Arnold Howard on wed 26 may 99
Dear Friends:
As you know, people have difficulty loading top-loading kilns. They
damage the top rim of firebrick by leaning into the kiln.
Is there a technique to loading this type of kiln without back strain
and without damaging firebricks? I'm thinking in particular of 10 and
12 sided kilns.
Thanks,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, Inc.
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Carolynn Palmer on sat 29 may 99
I load and unload ten sided (27 inch interior depth) electric kilns every
day. I have a bath towel I drape over the top brick until I get the bottom
2/3 of it loaded. I also stand on a cement block so that I can reach the
bottom without destroying the top bricks because the kiln stands make the
kilns quite high.
Love that head rush from leaning over into the kiln!
Carolynn Palmer, Somerset Center, Michigan
Heidrun Schmid on sat 29 may 99
Arnold, I always put an old towel around the rim of my toploader, that
protects it nicley Heidrun
Arnold Howard wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Dear Friends:
>
> As you know, people have difficulty loading top-loading kilns. They
> damage the top rim of firebrick by leaning into the kiln.
>
> Is there a technique to loading this type of kiln without back strain
> and without damaging firebricks? I'm thinking in particular of 10 and
> 12 sided kilns.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Arnold Howard
> Paragon Industries, Inc.
>
> _________________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
Maggie Woodhead on sat 29 may 99
Kia Ora!
The kilns in our group have protective covers made
for them from what we call hardboard. Shaped to fit the top of the kiln
they are put over the edge and from then on no damage can be done to the
top of the kiln. They are used to both load and unload. This has
stopped the damage we used to get to the fibre.
----Best Wishes Maggie----
maggie@clear.net.nz
-----Original Message-----
From: Arnold Howard
To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Date: Friday, 28 May 1999 08:21
Subject: Pointers on Loading Kilns
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Dear Friends:
As you know, people have difficulty loading top-loading kilns. They
damage the top rim of firebrick by leaning into the kiln.
Is there a technique to loading this type of kiln without back strain
and without damaging firebricks? I'm thinking in particular of 10 and
12 sided kilns.
Thanks,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, Inc.
_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
Alex Wilson on sat 29 may 99
Hello Mr. Howard, The short answer to your question, in my view, is - no. Not
unless you're an acrobat or Lucie Rie - she had her assistant hold her by the
ankles while she put the pots in the bottom of her kiln, but she was a good
bit smaller than me!
Front loaders, Top-Hats or Shuttle/Car kilns have been, in my experience,
much easier to load with less damage to either party. Roller-Hearth kilns are
pretty nice too, but no good for what I'm making at the moment.
My two bob's worth? - Take the plunge and make a damned fine front loader.
Cheers mate,
Alex
Jeremy/Bonnie Hellman on sun 30 may 99
Arnold,
The biggest problem for me is getting my heavy shelves into and out of the
kiln. Thank goodness my pots don't weigh as much!!!
We are in the process of making a mechanically assisted lift for the empty
shelves. We have 6 angled brackets made up which hook onto the edges of the
kiln shelf, and have connected them with wire at the other end, like a
spider. We are in the process of finding a winch that will allow each shelf
to be lowered into the kiln where it will be filled with pots to be fired.
After a firing, the pots would be removed individually, and the shelves
could be lifted out of the kiln, using the same apparatus, guided by my
hands so the shelves don't bang into the sides of the kiln.
We're not there yet, but I'm hopeful. We just need to find the right winch,
at an affordable price.
Before we get our gizmo working, I stand on a step stool, because my
electric kiln sits on one of your stands on wheels, which makes it even
taller than a non-mobile stand. However, having the wheels was a big benefit
in the kiln's previous location. It allowed me to store the kiln under the
basement stairs, and pull it out for firing.
Bonnie
----------
>From: Arnold Howard
>To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
>Subject: Pointers on Loading Kilns
>Date: Wed, May 26, 1999, 1:08 PM
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Dear Friends:
>
> As you know, people have difficulty loading top-loading kilns. They
> damage the top rim of firebrick by leaning into the kiln.
>
> Is there a technique to loading this type of kiln without back strain
> and without damaging firebricks? I'm thinking in particular of 10 and
> 12 sided kilns.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Arnold Howard
> Paragon Industries, Inc.
>
>
> _________________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
ginny bivaletz on sun 30 may 99
alex, please what is a roller-hearth kiln? do know of any good front
loading electric kilns that are near to the price of an oval or round
one, or is there no such beast? thanks-ginny
--- Alex Wilson wrote:
> ----------------------------Original
> message----------------------------
> Hello Mr. Howard, The short answer to your question,
> in my view, is - no. Not
> unless you're an acrobat or Lucie Rie - she had her
> assistant hold her by the
> ankles while she put the pots in the bottom of her
> kiln, but she was a good
> bit smaller than me!
> Front loaders, Top-Hats or Shuttle/Car kilns have
> been, in my experience,
> much easier to load with less damage to either
> party. Roller-Hearth kilns are
> pretty nice too, but no good for what I'm making at
> the moment.
> My two bob's worth? - Take the plunge and make a
> damned fine front loader.
> Cheers mate,
>
> Alex
>
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Marvin Flowerman on thu 3 jun 99
Yes.
You can fashion from wood, small "covers" for the rim of the kiln making as
many as are necessary to cover all the parts of the top surface exposed to
friction while you are loading and unloading. That will keep the rim
unblermished by body friction.
These covers would be simple fastened at right angles on two sides of a flat
piece wide enough to span the rim comfortably. Looks like a channel of a
width slightly exceeding the width of the rim of your kiln.
Try it; you'll find that it is not difficult and works effectively.
Let me know how this works for you.
Good luck!
Marvin Flowerman (marvpots@aol.com)
Bobbi Bassett on sat 5 jun 99
In a message dated 6/3/99 10:30:43 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Marvpots@AOL.COM
writes:
> You can fashion from wood, small "covers" for the rim of the kiln
We use top loading kilns and drape heavy terrycloth (bath) towels over the
edge until we are up to the top shelf. This has worked for us for over 15
years.
Bobbi in PA
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