Christy Pines on fri 16 jul 04
For my brand-new kiln, being fired on it's inital run tonight, my
electricians put in a great big gray box on the wall next to the kiln.
(they were very curious about the kiln - impressed at the temperatures
that it will reach). Wires run right from the breaker board in the
basement, they cut off the plug that the kiln came with, and inside that
box it's a beautiful thing. Outside the box, it's a monstrosity. Great
big grey metal box, big grey handle that moves it from ON to OFF in no
uncertain terms. Just glad it's not in my living room. A godawful ugly
thing it is. And a beautiful thing at the same time. I"m glad to have it
there. I turned it to OFF when I went on vacation. Figured no one was
going to run the kiln and I did not have to worry about a thing.
Oh powers that be. Here my prayers as I fire my new kiln. I had the
chance to load one last week in North Carolina (thank you Gary -
actually he probably should be thanking me for doing the work, but never
mind) and when my 17 hour no-ware-in-the-kiln initial run is up, I'll be
loading all the greenware that's been drying out since March on my
shelves, knowing that I was getting a kiln, unwilling to pay someone
else to fire it. I'm so excited. And a bit scared, but I figure that's a
good thing. Keep me on my toes. Like the first time I fired my raku kiln
in my driveway all by myself. So cautious it took over an hour to get
the glazes to melt. On a normal firing, max. 20 minutes. But I didn't
burn anything down. Pots came out great. And I've since learned that
it's ok to go a little faster!
Next step: gather raw materials for glazes. Boy if that isn't a daunting
task. I feel like telling my supplier, just give me a pound of
everything you have. But no, that would mean my banker would not like me
very much. So I'm carefully going through recipes, deciding if I want to
start with this one or that one. And going through my results from Brian
Gartside's workshop (what a wonder. Every day I thank Linda Blossom for
letting me in on that workshop, to say nothing of her hospitality in her
home) figuring which of the many combinations we played with are worth
following through on. There's just so much to play with. No way to get
bored with it all.
christy in connecticut where, if you see flames in the sky you'll know I
had a few problems with the kiln tonight
cpines at ix.netcom.com
David Woof wrote:
> The solution is to get a qualified person to "hard wire" your kiln to
> the power source.
>
> In place of the recepticle, a splicing box is installed and the wires
> are joined inside this box with solderless connecters, taped
> securely, and a cover is installed .
>
> simple to do but serious.
>
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