Jose A. Velez on wed 7 aug 02
Gentlepersons:
In pursue of doing things in the correct way I have been trying to fire =
my electric kiln using large cone packs as true indication of =
temperature and control while using the kiln sitter small cone only as a =
higher temperature back-up. But I have been very frustrated with not =
been able to "see" the cones. In the first firing I misplaced the cones =
and could not see them: "mea culpa". In the second firing I was very =
careful and place the cones where they were visible though the =
observation port and clear from interference from the pots. Well I =
could not see them either. I was using a welder's lenses to protect my =
eyes and spent quite a bit of time looking through the port. I have =
read and kept as reference the posts about how best to see the cones =
(red iron oxide line, blowing, flashlight, etc.) but I am coming to a =
different conclusion. I am myopic and some years ago suffered a =
"central serum retinopathy" in one of my eyes that left some residual =
deficiency. I now believe I am exposing my eyes to unnecessary strain =
and think I should follow this plan to save my eyes and fire accurately.
1- Buy an electronic controller and use it as the primary control devise =
in the middle observation port.
2- Use a one cone higher small cone in the sitter as safety measure, =
i.e. a 7 for a 6 firing.
3- Use large cone packs in all shelves as an after the fact temperature =
and temperature distribution verification.
4- Record the time firings take and establish and absolute maximum =
elapsed time to trip the kiln as triple-redundancy protection.
5- Never use the ports to directly observe the inside of the kiln.
I sort of feel that Best Available Technology makes "seen" the cones =
unnecessary. =20
Does anybody use a similar method or have a suggestion to improve it.
Regards,
Jose A. Velez
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