Dennis Freeman on sun 28 jan 01
Clayarters - I just recieved some exciting news. Our department has been
OK'd to buy a new gas kiln to replace our old Alpine HF20! I'm thinking
about a fiber lined Giel or something similar - probably downdraft so I can
get consistent copper reds.
So: Any recommendations or cautions out there? I like the repairability &
cooldown features of fiber, but is there a reason to be concerned about
longevity, etc.? Any recommendations of specific kilns? Thanks in advance!
- Dennis in Wyo.
Carissa Doying on mon 29 jan 01
Congrats!
I recommend hiring David Alban to build your kiln for you. We built two
downdrafts here at USC Columbia under his tutelage, a salt and a car kiln.
The car is soft brick. They are awesome, solid and tight. They consistently
produce beautiful, even fires.
Carissa
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Dennis Freeman on tue 30 jan 01
on 1/29/01 8:52 PM, Carissa Doying at cdoying@HOTMAIL.COM wrote:
> Congrats!
>
> I recommend hiring David Alban to build your kiln for you. We built two
> downdrafts here at USC Columbia under his tutelage, a salt and a car kiln.
> The car is soft brick. They are awesome, solid and tight. They consistently
> produce beautiful, even fires.
>
> Carissa
Thanks for the advice, Carissa. Can you (or anyone) put me in touch with
David? He'd have to come to a high school WAY out in the sticks! - Dennis
from Wyo.
Don Hunt on tue 13 feb 01
Does a downdraft kilin such as a Geil fire well for bisque and single
fire? Will it draft properly at low temperatures under a controlled
rise? I realize that's not what most people primarily use the kiln for,
I would like to understand it's limitations before committing to a final
design. Does Geil have any competion in the downdraft fiber kiln
market? Seemingly not with orders 10 months old (that I know of)
unfilled.
Don Hunt
Joyce Lee on tue 13 feb 01
No expert here..... but I've bisqued successfully with my Geils. My only
problem was that with the first load I hadn't yet worked out just what
^06 WAS on my controller, and found that I'd gone to ^04 instead of the
^06 for which I was aiming. I still use the controller, just as I did
the pyrometer, but only in conjunction with eyeballing the cone packs.
For me and my kilns, total reliance on the electronic controller invites
disaster! It's a great safety feature, though, in that if something
untoward did occur, the kiln WOULD shut off pretty close to the time or
temperature I'd allotted for firing.
I've also experimented with once-fire in the Geil ... no special glaze
.... just that tallow white that David H. had on Clayart at one point...
and a commercial satiny green/black ... pots were small bowls. Worked
fine. Fired to ^10 flat on brown clay. Looked terrific... lots of iron
spotting, which always heartens me. Not quite so ... the green/black had
no spots but did develop a metallic look.
In the smaller 8 cu ft Geil it took me seemingly forever to control the
rise. When fired after applying ITC to the fiber, that sucker just took
off. Seemed almost that it could be fired with just the pilots.
Eventually, that worked out, too, but I've mostly fired high... a few
test glaze firings to ^6 ... kiln was full of tests also twice at ^8.
Any of the myriad problems I've had ... and there were many times
myriad.... were all operator generated... not the fault of the kilns.
That's all I know.
Joyce
In the Mojave where we have large and small puddles EVERYWHERE.....
maybe wild flowers this year. "They" say that the rains must be in Dec.
for a bumper crop (what's a bumper, anyway?), but with such a soft rain,
experience says that thought is to be disdained... think Feb. may be the
magic month... (if I agree or approve, do I then "dain" it? As in...
Dang it, I dain Clayart ... or feel dain for Clayarters. Yep, I like
that.)
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