Nicol on fri 22 oct 04
Add elements in the top for glass slumping - helps even out the
temperatures.
Glass is VERY unforgiving of thermal shock ( which is probably the cause of
the "glass shards" in the recent tread regarding mixing the media). I would
suspect that they are caused by not annealing the piece[ veeery slow
cooling ])
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of Claudia
Kashpureff
Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2004 3:39 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Multi-purpose dream kiln?
Hello, one and all!
This is my first posting, so let me introduce myself: I'm an ex-electrical
engineer who enjoys pottery and jewelry smithing. I've also begun to
explore glass arts, and I've recently purchased a medium-fire kiln (to
1800F) that will serve me well for annealing beads, fusing glass, and
casting gold and silver...
But of course I've already begun to think about designing and building a
"dream kiln" that will allow me to fully enjoy pottery, too... and since I
have an electrical engineering background, I can pretty much design any kind
of kiln I want.
A kiln with a programmable controller that will remember dozens of different
ramp/soak/cooling sequences? Can do.
A kiln with a vacuum pump for casting platinum and easing out air bubbles
from melting glass or glaze? Sure, no problem.
Different heating zones? Automatic cooling/venting during specific points
in a programmed sequence? Sure, I can design a kiln that does that, too...
But it occurred to me as I was thinking about all of these options that if
I'm going to go to all the trouble to design a multi-use, state-of-the-art,
AFFORDABLE kiln, maybe there are dream features others would want... and
maybe -- since I found out I live near a major refractory maker -- I could
design a kiln that could be manufactured in quantity, with custom-order
modular construction, that could be useful to lots of people.
So I'm asking all of you (but especially those of you who enjoy multiple
kiln arts), What's your dream kiln? What features of your own kilns have
you found especially irritating, and what would you change if you could? If
you could afford any kiln available, is there one already on the market that
fits your ideal? Or does even that "dream" kiln lack some desirable
feature?
Any and all responses and ideas will be appreciated.
Oh, and nice to meet you all!
Love,
Claudia
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