Kristine Allen on mon 13 dec 04
Hello, I'm new to the group. I have a small top-loading dawson kiln.
Inside is 9x11. Currently I am glazing to cone 06. My kiln is completly
manual and I use witness cones only...no pyrometer or anything remotely
modern. My 06 glaze schedule is as follows: (oh I use amaco red earth
clay and fire bisque at 04.)
first hour I turn kiln to 20 and leave the plugs out and the lid cracked
open
after the first hour has elapsed I close the lid and plug the peeps and
crank the kiln to 100
I usually make it to cone 06 in 4.5 hours doing this schedule.
Then I turn the kiln down to 50 for two hours and then I turn it off and
let it stay closed until the next day.
As all my knowledge has come from books and the internet I would really
appreciate some feedback.
Cindy on tue 14 dec 04
Dear Kristine,
The main criterion for whether you're firing at the right speed is, simply,
your results. Are you happy with them? You could experiment with firing more
slowly and see if it makes a positive difference.
Some glazes respond better to a slower or faster firing. Thicker wares will
fire more thoroughly if the firing is sufficiently slow. Since you're doing
low-fire, that would pertain more to the bisque than to the glaze firing.
You just gotta experiment. Results are the ultimate judge.
Merry Christmas,
Cindy in SD
Subject: Am I firing too fast?
> Hello, I'm new to the group. I have a small top-loading dawson kiln.
> Inside is 9x11. Currently I am glazing to cone 06. My kiln is completly
> manual and I use witness cones only...no pyrometer or anything remotely
> modern. My 06 glaze schedule is as follows: (oh I use amaco red earth
> clay and fire bisque at 04.)
>
> first hour I turn kiln to 20 and leave the plugs out and the lid cracked
> open
>
> after the first hour has elapsed I close the lid and plug the peeps and
> crank the kiln to 100
>
> I usually make it to cone 06 in 4.5 hours doing this schedule.
>
> Then I turn the kiln down to 50 for two hours and then I turn it off and
> let it stay closed until the next day.
>
> As all my knowledge has come from books and the internet I would really
> appreciate some feedback.
Kristine Allen on tue 14 dec 04
Thank you for your responses. I'm going to try firing slower on my next
glaze batch and see if I notice any difference. My last batch came out
real nice -I made ornaments out of an imprint of my toddlers foot that I
cast. The only thing I noticed was that on one of the feet the crystal
glaze I used did some weird bursts, and the bursts seemed to craze a
little, but who knows with those kinds of glazes what will happen!!
I have also read in books that it is good to soak glaze for 30 minutes,
but how would I do this in my kiln with no pyrometer or sitter? How long
can I leave my kiln on 100 before reaching the next cone?
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