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RE: Help... trish 03-01-2008
Posted by trish on March 1, 2008, 1:06 pm
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Hello Lifesavers,

To answer some of your questions...I live in Spring, TX, northern
suburb of Houston. There are a lot of arts & crafts types around here,
but so far I have not found much help for my kiln questions. People
who have experience around here seem to guard it like Fort Knox. My
teacher at the junior college held a masters in studio arts from Cal
Berkeley and did/does all kiln loading as he claims to have never
broken pieces due to his methods??? So, I got some good education as
to making stuff, but little or no practical experience as to loading
and firing. I have bought books and taken some out from the library,
but kiln speak is like Greek to me. I have very little
understanding...



The kiln I bought is a Blue Diamond model 123D. It stands about chest
high and is about arms width -- pretty big. I was told that it had
never been used but sustained minor damage in storage (a couple of
missing/broken bricks). I have yet to try and turn it on though I
spent a bundle having special wiring put in to accommodate it. I
think it is manual. I also think it needs what I've read is kiln
furniture??? One suggestion from another neighbor is that I just plug
it in and see what happens. Since it goes to 2300 degrees that is
intimidating; I don't want to set fire to the house if I screw up.



The story is that this kiln was bought for my neighbor's mom (who won
awards for her ceramics), but who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and
cannot be safely around any type of electrical oven-type appliances.
Though never used I can see a couple of missing bricks. She gave me
some cones -- different sizes, and I don't even know which size goes
with what.



I guess I am kiln challenged mentally and though new to ceramics, I'm
a mom with grown children and not in physical shape to do more than my
own work. I can't see me helping load pottery at the college...just
too old for that even if they would let me (very proprietary around
here). I've even thought of selling the works but would first like to
give this a real try, especially due to the cost of the wiring.



I did try some time back to contact Blue Diamond and was not
successful, maybe things have improved in Metairie since then, but
still don't know if I will understand a manual. So, there are lots of
knobs and all I think I understand so far is slowly raise the
temperature for eight hours to bisque??? But what temperature and how
slowly?



Also there are several octagonal looking shelf things...I guess this
is kiln furniture, but nothing to hold them up. Sorry to be so dumb,
but I really didn't expect this to be such a mystery. Thanks for the
feedback, though, it feels great to actually have people who seem
willing to share what they know. Any and all advice is most welcome!


Posted by Bruce Glassford on March 1, 2008, 4:45 pm
Please log in for more thread options
trish wrote:
> Hello Lifesavers,
>
> To answer some of your questions...I live in Spring, TX, northern
> suburb of Houston. There are a lot of arts & crafts types around here,
> but so far I have not found much help for my kiln questions. People
> who have experience around here seem to guard it like Fort Knox. My
> teacher at the junior college held a masters in studio arts from Cal
> Berkeley and did/does all kiln loading as he claims to have never
> broken pieces due to his methods??? So, I got some good education as
> to making stuff, but little or no practical experience as to loading
> and firing. I have bought books and taken some out from the library,
> but kiln speak is like Greek to me. I have very little
> understanding...
>
>
> The kiln I bought is a Blue Diamond model 123D. It stands about chest
> high and is about arms width -- pretty big. I was told that it had
> never been used but sustained minor damage in storage (a couple of
> missing/broken bricks). I have yet to try and turn it on though I
> spent a bundle having special wiring put in to accommodate it. I
> think it is manual. I also think it needs what I've read is kiln
> furniture??? One suggestion from another neighbor is that I just plug
> it in and see what happens. Since it goes to 2300 degrees that is
> intimidating; I don't want to set fire to the house if I screw up.

Looking at their website, it does appear to be a manual kiln, with a
kiln watcher. I'd call the company and see if they have a repair rep
around - they would be familiar with the kilns and should be able to
check it out for safety. If you need kiln furniture (posts & shelves),
you can get it from them too (although mail order is likely cheaper -
but if you buy local, they might come over & show you the ropes).
>
> The story is that this kiln was bought for my neighbor's mom (who won
> awards for her ceramics), but who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and
> cannot be safely around any type of electrical oven-type appliances.
> Though never used I can see a couple of missing bricks. She gave me
> some cones -- different sizes, and I don't even know which size goes
> with what.

