Cindy Strnad on wed 28 feb 01
Carolyn,
I think Monona said the fumes from paraffin burning off weren't all that
bad. *think* I wouldn't like to speak for her on this without her letter in
front of me. That said, they give me a tremendous headache, so I think they
can't be all that good, either.
But the fumes you can smell aren't really the dangerous ones. I used to do
some work at the art center in Rapid City and had to stop using paraffin,
because the bottom venting on their kiln didn't draw off the paraffin fumes.
It's my understanding there are venting systems that will do this, however.
My kiln here is separate from the house and studio, so I don't worry about
it. The only thing I do in that room is fire pottery, so no one has to be
exposed to the gasses.
Your kiln needs to be vented properly if it's inside an occupied space. See
the recent "Interfering Mom" thread for some anecdotes of things that have
happened to teachers breathing kiln gasses.
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
earthenv@gwtc.net
http://www.earthenvesselssd.com
John Hesselberth on wed 28 feb 01
CSLPZZN@aol.com wrote:
>We have never been allowed to use wax resist on the bottom of our pots at the
>community pottery studio because of fumes during firing. We fire electric to
>^6 in a 7 cubic foot kiln and it's usually pretty packed. There isn't a
>great amount of ventilation in the room either.
>
>Is it true that the fumes given off during firing can be harmful? Is Forbes
>wax any better? We would really like to do wax resist application to our
>pieces too.
>
>Could someone please set me straight
Hi Carolyn,
The first thing to do is to INSIST that your studio manager gets the kiln
vented and stay out of the studio while the kiln is firing until it is
vented! Wax is not the only thing that makes nasties during firing.
Some glaze components will off-gas or volatilize nasty stuff as well as
clay bodies. There are lots of discussions on this subject in the
archives. It makes no difference what kind of wax. They all give off
stuff you don't want to breathe during firing.
Regards, John
"The life so short, the craft so long to learn." Hippocrates, 5th cent.
B.C.
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