Martin A. Arkowitz on thu 12 oct 00
another note for arnold about instructions
--- You wrote:
I ordered a wall mounted controller for a kiln. It came with
instructions that may as well have been in Greek. I read it over =
and over,
slowly, page by page.=20
--- end of quote ---
Ditto-i have been using my new add-on wall mounted kiln controller =
and have been also very confused by the instructions. there are =
times i program it and notice that i did it wrong. i have found =
that the only way to negate the instructions is to pull the fuse. =
now that is ridiculous,and it makes me angry and still more =
confused. i have manged several bisque firings and three glaze =
firings. i am hoping with more trial and error, more pulled fuses =
to be able to finally master the thing. BUT why so confusing?
eleanor arkowitz in n.h.
Cindy Strnad on thu 12 oct 00
Hello, Arnold
I haven't read manuals from all that many different kilns, but I've not had
any difficulty understanding yours. As I mentioned before, it would be nice
to have the fact of the kiln automatically "firing down" after a slow firing
brought out a little more prominently, but that's not that big a deal.
Also, slow, precise instructions in how to do the firing down manually, and
what benefits one might expect to receive from doing it. I believe they were
included in your new manual, though--I'll have to check. Chris at Euclids
told me how to do it in my 28-3. It may have also been in that manual, but I
managed to miss it if it was.
I'd like to see the instructions you gave me for repairing bricks
included--that would be very helpful. (And no, I haven't fixed them just
yet--propped them up with small chunks of old firebrick. I'll do it soon, I
promise.)
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
earthenv@gwtc.net
http://www.earthenvesselssd.com
Arnold Howard on thu 12 oct 00
Recently a friend told me that a ceramist at a rec center did not understand
how to use the infinite control switches on her Paragon kiln. The instruction
manual didn't explain it. I was glad to find that out, because now I know to
write about that more thoroughly in the future. Since I am around kiln
experts at the factory much of the time, it is easy for me to assume that
readers of the manuals know more than they really do.
A question for Clayart members: are there any areas of confusion in the kiln
instruction manuals you have read over the years? (It doesn't matter to me
which brand of kiln the manual was written for.)
Your feedback and suggestions may help me make future instructions easier to
understand.
Thanking you in advance,
Arnold Howard
Paragon
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere!
http://mail.yahoo.com/
Louis Katz on thu 12 oct 00
Hi Joyce,
What you may be running into is the assumption that you can only follow step by
step instructions and that general instructions or even just a description of how
the thing works are worthless. There is a good discussion of this in Zen and The
Art of Motorcycle Maintainance.
Help booklets are often written inhouse by engineers just like computer help
files. Better would be to teach someone else how to use the program and get them
to write the book.
If you have read the book you may remember that it revolves around a trip to
Bozeman, Montana to visit the DeWeeses. These DeWeeses are actually Josh Dewesse's
parents. They taught at Montana State with Francis Senska, an influential and
ignored potter.
Seems this book has come up nearly every day this last week.
I have been offline but am now back.
Louis
WHew536674@CS.COM wrote:
> Arnold,
> Good question. I ordered a wall mounted controller for a kiln. It came with
> instructions that may as well have been in Greek. I read it over and over,
> slowly, page by page. Took notes and in the end asked my husband for help.
> For a little booklet, it required a lot of time. There are a lot of
> "instruction" manuals out there that are written by the experts that assume
> that the people who are reading them know what they are talking about. I
> think any manual should assume that the person knows nothing about it, and
> talk to them like they are in the 3rd grade. I would not feel as though my
> intelligence were being insulted, if I could look at something and it took me
> through the steps one by one.
> Joyce A
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
WHew536674@CS.COM on thu 12 oct 00
Arnold,
Good question. I ordered a wall mounted controller for a kiln. It came with
instructions that may as well have been in Greek. I read it over and over,
slowly, page by page. Took notes and in the end asked my husband for help.
For a little booklet, it required a lot of time. There are a lot of
"instruction" manuals out there that are written by the experts that assume
that the people who are reading them know what they are talking about. I
think any manual should assume that the person knows nothing about it, and
talk to them like they are in the 3rd grade. I would not feel as though my
intelligence were being insulted, if I could look at something and it took me
through the steps one by one.
Joyce A
Chris Schafale on fri 13 oct 00
Arnold,
My pet peeve about kiln manuals is when they tell you, "don't ever
do such and such" but don't tell you why/what will happen if you
do. For instance, the Skutt manual says don't ever fire ware that
isn't completely dry, but they don't say whether the reason is
"because it may explode" (which possibility I might be willing to
chance), or "because the moisture may cause your very expensive
controller to have a stroke" (which mine did recently, and someone
suggested that this might be the reason). I personally tend not to
follow rules that are not explained, if I can't come up with a
compelling reason for them. So take half a minute and say why!
Chris
> Recently a friend told me that a ceramist at a rec center did not understand
> how to use the infinite control switches on her Paragon kiln. The instruction
> manual didn't explain it. I was glad to find that out, because now I know to
> write about that more thoroughly in the future. Since I am around kiln
> experts at the factory much of the time, it is easy for me to assume that
> readers of the manuals know more than they really do.
>
> A question for Clayart members: are there any areas of confusion in the kiln
> instruction manuals you have read over the years? (It doesn't matter to me
> which brand of kiln the manual was written for.)
>
> Your feedback and suggestions may help me make future instructions easier to
> understand.
>
> Thanking you in advance,
>
> Arnold Howard
> Paragon
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Get Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere!
> http://mail.yahoo.com/
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
>
Light One Candle Pottery
Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, USA
(south of Raleigh)
candle@intrex.net
http://www.lightonecandle.com
| |
|
