Rolando Manansala on tue 4 may 99
Greetings to all Clayart subscribers. I am a new subscriber and also
very new to the very interesting world of clay and pottery. I recently
inherited a one cubic meter ceramic fiber down-draft shuttle kiln but
unfortunately, from the way it looks, it is in very bad shape. The
outer skin which is made of galvanized sheet is rusting and in some
places has holes in it (you can actually see the fiber wall). Some
parts of the fiber wall - specifically where the walls end and the door
seals begin (?) - have small gaps, but the fiber wall itself, looks
good. The fiber blankets are being supported
by something that looks like buttons with canthal wire (?) inserted in
them which is hooked to the outer frame of the kiln.
I do not want to fire this kiln because I think that it is very unsafe.
But I do not want this kiln to go to waste either. Kilns here in my
country are ultra expensive and I cannot afford to buy a new one.
I do not have anything about building kilns or repairing them. I have
asked around and have found a source for ceramic fiber (specs are: ten
pound density, 1400 deg. Celsius continous ; 25 mm x 600 mm x 7200
mm). The person who is going to sell me the fiber said that I should
also get the Rigidizer, which is some sort of refractory coating to
prevent the fibers from going air borne. The ceramic fiber and
rigidizer's brand is Kawool which is supposedly made in Japan.
All that said, I hope that somebody out there can give some suggestions
as to how to repair my kiln. Thank you very much and I hope to hear
from somebody soon.
Sincerely,
Rolando Manansala
Nendo Art Ceramics
nendoart@laboratoryx.com
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