Yesterday I ran out of glaze.
Which prompted a trip over the hill into town for more clear goodness.
To be honest I'm getting sort of tired of making white bowls.
Okay, they got some color on the inside, but they look sort of plain and I'm not known for plain.
If you know what I mean.
So anyways, after I got back I had to do some more work on the Big Kiln.
The lid on that thing must weigh in at around twenty or thirty pounds and there's no way of holding it open.
The place where it was parked before was close to a wall so the lid was just opened and leaned back.
Well, there's no wall where it is now and that makes loading it up an adventure.
So my solution was to make a hanger thingy:
The lid is just a bit shy of upright so there isn't a ton of stress on the hanger thingy.
I used to prop the lid up with a stick but that was precarious at best so getting that lid up and out of the way has made loading the Big Kiln a breeze.
Which I did yesterday.
Loaded it up I mean.
The last firing I did took about ten hours, which to me is a long time for an electric kiln.
Then again it's about ten cubic feet large so I suppose it does take some time.
Here's all the heat leaking out from under the lid:
Not a pretty sight.
At least for me.
I'd like that lid to sit flush but that ain't happening as the edge of rim has been worn down over the years and I'd have to shave off about a quarter inch all around.
You can see two vent ports on the left.
I'm thinking of maybe trashing this kiln and saving up for something a bit smaller, maybe around seven cubes, something with the same height but smaller in width.
The Big Kiln reaching temp:
Okay so I got about another 15 stuffs to glaze so I better get going!
Maybe two more firings, one more glaze and another just in case, you know, if anything needs to be fired again.
Having the Big Kiln helps as I can probably fit all 15 stuffs in there at once, with some room to spare.
It also allows me to work on larger things, which is a good thing since the Hawaii Craftsman show is coming up.
Maybe the ability to work big will inspire me.
3 comments:
What WOULD your new photography students say?
Can you put some non-RCF ceramic fiber insulation under that lid to insulate the crack?
Steve A, IDK, what would my students say?
JRA, there is a high temp fibre I can use, but it's sort of toxic and that area sees a lot of contact as that's where I lean in to load up the ceramic goodness.
I'm going to see if I can use a kiln mortar to build that area back up.
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