Russel Fouts on wed 6 jan 99
Terry,
>> I am just catching the last installments of your discussion about sawdust
et al in the electric kiln (reply to Naomi). And I really regret not seeing
the earlier remarks because I am so interested in this. <<
Hey, things move fast on Clayart, gotta keep awake!
>> What are these foil packets and how are they used? Will small amounts of
sawdust or coffee grounds wedged into the clay hurt the electric coils when
bisqued? And what about newspaper (used to support the piece at an early
stage)--will firing that hurt the coils? If you know of any general sources
for these matters, I would really appreciate being pointed to them. <<
I'm not using sawdust. I smoke my terra-sig pots with only news paper in
tightly wrapped envelopes of double strength aluminium foil. I'm getting
lots of color and depth. The color comes from the clays I use to make the
terra-sigs; an orange flowerpot clay (also the body clay for the pots) and a
white ball clay.
I'm "renovating" my web page (massively, what you see are tests) and have
some pictures on line at the first URL below. you might find them
interesting. Ignore the rest of the content because they're just trials.
There has been a long discussion about how much burning combustables will
hurt an electric kiln. The wisdom is that it probably will shorten the life
of the elements in the long run, depending on how high you fire, how much
combustable you use, whether you alternate a cleaning bisque with a
combustable firing, etc, etc. My feeling is that it's just like any other
cost, you factor the cost of new elements and a good vent (and maybe some
legal action) into your operating expenses and go for it.
Generally, I use VERY little paper inside the packets which contain the
smoke very well. Anything else is carried away by the Envirovent. But I have
done very heavy smoking as well inside the foil and the vent has handled
this. I also manage to do a bisque in between.
A few coffee grounds probably won't do any harm. For newspaper rolls used
for support, I'd get a vent. Not to protect the kiln but to protect you.
I haven't said this before but because I like to experiment a lot, I'm doing
all of this in a very small kiln (45 cm diameter by 30 cm). I'm only firing
1 or two pieces at a time. I like "semi-immediate gratification" ;-)
Russel
Russel Fouts
Mes Potes & Mes Pots
Brussels, Belgium
32 2 223 02 75
Http://users.skynet.be/russel.fouts
Http://www.japan-net.or.jp/~iwcat
Grant me the Senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
The good fortune to run into the ones I do
And the eyesight to tell the difference.
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