There's four sizes/shapes of cones - small bars to use in the kiln
sitter (which is a backup safety device to shut off the kiln when it's
hot enough), small cones that can be used in the kiln sitter or visible
through peep holes to monitor the firing, and large cones that are used
to monitor the firing process (cone packs visible through peepholes
and/or scattered around the kiln). There's also self-supporting cones
(large cones on a base) that don't need holders and are used the same as
large cones.
>
>
>
> I guess I am kiln challenged mentally and though new to ceramics, I'm
> a mom with grown children and not in physical shape to do more than my
> own work. I can't see me helping load pottery at the college...just
> too old for that even if they would let me (very proprietary around
> here). I've even thought of selling the works but would first like to
> give this a real try, especially due to the cost of the wiring.
>

See if they'll let you watch while they load a time or two - that will
give you an idea of what's involved, and if the loaders are at all
chatty, you'll pick up a lot of tips on the way by.
>
> I did try some time back to contact Blue Diamond and was not
> successful, maybe things have improved in Metairie since then, but
> still don't know if I will understand a manual. So, there are lots of
> knobs and all I think I understand so far is slowly raise the
> temperature for eight hours to bisque??? But what temperature and how
> slowly?

Bisque is usually to cone 06 or 04 (depending on the clay and glazes -
I've been taught to bisque to 06, fire to 6, the glazes recommend 04
bisque). Hard to tell without looking at the kiln, but... what I'd
expect to see is 2 or three knobs marked "high/medium/low" - those
control the elements, plus a timer knob that turns the kiln off when it
runs out (backup to the kiln sitter).

There's some useful pdfs at
http://www.brackers.com/pdf_library/pdf_library.cfm that discuss cones
and kiln sitters. With luck, you have a Dawson kiln sitter and the
manual is there for it.

L&L Kiln's website has a lot of good info on it - including this one on
firing a manual kiln. The first discussion is a glaze fire, the second
is a bisque fire.

http://www.hotkilns.com/fire-manual-kiln.html

They also have other pdfs in the download section.

>
>
>
> Also there are several octagonal looking shelf things...I guess this
> is kiln furniture, but nothing to hold them up. Sorry to be so dumb,
> but I really didn't expect this to be such a mystery. Thanks for the
> feedback, though, it feels great to actually have people who seem
> willing to share what they know. Any and all advice is most welcome!
>

Ahh, you have shelves, but no posts.... You'll need 3 posts per half
shelf (I suspect you can use 3 with a full shelf too, set up as a
triangle, but I only have half shelves, and would probably go with 4 per
full shelf). The pack I got with my kiln came with sets of (6 each)
1/2", 1", 2", 3", 4" as I recall.

.. Good luck

... Bruce

Posted by on March 1, 2008, 4:51 pm
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Another suggestion: Check out some of your local secondary schools to see
if they have an "adult education" class in pottery. Also, sometimes
colleges have classes you can sit in on for free. At least then, you can
ask questions. As a self taught potter, myself, the road is long...but,
rewarding. There is alot to learn and it seems it never ends!
cheers

