Ken Nowicki on mon 7 mar 05
When I built my first kiln... a large (20 cu. ft) counterbalance raku fiber
kiln... I used a piece of band steel, welded into a circle, and riveted onto
the kiln's sheet metal skin. I'm guessing the dimensions are around 7" diameter,
with the band steel being around 3/16" thick X 2" wide. I used a round
cordierite kiln shelf with a nifty aluminum handle my brother fabricated for me...
tubular aluminum... bent in sort of a squarish-U-shape... with the two prong
ends drilled and bolted through the shelf. This made it easy to grab the end of
the "U" and slide the shelf in or out... over the flue hole adjusting the
damper.
Several things I learned from this however.
(1) The band steel began to flake little tiny pieces of carbon onto the pots
below after about 10 firings or so. Not good.
(2) The shelf worked fine as a flue hole cover... for a while... then... it
cracked and broke right down the middle. Strangely enough, the cracks didn't
appear near or from the holes that were carefully drilled into it for the handle
attachment.
I had a friend take the steel ring for the flue... to his workplace... where
he worked in the aircraft industry... and he dipped it in chrome for me...
although it is dull looking... not all polished and shiny like the bumper of a
'57 Chevy. So far, it's held up for a few firings with no sign of wear...
however... my studio was dismantled for a move and this kiln hasn't been back in
action for a while now.
Mind you... this took place several years ago... before I knew about ITC. Had
I had to do it all over again... I would coat the steel ring in ITC 213 and
be done with it (which I will probably do anyway once I get it up and running
again... I will definitely coat the ceramic fiber walls of the kiln with 100 HT
as well).
I also would have coated the shelf I used for a flue cover with ITC 100 HT.
I'm fairly certain that this may have helped... as well as perhaps using a
thicker shelf. However, once I get this kiln reinstalled in my yard (eventually...
may be a while yet) I will most certainly try out using the 1" ceramic fiber
board that Kurt and Mel spoke of... sounds like a nifty solution.
Making mistakes. It's how us humans get smart. If you don't ever make any
mistakes... you don't ever learn anything... do you?
*On a side note... in case anyone is interested... the "hybrid" kiln project
I'm working on is very near completion... the "construction phase" anyway...
it's 95% done. It sits patiently waiting to be "tested" (electric only for it's
maiden firing) at L&L's factory. Steve has been swamped lately at L&L and
I've been especially busy here at home with family life... so probably after the
conference we'll have time to test it and make sure that everything is in
order and I can bring it home. I still need to get some things in order here at
home before it can be fired as planned (i.e. - room ventilation system in place,
kiln ventilation system, etc.) but should all come together in the near
future. I'm very excited about this kiln. :-) If I can get my act together enough
this week (big "if" here)... I will try to have some photos of the kiln being
built to share with others that would like to see them at NCECA... but right
now I'm in the midst of some computer issues this week... and most of these
shots are digital... so it may be touch and go... I'm trying though.
Looking forward to seeing everyone next week in Baltimore!
- Ken
Kenneth J. Nowicki
Port Washington, NY
RakuArtist@aol.com
Charter Member/Potters Council
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