Juneau on sat 17 jan 04
Hiya!
I'm an evening/weekend potter shopping for my first kiln. I'm looking to fire Cone 6 - 8, and have found an interesting used Skutt 1027. Unfortunately it looks really deep for me to load, and at my present production level, it may take a long while to fill up.
In the Clayarts archives, and someone mentioned that you can remove one wired ring off the Skutt 1027 if you want to fire smaller loads, and later add it again if you need something larger.
Has anyone actually accomplished this with the Skutt 1027? The specs don't imply that this is an option. I've seen it with L&L, but not Skutt. If it's possible on the Skutt, I may have found my kiln!
If not, I may look at the L&L J230, which is 23" x 27" but allows users to remove a ring, which would bring it down to an easier-to-load 23" x 18" size until I'm ready for a bigger kiln. But I've noticed that their standard 23" x 18" model, the J23, only fires to Cone 5. So am I right in assuming that removing a ring from the J230 would bring it down to the same Cone 5 maximum as a J23?
Oooh I'm sooooo confused!!! My apologies for what may be very ignorant questions - I'm afraid I'm at that stage where the more I read, the more questions I have...
Thanks for your help!
--Linda
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes
Snail Scott on sun 18 jan 04
At 05:02 AM 1/18/04 -0500, you wrote:
>...Put on a double floor and with some shelves on the
>top, could squeek by to a minimal ^ 6. Feel a second lid might do the trick
>but they are expensive and heavy...
I put a piece of refractory fiberboard over my lid
(and under my floor). It seems to do well for me,
and weighs almost nothing. I get more even firings
now, especially, I think, due to the added bottom.
> My clay dealer sugested putting an empty stillted shelf in the lower
>area till I could fill it...
I do this also. I figure it'll fire a small load more
efficiently and evenly if the work is in the middle.
Not a huge change in firing, but easier to load, so
why not?
-Snail
Liz Gowen on sun 18 jan 04
Not an ignorant question at all. I can only speak about the L&L J230 which I
have. I took off a ring after a back injury so was less deep.... couldn't
get it to go to cone 6. Put on a double floor and with some shelves on the
top, could squeek by to a minimal ^ 6. Feel a second lid might do the trick
but they are expensive and heavy. L&L said a floor with elements would take
it to ^6 but since I have a floor exhaust fan don't like the idea of pulling
crap into the elements with the fan. ( when this fan dies I'll replace it
with the side mount perhaps.Also the floor with elements I think was a
couple hundred bucks.
I decided to put the 3rd ring back and put in some work from a potter
friend when I fire or stuff the nieces and nephew, or neighbors make to help
fill the load.
( mind you the the kids stuff I heavily trim it so I don't have to slow the
firng of my work,.... my kiln my studio)
My clay dealer sugested putting an empty stillted shelf in the lower
area till I could fill it, never tried that. A kiln can last a long time
Mine is about 26 years old and going strong so you want to hunt for the best
fit for you
Luck
Liz Gowen
> I'm an evening/weekend potter shopping for my first kiln. I'm looking to
fire Cone 6 - 8, and have found an interesting used Skutt 1027.
Unfortunately it looks really deep for me to load, and at my present
production level, it may take a long while to fill up.
> So am I right in assuming that removing a ring from the J230 would bring
it down to the same Cone 5 maximum as a J23?
william schran on sun 18 jan 04
Linda wrote:>But I've noticed that their standard 23" x 18" model,
the J23, only fires to Cone 5.<
Where did you notice this? I've been firing J23's for years and have
no problem getting to cone 10.
True, the newer models with 3" brick will reach this cone more efficiently.
Regards your other question - as long as the top section (with the
lid) will plug into the section holding the control panel and the
kiln floor is separate, I don't see why you couldn't use just two
sections.
Bill
william schran on mon 19 jan 04
Snail wrote:>I put a piece of refractory fiberboard over my lid
(and under my floor). <
Would you please provide which board you selected for this purpose?
Wondering if cement backer board might work for the bottom, under the floor?
Besides the mass that might provide more heat retention, it would
also give better support
for the brick floor on the metal kiln stand.
Stephen, L&L, your thoughts on this?
I did try a ceramic fiber blanket on the lid of 29" diameter kiln,
just bisque firings, and the lid cracked.
Don't know if it was caused by the fiber or not. At one point towards
the end of a firing I lifted the fiber and the brick underneath were
glowing red on the outside! That's when I stopped using the fiber.
Bill
Snail Scott on mon 19 jan 04
At 08:12 AM 1/19/04 -0500, you wrote:
>Snail wrote:>I put a piece of refractory fiberboard over my lid
>(and under my floor). <
>
>Would you please provide which board you selected for this purpose?
I didn't actually select it, I scored it for free.
It's about 1" thick, no brand identification; a
fairly typical refractory fiberboard.
>Wondering if cement backer board might work for the bottom, under the floor?
>Besides the mass that might provide more heat retention, it would
>also give better support
>for the brick floor on the metal kiln stand...
Maybe. It wouldn't add a lot of insulation, though, I
wouldn't think. Thermal mass sort of acts like insulation,
in a way, but I think it won't work as well for this
as the same thickness of insulating material. The support
for the floor IS another consideration - I reinforced
mine by using the lid as a second floor under my severely
cracked original one, and cannibalizing my old 'beater'
for its lid as a replacement. (I think a combination of
leaning on the rim to load, and thousands of miles in a
U-Haul, is what did in the original floor.) So, I like
the idea of a broader support for the floor, but I don't
know if cement board is optimum. Once you cover the brick,
you will retain a lot of heat, even if it's as poor an
insulator as the cement board. Will the cement board
handle the temperature? (Perhaps; I don't know.) It might
do fine, but I'd hate for it to spall in a way that could
be detrimental to the floor above it. I'd test it first,
maybe by putting it across the top, where it would be
exposed to similar heat but not be trapped against the
brick? Then if it works OK, put it underneath.
>I did try a ceramic fiber blanket on the lid of 29" diameter kiln,
>just bisque firings, and the lid cracked.
My lid definitely gets a lot hotter. But it hasn't shown
any signs of damage. (Just cleaner in the middle, with a
rim of soot - years of crud burning off, I figure!) Seems
to me that a lid could actually benefit from the more
even heat caused by outside insulation. (Just speculation,
though.) My current lid is the lid off my old Skutt 231,
the old-style (harder, denser) softbrick; I don't know if
that's a factor or not, but I figure that my firings
benefit all the more by supplementing its sub-standard
insulating properties.
-Snail
Mitch Kotula on tue 20 jan 04
I use cement backer board under both my electric
kilns, and though unnecessary to protect the floor,
the landlord and insurance people love the redundant
protection.
One piece, I think is 3 X 6 or 4 X 8 is easy to score
and break into two pieces.
Mitch
=====
Mitch Kotula
Development Plus
PO Box 2076
Hamilton, MT 59840-4076
406-961-5136 (Home)
406-546-6980 (Cell)
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes
http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus
| |
|