> Hello Lifesavers,
>
> To answer some of your questions...I live in Spring, TX, northern
> suburb of Houston. There are a lot of arts & crafts types around here,
> but so far I have not found much help for my kiln questions. People
> who have experience around here seem to guard it like Fort Knox. My
> teacher at the junior college held a masters in studio arts from Cal
> Berkeley and did/does all kiln loading as he claims to have never
> broken pieces due to his methods??? So, I got some good education as
> to making stuff, but little or no practical experience as to loading
> and firing. I have bought books and taken some out from the library,
> but kiln speak is like Greek to me. I have very little
> understanding...
>
>
>
> The kiln I bought is a Blue Diamond model 123D. It stands about chest
> high and is about arms width -- pretty big. I was told that it had
> never been used but sustained minor damage in storage (a couple of
> missing/broken bricks). I have yet to try and turn it on though I
> spent a bundle having special wiring put in to accommodate it. I
> think it is manual. I also think it needs what I've read is kiln
> furniture??? One suggestion from another neighbor is that I just plug
> it in and see what happens. Since it goes to 2300 degrees that is
> intimidating; I don't want to set fire to the house if I screw up.
>
>
>
> The story is that this kiln was bought for my neighbor's mom (who won
> awards for her ceramics), but who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and
> cannot be safely around any type of electrical oven-type appliances.
> Though never used I can see a couple of missing bricks. She gave me
> some cones -- different sizes, and I don't even know which size goes
> with what.
>
>
>
> I guess I am kiln challenged mentally and though new to ceramics, I'm
> a mom with grown children and not in physical shape to do more than my
> own work. I can't see me helping load pottery at the college...just
> too old for that even if they would let me (very proprietary around
> here). I've even thought of selling the works but would first like to
> give this a real try, especially due to the cost of the wiring.
>
>
>
> I did try some time back to contact Blue Diamond and was not
> successful, maybe things have improved in Metairie since then, but
> still don't know if I will understand a manual. So, there are lots of
> knobs and all I think I understand so far is slowly raise the
> temperature for eight hours to bisque??? But what temperature and how
> slowly?
>
>
>
> Also there are several octagonal looking shelf things...I guess this
> is kiln furniture, but nothing to hold them up. Sorry to be so dumb,
> but I really didn't expect this to be such a mystery. Thanks for the
> feedback, though, it feels great to actually have people who seem
> willing to share what they know. Any and all advice is most welcome!
>



Posted by D Kat on March 1, 2008, 9:55 pm
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Although I do not agree with what your teacher did (not allowing students
take part in all aspects of the pottery experience) I can understand their
wanting to protect other students work. Still, I would be very surprised if
they would object to you observing them load and use the kiln. For a bisque
firing you can stack pots and have them touching sides. You have to be
careful to not put heavy pieces on top of light pieces. You can stack rim
to rim and foot to foot. Think in terms of not putting stress on fragile
walls. Once upon a time I could fill an entire bisque kiln without using
any shelves. Of course it was a small kiln - probably 4 cubic feet. Your
kiln is too large and you are too inexperienced to load without shelves.
Keep in mind that clay is going to expand and shrink during firing. Pots
within pots have to have enough room to account for this.

http://www.bluediamondkiln.com/model-123-d.html

DO NOT just plug the kiln in without knowing what you are doing. You will
probably need an electrician to install the proper plug with the wiring for
the voltage and amperage you need. You need to be sure that you are the
requred distance from any flamable material. These kilns get HOT. Your
kiln appears to be a manual with a cone sitter in it. I can give you a
sample of what you would do for a bisque fire and you can tell me what does
and does not make sense. A guess is that after you 'candle' your kiln it
will take about 12 hours to fire.

Make sure that you have venting one way or another - if you don't have a
kiln vent have open windows and a fan. The fumes coming off pottery can be
quite nasty.

Load your kiln. Make sure that you have the 04 or 06 cone properly in
place in the kiln sitter and that you have in position where you can see
them through the peep hole at least 3 cones for monitoring the kiln- one
which is 1 below the temperature you are firing to, one at the target
temperature and one above the temperature - for example 07, 06, 05. More
on this later.

Turn the bottom control onto low. Have the peep holes out and the lid held
open with a brick. Let it run overnight (this is called candling and is a
precaution to make sure your pieces are dry).

In the morning shut the lid and turn the middle control onto low. Run for
an hour then turn the top controller on low.

Put the peep hole plugs in. Run for an hour then turn the bottom controller
onto medium. Proceed in this fashion (one controller upped one level for
every level) until all the controllers are on high.

