John Rodgers on mon 21 aug 06
There have been - over a period of time - queries to Clayart regarding
how easy kilns might be to operate. Ladies especially have had concerns.
I had never given it too much thought until recently, when I got
involved in some heavy kiln firing. I thought I might take a minute and
express my view.
Since May, I have been doing some seriously heavy firing - as many as
ten separate kiln firing operations at a time - some in my own kilns,
some in kilns of friends - and I have encountered some interesting kilns
and lid arrangements in the process.
I have - or did until recently - a big old Crusader kiln - 36 inches
across, and the lid was strictly manually operated. Heaaavy! It was a
one-man or two woman lid. Any lady clay person would have problems with
it. Other kilns that I out-sourced to with friends, also had similar
lids, wide, heavy. Anyone of small stature would have problems with
those lids, and only persons with sufficient strength could lift those
lids. In the bunch, there was a large diameter L&L, two very large
diameter Olympics, and one Olympic oval, a Blue Diamond and some others,
And not one of them had any counterbalance for the lids.
My current stable of kilns consists of two Paragon SnF-24 Cone 8 kilns ,
and two computer controlled Paragon TnF 24 Cone 10 kilns, and one small
old Duncan as a test kiln.
The four Paragons have a lid system Paragon calls LiteLid. This system
uses a spring counter balance that makes opening and closing the lids
incredibly easy, even with the three inch thickness in the lids of the
cone 10 models. The lid support system is made in such a way as to
allow the lid to float up and down about 1/8 inch or so all the way
around, and this allows the lid to seek it own seating, thus acquiring
a more perfect seal. It also makes for self adjustments during the
growth distortion of the kiln that occurs in all kilns when firing.
Paragon recently made an upgrade to this system and the upgrade can be
installed on older Paragons to ensure that more perfect seal and ease of
operation. I suspect that it could be installed on other brands as well
if one were a little inovative.
Every kiln I worked with during this period of high production that did
not have a counterbalance system had hinge problems.
Anyone looking to buy a new kiln, would do well to look at the Paragon
kilns with their Litelid system.
I don't have any interest in Paragon, but I do like my kilns. I think
they are first quality, both in design and performance. I have not had
any of my Paragons over two years, but time will tell of their longevity.
Regards,
John Rodgers
Chelsea, AL
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