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  3. (Sorry Bill, I broke my two cup rule. Never answer questions until I finish the second cup.) if that coffee where stronger (fresh ground beans) only one cup would be nessacary.
  4. In 1979, I paid $1000 for a catenary 12 cu ft hardbrick kiln and assorted shelves and glazes. 'Course, it had to be mapped, disassembled, hauled across town in an ancient pickup (stop loading when tires distort), bricks cleaned and reassembled. Oh, we were an energetic crew of potters and friends!
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  6. you probably already have this book but just in case.....https://www.amazon.com/Kiln-Book-Frederick-L-Olsen/dp/0812221869 prob lots of answers in there I used to have a gas burner ca ternary arch brick kiln and i had to reduce the size of the flue opening - a friend helped me - I probably should have read the book!
  7. congratulations on summoning up the courage to get started! i assume that the numbers are measurements, do you use metric in Poland?
  8. Interesting layout. A catenary arch will hold itself up, other arches need bracing but will be a bit roomier in the curve.
  9. ”If anyone﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ ran measured effects of heat work, it would be Orton Sr. He wrote several abstracts for American Ceramic Society, I will nose around and see what I can find. The other﻿ source﻿ would be Ougland and Bri﻿ndle﻿y from the British Ceramic Society: "Effects of a High Tem﻿p﻿era﻿ture o﻿﻿n Kaolini﻿te﻿﻿"﻿﻿﻿. Tom, please post the complete citation information (author name, article title, journal official name, volume, issue, page, and publication date). LT
  10. I read the emailed version of this project. Sounds like it will be as perfect as you can make it! Heated closets!!!
  11. I'd vote for this query to be a new Qotw -it has a beat, you can dance to it.
  12. Both my Cone Art and Pottery Supply House (Euclids) kilns use peephole covers not plugs. They swing open or closed, don't stick out or get lost since they're attached to the kiln jacket. I prefer the stainless ones on the Cone Art Kiln, PSH kiln ones are stoneware. (would be easy to make some) I do like having them to check cone packs once in a while.
  13. I gave up on trying to look in to see the cones, but I think it helps to remove them to cool that last 200 degrees, other than that I have no use for them since I use a vent. I have a solid one that came with the kiln, only sticks out 1 inch or so, they could all be like that as far as I'm concerned.
  14. So obviously we need peep holes from time to time, but why are there so many, and when I'm doing brick repair, can I just get rid of some of them. I leave my top peep open, I like to see a cone drop. But the rest are kind of a waste, and when I break one with my shin, I'm wondering A. Why don't I be alittle more careful B. Why can't I plug that hole with something that doesn't protrude into the path of a shin, thigh, hip. Please avail me of thy kiln wisdom.
  15. Bill Van Gilder talked about this in one of his videos, said the foot ring acts as a fulcrum, pulls the rim down and the base up. He makes the base slightly concave to compensate.
  16. Maybe, just never have seen a timer speed up. Late add: the timer is downstream of the sitter so if there was time still left on it, looks like the sitter shut it off.
  17. I still love my drycleaner bags, I can't remember the last time I actually drycleaned anything, but it didn't keep me from stopping in one and asking if they had any discards. I'm still using them, and that was 5-7 years ago, with a bag of them still in storage lol. They are light, they drape well, I double, sometimes triple them up to control drying.....and sticking with the subject, my workbench is clear, I'm ready to start again, pitchers are the need for this week
  18. Thank you Bob...why do you think it is the kiln sitter? It has never tripped, unless I have removed the cone from the brackets. That’s why I was thinking it was the limit timer. I was hoping that setting it on 12 would eliminate the issue (previously, I had set it per Cress’ recommendation at about 1hr longer than the expected firing time-between 6-8 hours). Prior to setting it to 12, the kiln had always shut off after 2-3 hours. To me, it seems as if the kiln is firing for slightly less than half of what the limit timer is set for....
  19. Sounds like your sitter needs adjustment, cleaning and checking. All the power comes into the sitter so if it trips, everything turns off. There are several you tube videos out there that may be helpful, search kiln sitter if you are a DIY er. My guess is the slightest bend of your cone shuts it off prematurely. Maybe a bent rod, but service just the same. I believe your wiring diagram below and a screenshot of the manual. Both are available on the Cress site.
  20. Staying off topic We have Kenyan Hansen here for today and tomorrow for our residents. Should see some nice soda work Monday morning by all.
  21. I recently purchased a second hand Cress FX-911 kiln. It has a kiln sitter and a Firemate Control. I have been trying to fire it for almost a week. Yesterday, I had some success, but something is still not right. I was firing to 04, to bisque fire some cookies and test the kiln. By setting the limit timer to 12 (the longest setting available), the Firemate to C (medium), and the thumbwheel to 1, I did manage to get the elements to heat up to red hot, and the kiln sitter cone bent a little I don’t have a pyrometer, but based on the cone (see pic), I’m guessing that the kiln got to around 06 after about 5 hours of firing. What happened yesterday, and has happened in the past, is that the power to the kiln shuts off (the light on the kiln sitter goes off), but the kiln sitter has not dropped, and the time on the limit timer has not elapsed. The kiln is plugged into a GFCI outlet, which has not tripped. I’m thinking maybe there is something wrong with the limit timer? I eventually would like to fire bisque to 04, and glaze fire to 5. Help!
  22. Bill: results from Ougland & Brindley study on heat work. 2192F (1200C) minimum further development of the clay body after this point. Minor decreases in absorption, along with minor increases in glass content. See chart below. Typical cone six ramp hold temperature for maturity. ----------------- --------------------- 2192F (1200C.). Glass 62. Silica 21. Mullite 19 2372F (1300C). Glass 66. Silica 16. Mullite 21 (Ougland & Brindley) Off topic, Ron Roy emailed me: he is doing a work shop nearby in June. Looking forward to seeing my friend. Tom
  23. Thanks oldlady so much but my country is egypt. i made too much trials and searches about this material every where but find no thing most of people mentioned using of oil as base for this material but oil is not efficient. am waiting for the recipe you got from the book.
  24. Good point - just to add, For newbies the 108 - 125 final rate segment in the last 200 - 250 degrees will get your cone to bend at or near the published temperature. The cone chart is based on it. Cone 04 - cone 6 - cone 10. The heatwork in the final segment is most significant to maturity and I find the simplified thermodynamic approach is simpler for most to grasp. We often use a simple analogy when students ask about firing to lower cones and adding a hold. At some point it becomes non functional, insignificant and doesn’t work. Our simple analogy is cooking a pizza. Cook it forever at 200 degrees, probably never gonna work. Cook it at 425 for 10 minutes and it’s a masterpiece! (Hopefully) I just don’t want folks to feel this is a cone 6 thing, it’s a maturity and heatwork thing that applies reasonably well throughout. Just my thought though ..... I think I will warm up the oven, pizza for lunch!
  25. Mama is like snot. Unless you thin it a lot its going to clog the gun. You can stick wood ash or iron wash without Magma. Not many here use the stuff-I love the stuff but only in needed applications let us know how it turns out-I suggets thinning it with hot water in a blender before adding to any sporay mix. Not sure why you would use it to spray? unless you mean you are using it in thiose glazes or washes then spraying it?? And if so I thionk you will have zero issues doing so.
  26. Thanks for all the tips! Based on all the info gathered, my next step is to sieve the glaze. Will check back with results!
  27. Tom, for the sake of clarity (for the newer potters on the forum) it would be a good idea to say this would be for a cone 6 firing. Thanks.
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