Malone & Dean McRaine on wed 11 mar 98
Hi everybody: I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in. I've got ITC in my Skutt
electric and on my shelves. On the plus side it's toughened up the brick and
will undoubtedly prolong the life of the kiln. It has marginally improved
the efficiency of my kiln but I had extra insulation already. On a regular
elec kiln with 2 1/2" thick walls it would probably make a more dramatic
improvement. On the minus side, on the recomendation of the manufacturer I
sprayed over the kiln wash on my shelves-bad idea. ITC is a lousy kiln wash
(I still lose chunks of my shelves if I have a glaze run) and because I
sprayed over existing wash, it is flaking off in big irritating chunks. As
another clayarter mentioned it is a LOT harder to change elements if you
spray ITC on them, they're too big to pull out, the slot is narrower, and
they're fused to the coating in the kiln. I thought the cost was high and
considering all the hassles I've had, I don't think I'd buy it again. It
will take me many years, if ever to recover the cost in saved firing
expense. I have some left, though, and I'll probably spray it on my fiber
raku kiln. Of all it's supposed benifits I think I like the toughness the best.
Dean in sunny Kauai
| |
|
