Kurt Wild on sat 20 nov 99
Mel's comments on spalling, black coating, ITC and listening to
professionals brings to mind a few thoughts of my own. After a few
firings of the first kiln (hard brick) I built in the early 60's, it
began to spall. I don't recall what I used to coat the inside of the
kiln in my attempt to stop the spalling but I was either to proud (as a
newly graduated MFA and young college prof) to ask questions or dumber
than I realized. Anyway, I went my merry way without paying much
attention to the manufacturer's information or consulting professionals.
After the second firing chunks and sheet like pieces of the applied
material began falling off the walls and roof of the kiln. After
chipping away most of the stuff that I could, I fired once more with
more spalling and flaking off. I never fired that kiln again! That set
me up with a fear of coatings even though I eventually painted the
inside of my electric kiln with a different coating (black) that has
held up fine since the 60's. That time I followed instructions and even
called the company once for advise!
Following my retirement from teaching in 1993 I built an all new, soft
brick, 20 cubic foot gas kiln. Sometime after that I began hearing
about ITC. I did hear good things but what stuck in my mind was the many
doubts and fears people had about it. Even though I trusted Nils and
his knowledge as well as my best friend Mel's experiece with ITC, I
could not bring myself to spray my own kiln because of the "baggage" I
carried from back in the 60's. Only after helping Mel spray one of the
farm kilns, seeing how the ITC worked and hearing, from Mel, all the
advise Feriz and Alice Delkic gave him about the appication and effects
of ITC did I finally do my own kiln. I am VERY happy I did! All the
good stuff you hear about ITC is TRUE and I'll bet that the bad stuff
you hear is really the result of either someone trying to be a "know it
all", or going ahead without following instructions or asking questions
when they arise. I know that Feriz and Alice are MORE than willing to
help - they want their product to be used right and to benefit the
users. Incidently, my remarks are UNSOLICITED -- I just felt the urge to
encourge any of you out there suffering from "fear of ITC" get over it -
and ASK when in doubt!
Kurt Wild
1000 E. Cascade Ave.
River Falls, WI 54022
Phone: 715-425-5715
email: kurt.l.wild@uwrf.edu
web site: http://wwwpp.uwrf.edu/~kw77/
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