not because Goodyears are bad, but
because Dodge ordered crappy ones to save money. Replaced them with
Dueler AT Revos, and couldn't have been happier. Like most things in
life, "Ya gets what ya pays for".
Also, high performance tires have WAY shorter lifespans than do lesser
tires. To get that awesome grip in the curves, they employ much
softer compounds and few, if any, sipes in the tread. My old car ran
really low profile, ridiculously wide Z rated Michelins and Pirellis.
If I got more than 20,000 miles out of them, I was doing well!
Take care.
...James
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