Chris Groat on sat 13 jan 07
The other day I was cleaning out my electric kiln. I leaned into the kiln
to grap the stilts at the very bottom of the kiln, and I ended up breaking
off a fairly sizable chunk of fire brick from the top of the kiln. Several
inches of the heating elements were exposed. I didn't want to just leave
the piece out, and I also didn't want to just rest it back in place. I
ended up using some slip to hold the piece in place. After the next
firing, you could easily see that the slip had been 'cured' or was at
least partially vitrified. Now the piece is cemented in place, and it's
probably stronger than it was before. Has anyone ever heard of doing this?
Could anything bad result from me doing this? If not, I guess I might do
it again in the future to fix minor chips in the brick.
Chris Groat on tue 16 jan 07
Yeah, I remember reading in the owner's manual that debris should be kept
off the elements, so I do vacuum the kiln on a regular basis. I was
careful to keep the elements clean, and after several firings now, it
seems to be holding up. Thanks for the replies, and I will let you know if
I have any problems. I'm currently in the process of destroying my kiln
shelves because I'm experimenting with crystalline glazes for the first
time ever... :) They are gorgeous though!
Arnold Howard on tue 16 jan 07
From: "Chris Groat"
> ended up using some slip to hold the piece in place. After
> the next
> firing, you could easily see that the slip had been
> 'cured' or was at
> least partially vitrified.
My only concern with using slip to repair bricks is that if
the slip melts into a brick groove at higher firings, it
could destroy an element.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
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