If life were perfect, when your kiln reached the heat work you wanted (what
the cone responds to rather than temperature) then the kiln sitter would
fall and your kiln would shut off. Life is seldom perfect. You have to
monitor your kiln using cones to show what the heat work is in the kiln.
You use 3 cones typically or at least until you are comfortable with your
firing. The three cones are a guide cone, the target cone and the guard
cone. The guide cone is the one that is one number below the target cone
and the guard cone is one number above the target. Let us say that you are
firing to cone 06. Your guide would be 07, your target cone would be 06 and
your guard would be 05. Notice that guide number is higher than the target
cone which is higher than the guard. Cones that are preceeded with a zero
go from high to low and vs for those without a zero - so rank order would be
022, 021, 020....., 07, 06, 04....01, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... 02 is for a
lower temperature than 01 but cone 2 is higher than cone 1.

You need to monitor your firing to be sure that it does not over fire or
under fire. If the target cone has dropped and your kiln sitter has not
dropped you will have carefully watch and if the guard cone begins to fall
then turn the kiln off manually. If your kiln sitter drops too early you
can carefully set it again. It will now be without the cone in the kiln
sitter to make it turn off so you will have monitor your cones and manually
shut off the kiln when the target cone drops. To look at your cones you
need to be wearing glasses to protect your eyes. I'm not sure where to tell
you to get these. Usually you get them when you buy a kiln. I'm surprised
the person you bought the kiln from did not have posts, glasses and gloves.

The cones that you monitor the firing with and you do not have self
supporting one will have to be put in a kiln holder which you probably don't
have or you can easily make a kiln pad. For this you roll out a log of clay
about 3" long and 5/8" Diameter, carefullly place the cones in the pad and
let the clay dry. The cones must go in the right order and direction.
http://www.ortonceramic.com/resources/reference/correct_use.shtml
read mounting cones.

Again all of this is easy to demonstrate and difficult to talk you through.
If you can become a member of a pottery studio, which will if nothing else
allow you to observe, it would be far better.

Donna



> Hello Lifesavers,
>
> To answer some of your questions...I live in Spring, TX, northern
> suburb of Houston. There are a lot of arts & crafts types around here,
> but so far I have not found much help for my kiln questions. People
> who have experience around here seem to guard it like Fort Knox. My
> teacher at the junior college held a masters in studio arts from Cal
> Berkeley and did/does all kiln loading as he claims to have never
> broken pieces due to his methods??? So, I got some good education as
> to making stuff, but little or no practical experience as to loading
> and firing. I have bought books and taken some out from the library,
> but kiln speak is like Greek to me. I have very little
> understanding...
>
>
>
> The kiln I bought is a Blue Diamond model 123D. It stands about chest
> high and is about arms width -- pretty big. I was told that it had
> never been used but sustained minor damage in storage (a couple of
> missing/broken bricks). I have yet to try and turn it on though I
> spent a bundle having special wiring put in to accommodate it. I
> think it is manual. I also think it needs what I've read is kiln
> furniture??? One suggestion from another neighbor is that I just plug
> it in and see what happens. Since it goes to 2300 degrees that is
> intimidating; I don't want to set fire to the house if I screw up.
>
>
>
> The story is that this kiln was bought for my neighbor's mom (who won
> awards for her ceramics), but who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and
> cannot be safely around any type of electrical oven-type appliances.
> Though never used I can see a couple of missing bricks. She gave me
> some cones -- different sizes, and I don't even know which size goes
> with what.
>
>
>
> I guess I am kiln challenged mentally and though new to ceramics, I'm
> a mom with grown children and not in physical shape to do more than my
> own work. I can't see me helping load pottery at the college...just
> too old for that even if they would let me (very proprietary around
> here). I've even thought of selling the works but would first like to
> give this a real try, especially due to the cost of the wiring.
>
>
>
> I did try some time back to contact Blue Diamond and was not
> successful, maybe things have improved in Metairie since then, but
> still don't know if I will understand a manual. So, there are lots of
> knobs and all I think I understand so far is slowly raise the
> temperature for eight hours to bisque??? But what temperature and how
> slowly?
>
>
>
> Also there are several octagonal looking shelf things...I guess this
> is kiln furniture, but nothing to hold them up. Sorry to be so dumb,
> but I really didn't expect this to be such a mystery. Thanks for the
> feedback, though, it feels great to actually have people who seem
> willing to share what they know. Any and all advice is most welcome!
>



