Tig Dupre on wed 14 jul 04
Phil,
There are some VERY expensive electric kilns, capable of reductive atmospheres, which use Kanthal elements. I seem to recall a 16 cu ft electric kiln at college called, "Globar," which had rods the diameter of my thumb. Could fire to ^14, had a gas hookup for reducing, and was fired ONLY by the school staff.
Web search on "Kanthal," and "Globar." See what pops up.
Regards,
Tig
in Port Orchard, WA, USA, Earth
Hank Murrow on wed 14 jul 04
On Jul 14, 2004, at 6:02 AM, Tig Dupre wrote:
> There are some VERY expensive electric kilns, capable of reductive
> atmospheres, which use Kanthal elements. I seem to recall a 16 cu ft
> electric kiln at college called, "Globar," which had rods the diameter
> of my thumb. Could fire to ^14, had a gas hookup for reducing, and
> was fired ONLY by the school staff.
Dear Tig;
You are right about expensive and also reliable at high temperature,
but the GloBar elements are not Kanthal, they are made of silicon
carbide and require massive transformers to operate because of the low
resistance of this material. But, you combine a tightly sealed kiln
with the introduction of gaseous hydrogen for reduction, and it would
be a winner. They even make them in a helical design so the
terminations are both at the same end. I have long wanted to use such
GloBar elements in my Doorless Fiber Kiln, but cost has dissuaded me so
far. Sure wish someone would order up an electric version of my design
someday so I could make one and experience it, instead of dreaming
about it.
Cheers, Hank
> murrow.biz/hank
Fredrick Paget on wed 14 jul 04
Anybody know any details about the molybdenum disilicide elements I
see advertized in Ceramics Industry? They are sort of short medium
length looped rod design. I wonder if they are as finicky as the
Globar? And will they stand reduction?
Might be what we need for repeated cone 10 firings in oxidation for
crystal glazes. Most kilns with kanthal heat up too slowly at the top
end so the glaze all runs off into the catcher. What we need is a
kiln that can zoom right on up to cone 10 at 300 degrees per hour and
then after a short soak zoom down to crystal growing temperature. A
cone 16 kiln should do it.
Fred Paget
--
From Fred Paget, Marin County, California, USA
fredrick@well.com
Bob Masta on thu 15 jul 04
Per the discussion ot Kanthal and Globars:
Note that Kanthal wire is an alloy of chrome, iron, and aluminum.
(About 22:73:5 in Kanthal D.) I believe it is a actually trade name
for the product made by the Kanthal company, but has become
generic like Kleenex.
Globars are the trade name of silicon carbide heating elements
made by the Kanthal Globar company. Other companies make
equivalent products. For example, the ISquaredR company's
trade name is Starbars.
Hope this helps!
Bob Masta
potsATdaqartaDOTcom
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