mel jacobson on wed 24 may 06
nice post Eleanor.
potters can build or rebuild any kiln to their own specs.
there is no law about that. kaowool is a great product.
electric kilns are really simple tools. brick and coils.
the better kilns probably have better relays and electronics.
basically, they are very similar. axner has beefed up some
of his kilns and uses itc. they are really nice.
i admire folks that experiment, try new things, and
stretch the limits. (note: two women have posted
with really great things they have done to their kilns..nice.)
Eleanor has found a way....and remember what she said..cone 06.
if you fire to a hot 6, you have other problems.
linda blossom has some great ideas re/making electric kilns. read them.
ask her. she has the courage to confront the issue. and she is the
most eager person in america to use itc. in fact she is the only person
i know that itc'd her muffler and exhaust system...on her car.
it is not that hard to take the metal jacket off a kiln.
and, it can be made to refit with some extra metal. ask phil
how to make new holes in stainless...he will be happy to help
you...(note how i offer his services.)
i have had a blanket of insulation around my water heater for
20 years. would never think of `not` having one.
i still warn that the control box must be open to the air.
i love eleanor's idea of a small fan. nice touch.
if prudent care is taken to safely test and use your newly
designed kiln, not take it for granted, see what is going on.
test then use. you should be fine.
i find it disheartening when electric kilns
are thought of as living room furniture.
`oh, my stainless has a stain, how can i clean it.` it is tool
for god's sake...they get dirty, stained, chips of brick fall off.
like eleanor said...`i did not do this for `resale`. it is her kiln.
she uses chicken wire around it...i love the look of that kiln
just as a metaphor....kaowool, chicken wire, extra top....
but, man, you should see what that women produces from that
kiln. magical pots.
mel
from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://my.pclink.com/~melpots3
Arnold Howard on wed 24 may 06
From: "mel jacobson"
> it is not that hard to take the metal jacket off a kiln.
> and, it can be made to refit with some extra metal.
When you remove the stainless steel jacket, there is a
possibility that an element will break, because you have to
remove the element connectors to get the jacket off. So the
best time to remove the jacket is when you need to change
the elements. You may need longer element pigtails anyway
after you've added more insulation.
By the way, redesigning your kiln may void the kiln's UL
listing. One time I changed the wording of the safety rules
silk-screened to the front of the switch boxes. A UL
inspector visited us and noticed the change in wording. We
had to open every crated kiln here so that I could add a
line of text with a rubber stamp and silkscreen ink. That's
how strict UL is.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
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