Darlene Fletcher on fri 23 jul 04
Hi there,
I am hoping someone out there can shed some light on whether it's better to
buy a cone 8 or cone 10 kiln when firing to cone 4-6. At present, we have
a cone 10 Olympic and happily fire to cone 4. However, the time has come to
get a bigger kiln. We have seen a second hand one that's in good shape but
it is listed as cone 8. Does anyone have any comments about this? Are we
better off sticking with a cone 10 kiln, or does it matter? Thanks very
much for any info!
Darlene
(Victoria, BC)
Darlene Fletcher on fri 23 jul 04
Thanks very much for the feedback to those who responded. Out of interest,
one person who responded directly suggested that the crucial difference
between ^8 and ^10 kilns is usually the thickness of the firebrick (3" vs.
2" or 2.5"). According to him, the thinner brick in his ^8 meant a
completely different firing schedule, which in turn affected the way the
glazes matured. In the end, although he fired to the same cone in each
kiln, the results were not the same. I think that this, together with the
other suggestions, is enough to sway me away from the ^8.
Darlene
Steve Slatin on fri 23 jul 04
Darlene --
There's lots of opinions on this, but I'd say it's far more important to make
sure that the kiln's a good, durable kiln than to worry about a high temperature
you may never want to fire to.
Some low-fire kilns have construction differences; others are built exactly
like high-fire kilns. (I have a cone 8 L&L with three inch brick. The only
difference between it ans a cone 10 L&L is that mine is wired for 240 v.
single phase; and the cone 10 model is wired for 208 v. three phase.)
Also consider your chosen firing schedule. My Orton cone chart shows
that cone 8 is 2212, 2280 or 2320 F, depending on the speed I'm heating
it up at. cone 6 is 2165, 2232, or 2269. See the overlap? It means
that if you're the kind of person who like to fire slow, it's no problem.
OTOH, if you want to fire at 250 degrees per hour for the last hour, you'd
better get a kiln that's rated as high as possible, because you're going to
be pushing it hard, even at cone 6 -- getting from 2000 to 2269 in one
hour is no joke.
Good luck with your choice -- Steve S
Darlene Fletcher wrote:
Hi there,
I am hoping someone out there can shed some light on whether it's better to
buy a cone 8 or cone 10 kiln when firing to cone 4-6.
Steve Slatin -- Entry-level potter, journeyman loafer, master obfuscator
Sequim, Washington, USA
48.0937°N, 123.1465°W or thereabouts
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william schran on fri 23 jul 04
Darlene wrote:>whether it's better to buy a cone 8 or cone 10 kiln
when firing to cone 4-6. At present, we have a cone 10 Olympic and
happily fire to cone 4. However, the time has come to
get a bigger kiln. We have seen a second hand one that's in good shape but
it is listed as cone 8. Does anyone have any comments about this?<
Gee Darlene, can you read the future? Do you know for certain that
you'll only be firing to cone 4 or 6 down the road? That would be the
first question.
The closer one fires a kiln to it's maximum temp, the more strain and
shorter life of the elements and some other components.
If the used kiln is a good price (like half the price of a new one)
and in good shape, you're only firing to cone 4 or 6 and the
electrical requirements of the kiln will not cause you to have to do
new wiring, I'd say go for the used one.
Bill
Geraldine Wallace on sat 24 jul 04
It all depends on what you want to fire to...if you are happy with your work
at cone 8 and below ...why not...if you ever think you want to go higher then
get one that goes to 10.
Earl Brunner on sat 24 jul 04
We used to have 2 Skutt 1027's at the art center, we now have 2 1227's. The
1227's are only rated to cone 8, not cone 10 like the 1027's. I assume that
the reason the 1227 doesn't go to cone 10 has to do with the size of the
kiln. We can fire a lot more stuff per load, since we fire to cone 6, it
hasn't been an issue. Wall thickness is visually about the same.
Earl Brunner
Las Vegas, NV
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Darlene
Fletcher
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2004 8:16 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: cone 8 kiln?
Thanks very much for the feedback to those who responded. Out of interest,
one person who responded directly suggested that the crucial difference
between ^8 and ^10 kilns is usually the thickness of the firebrick (3" vs.
2" or 2.5"). According to him, the thinner brick in his ^8 meant a
completely different firing schedule, which in turn affected the way the
glazes matured. In the end, although he fired to the same cone in each
kiln, the results were not the same. I think that this, together with the
other suggestions, is enough to sway me away from the ^8.
Darlene
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Arnold Howard on mon 26 jul 04
As a very general rule, elements in a cone 10 kiln last longer than those in
a cone 8 kiln. This is because element wire gauge is heavier.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
arnoldhoward@att.net / www.paragonweb.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Darlene Fletcher"
> I am hoping someone out there can shed some light on whether it's better
to
> buy a cone 8 or cone 10 kiln when firing to cone 4-6. At present, we have
> a cone 10 Olympic and happily fire to cone 4. However, the time has come
to
> get a bigger kiln. We have seen a second hand one that's in good shape but
> it is listed as cone 8. Does anyone have any comments about this? Are we
> better off sticking with a cone 10 kiln, or does it matter? Thanks very
> much for any info!
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