Potters & Sculptors - Making Rock from Mud
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Thank you so much! I will definitely be doing this in the near future. :-)
Samantha, There are two reasons to vent your kiln. 1 is to eliminate noxious gases from your indoor environment. 2 is to assist in the the development of colors that are better in a highly oxidizing atmosphere.
For fume control, you only want to pull enough air out the vent to be sure that the bottom vent hole(s) is the only place where gas is escaping the kiln -- all other cracks or openings in the kiln envelope should be drawing air into the kiln. It doesn't take a lot of air flow to achieve this if you don't have a lot of gaps and holes in your kiln. If you can easily climb in temperature at 150 or more degrees an hour at the top of a cone 6 firing, then the vent will not cause your kiln to fail to reach cone 6. Hot air being pulled from the kiln is mixed with a large excess of normal room temperature air right in the boot, immediately bringing the temperature down to just slightly warmer than the room temperature. The volume of hot air being pulled out is in the range of what you could suck through a small soda straw, and you are mixing that with something like 100 cubic ft per minute of cool air in the boot. Your hardware guy is mistaken. Commercial versions of these vents are available from the major kiln manufacturers if you are uncomfortable doing it yourself.
To achieve a constant strong oxidizing atmosphere you want to pull a little more fresh air through your kiln, This is achievable by drilling one or more small holes in the lid of your kiln. This also gives you a way to monitor the draw. Is the flame from a match being drawn down into the hole and how strongly? If this is happening then it is very unlikely that gases are escaping anywhere except at the vent.
Hi! I'm a newb and I have a question about this process. I went to a hardware store to get everything to make this work for my space, and the person who helped me seemed to think that either the kiln wouldn't keep heat, or that the tube/boot might not be able to stand the heat of the air from the kiln. Are these things I need to be worried about? I have everything and now I'm just nervous to move forward. any advice will be much appreciated :-)
Thanks, George.
KimberLee, the pictures you are referring were posted by member, Ted, who has left the network and deleted his pictures. We cannot recover them. I deleted my comment that moved them to this page.
I cannot see the pictures that were sent as a comment by George Lewter.
Low cost flat lapping disc can be used on you potters wheel if you, drill bat pin holes in it, and provide a trickle of water to cool it. At amazon.com, 120 grit for aggressive material removal. Click the image to purchase
Members have had great things to say about John Britt's new book, Mid-Range Glazes. Click the image to buy from Amazon.com
Purchase Glazes Cone 6 by Michael Bailey, The Potters Book of Glaze Recipes by Emmanuel Cooper, or Making Marks by Robin Hopper, all available at amazon.com. Mastering Cone 6 Glazes by John Hesselberth & Ron Roy is now out of print.
Harbor Freight is a great place to find unbeatable prices for better HVLP spray guns with stainless steel parts and serviceable economy models, as well as detail guns, all tested by our members for spraying glazes, as well as compressors to power the guns. As yet no one has tested and commented on the remarkably inexpensive air brushes at harbor freight.
The critter siphon gun is a spray alternative that is well liked by some of our members, and is available at amazon.
Amazon is also a competitive source for photo light tents for shooting professional quality pictures of your work. They also have the EZ Cube brand favored by several of our members. You might also want to purchase the book Photographing Arts, Crafts and Collectibles . . .
If you are up to creating videos of your work or techniques you might want to invest in a flip video camera
Following are a few scales useful for potters. Ohaus Triple Pro Mechanical Triple Beam Balance, 2610g x 0.1g, with Tare $169.00
And finally a low cost clone of the OHaus. The Adam Equipment TBB2610T Triple Beam Mechanical Balance With Tare Beam $99.62
ebay is a great alternative for many tools and the equipment used in the ceramics studio - kilns, wheels, extruders, slab rollers are often listed there both new and used.
If you just want to spout off, it is best accomplished as a blog posting. If you want to get more guidance and ideas from other members, ask a question as a new discussion topic. In the upper right corner of the lists for both types of posting, you will find an "+Add " button. Clicking it will open an editor where you create your posting. 4/16/2014
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