Posted by on March 2, 2008, 8:30 pm
Please log in for more thread options
I have an answer! One way for a beginner potter to understand the process:
including loading a kiln, types of clays, how to make glazes and such:
now don't laugh....There is a section of this book that does a wonderful job
of explaining it all: you may have to order it:
"Reader's Digest CRAFTS AND HOBBIES --a step by step guide to creative
skills"
ISBN 0-89577-063-6 copyright, 1979
I think someone I referred this book to, got a new copy....however, by now,
I bet you would have to pick up a copy at a book dealer.
(as a sidenote, there are also glass projects, quilting, etc in the book
also. I still use it at times to help students see how lids are made, types
of coilbuilding projects, etc.)
I hope this helps.
Ren


> Although I do not agree with what your teacher did (not allowing students
> take part in all aspects of the pottery experience) I can understand their
> wanting to protect other students work. Still, I would be very surprised
> if they would object to you observing them load and use the kiln. For a
> bisque firing you can stack pots and have them touching sides. You have
> to be careful to not put heavy pieces on top of light pieces. You can
> stack rim to rim and foot to foot. Think in terms of not putting stress
> on fragile walls. Once upon a time I could fill an entire bisque kiln
> without using any shelves. Of course it was a small kiln - probably 4
> cubic feet. Your kiln is too large and you are too inexperienced to load
> without shelves. Keep in mind that clay is going to expand and shrink
> during firing. Pots within pots have to have enough room to account for
> this.
>
> http://www.bluediamondkiln.com/model-123-d.html
>
> DO NOT just plug the kiln in without knowing what you are doing. You will
> probably need an electrician to install the proper plug with the wiring
> for the voltage and amperage you need. You need to be sure that you are
> the requred distance from any flamable material. These kilns get HOT.
> Your kiln appears to be a manual with a cone sitter in it. I can give you
> a sample of what you would do for a bisque fire and you can tell me what
> does and does not make sense. A guess is that after you 'candle' your
> kiln it will take about 12 hours to fire.
>
> Make sure that you have venting one way or another - if you don't have a
> kiln vent have open windows and a fan. The fumes coming off pottery can
> be quite nasty.
>
> Load your kiln. Make sure that you have the 04 or 06 cone properly in
> place in the kiln sitter and that you have in position where you can see
> them through the peep hole at least 3 cones for monitoring the kiln- one
> which is 1 below the temperature you are firing to, one at the target
> temperature and one above the temperature - for example 07, 06, 05. More
> on this later.
>
> Turn the bottom control onto low. Have the peep holes out and the lid
> held open with a brick. Let it run overnight (this is called candling and
> is a precaution to make sure your pieces are dry).
>
> In the morning shut the lid and turn the middle control onto low. Run for
> an hour then turn the top controller on low.
>
> Put the peep hole plugs in. Run for an hour then turn the bottom
> controller onto medium. Proceed in this fashion (one controller upped one
> level for every level) until all the controllers are on high.
>
> If life were perfect, when your kiln reached the heat work you wanted
> (what the cone responds to rather than temperature) then the kiln sitter
> would fall and your kiln would shut off. Life is seldom perfect. You
> have to monitor your kiln using cones to show what the heat work is in the
> kiln. You use 3 cones typically or at least until you are comfortable with
> your firing. The three cones are a guide cone, the target cone and the
> guard cone. The guide cone is the one that is one number below the
> target cone and the guard cone is one number above the target. Let us say
> that you are firing to cone 06. Your guide would be 07, your target cone
> would be 06 and your guard would be 05. Notice that guide number is
> higher than the target cone which is higher than the guard. Cones that
> are preceeded with a zero go from high to low and vs for those without a
> zero - so rank order would be 022, 021, 020....., 07, 06, 04....01, 1, 2,
> 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... 02 is for a lower temperature than 01 but cone 2 is
