mel jacobson on fri 28 jul 00
i do not believe there is an only one way of dealing with an older
kiln when doing itc. depends on the condition. each is different.
we cleaned, sprayed with water and brushed our last kiln
as it was dirty. i felt it was important to give it a light coat of
itc in the channels and then the entire kiln.
remember, i do not spray thick coats...that is what nils is
worried about...people tend to think, thick is better than thin. spray
til you drop.
i dipped my coils, dried them, set them in place, sprayed another thin coat
over the entire kiln. filled the holes that channel the coils to the outside.
then fired to about 1600F.
the next day i gave the entire kiln a lite coat of 296a...
and that puppy is a sweetheart.
cone 10-11 with reduction.
like that kiln a great deal. it would have
cost me about 100 bucks to bring that kiln back to life.
(thanks euclids for the coils)
and i had some left over itc stuff.
so for the sake of research and having the hay creek gang use it,
well, it was a great project.
i have no idea after people like nils, kurt, dannon, doug gray ,tom wirt
and myself
have tested this stuff til hell freezes, that people still want to slather
their kilns with junk to save 5 bucks. spalling will kill a kiln/ itc does
not spall.
50 bucks just may make a kiln that will fire for years. we have no idea how
long this little kiln of ours will fire....but, we think 400 hundred firings.
just a guess...and if we are wrong, well, we will tell you.
one hundred bucks is what is costs about 6 of us to go to dinner at nceca.
and that would not be a fancy dinner.
mel
reg at bluemoon pottery in wisconsin just itc'd his old electric kiln...he
claims a
20 percent savings in electricity...and he charts it...full time potter.
but, he is more excited about numerous firings without having to stop
and take the kiln apart, put in new coils. he loses days..and that is the
stopper for him.
http://www.pclink.com/melpots
written from the farm in wisconsin
| |
|
