john eden on tue 6 oct 98
Vince,
I have been using the large set of Johnson burners on a standard MFT kiln
for the last five years and we have had successful firings without undue
wear and tear on the structure. I would have preferred the smaller set of
Johnsons that we have on our other gas kiln but we already had them
available to us. I think they are good burners. Cheers, John
John Eden / Ceramics
John Abbott College
Ste. Anne de Bellevue
Quebec, H9X 3L9, Canada
Tel. # 514-457-6610 ext.395
Vince Pitelka on wed 7 oct 98
>I have been using the large set of Johnson burners on a standard MFT kiln
>for the last five years and we have had successful firings without undue
>wear and tear on the structure. I would have preferred the smaller set of
>Johnsons that we have on our other gas kiln but we already had them
>available to us. I think they are good burners. Cheers, John
>John Eden
John and all -
This is the second post I have received from people using Johnson power
burners successfully, so it appears that I spoke too soon, and I appologize.
It has always been my impression that the Johnson power burners (the ones
with the large-diameter cast iron blower housing) are overkill for your
average studio kiln. But it appears that some people are using them very
successfully for that application.
I knew of a potter in California who came by several of these burners, and
installed them in a conventional design, and melted his bagwalls and quite a
few of his pots. He ended up using the burners on a completely different
kiln, which had a firebox under the floor, with the heat entering the ware
chamber on the far side of the kiln. This has traditionally been a popular
design for oil-fired studio kilns, but this is the only instance where I
have seen it used with gas burners.
When I think about it, my thoughts about the Johnson power burners are based
on the impression that they are unnecessary overkill. It is evident that
you can "tone them down" so that they work very well for a studio kiln, but
you can certainly get by for a lot less money with other manufacturers and
still have a very reliable set of power burners.
The first of the two posts I refer to was the one yesterday where a single
Johnson power burner was manifolded to several flame-retention tips, and
that is definitely a good way to go with these burners. I think with this
design they might become cost effective, because they certainlly are
beautifully-built pieces of equipment.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
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