> higher than cone 1.
>
> You need to monitor your firing to be sure that it does not over fire or
> under fire. If the target cone has dropped and your kiln sitter has not
> dropped you will have carefully watch and if the guard cone begins to fall
> then turn the kiln off manually. If your kiln sitter drops too early you
> can carefully set it again. It will now be without the cone in the kiln
> sitter to make it turn off so you will have monitor your cones and
> manually shut off the kiln when the target cone drops. To look at your
> cones you need to be wearing glasses to protect your eyes. I'm not sure
> where to tell you to get these. Usually you get them when you buy a kiln.
> I'm surprised the person you bought the kiln from did not have posts,
> glasses and gloves.
>
> The cones that you monitor the firing with and you do not have self
> supporting one will have to be put in a kiln holder which you probably
> don't have or you can easily make a kiln pad. For this you roll out a log
> of clay about 3" long and 5/8" Diameter, carefullly place the cones in the
> pad and let the clay dry. The cones must go in the right order and
> direction.
> http://www.ortonceramic.com/resources/reference/correct_use.shtml
> read mounting cones.
>
> Again all of this is easy to demonstrate and difficult to talk you
> through. If you can become a member of a pottery studio, which will if
> nothing else allow you to observe, it would be far better.
>
> Donna
>
>
>
>> Hello Lifesavers,
>>
>> To answer some of your questions...I live in Spring, TX, northern
>> suburb of Houston. There are a lot of arts & crafts types around here,
>> but so far I have not found much help for my kiln questions. People
>> who have experience around here seem to guard it like Fort Knox. My
>> teacher at the junior college held a masters in studio arts from Cal
>> Berkeley and did/does all kiln loading as he claims to have never
>> broken pieces due to his methods??? So, I got some good education as
>> to making stuff, but little or no practical experience as to loading
>> and firing. I have bought books and taken some out from the library,
>> but kiln speak is like Greek to me. I have very little
>> understanding...
>>
>>
>>
>> The kiln I bought is a Blue Diamond model 123D. It stands about chest
>> high and is about arms width -- pretty big. I was told that it had
>> never been used but sustained minor damage in storage (a couple of
>> missing/broken bricks). I have yet to try and turn it on though I
>> spent a bundle having special wiring put in to accommodate it. I
>> think it is manual. I also think it needs what I've read is kiln
>> furniture??? One suggestion from another neighbor is that I just plug
>> it in and see what happens. Since it goes to 2300 degrees that is
>> intimidating; I don't want to set fire to the house if I screw up.
>>
>>
>>
>> The story is that this kiln was bought for my neighbor's mom (who won
>> awards for her ceramics), but who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and
>> cannot be safely around any type of electrical oven-type appliances.
>> Though never used I can see a couple of missing bricks. She gave me
>> some cones -- different sizes, and I don't even know which size goes
>> with what.
>>
>>
>>
>> I guess I am kiln challenged mentally and though new to ceramics, I'm
>> a mom with grown children and not in physical shape to do more than my
>> own work. I can't see me helping load pottery at the college...just
>> too old for that even if they would let me (very proprietary around
>> here). I've even thought of selling the works but would first like to
>> give this a real try, especially due to the cost of the wiring.
>>
>>
>>
>> I did try some time back to contact Blue Diamond and was not
>> successful, maybe things have improved in Metairie since then, but
>> still don't know if I will understand a manual. So, there are lots of
>> knobs and all I think I understand so far is slowly raise the
>> temperature for eight hours to bisque??? But what temperature and how
>> slowly?
>>
>>
>>
>> Also there are several octagonal looking shelf things...I guess this
>> is kiln furniture, but nothing to hold them up. Sorry to be so dumb,
>> but I really didn't expect this to be such a mystery. Thanks for the
>> feedback, though, it feels great to actually have people who seem
>> willing to share what they know. Any and all advice is most welcome!
>>
>
>




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