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Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Firing Gas Kiln

You would think that i've forgotten everything i ever knew !!!
Panic attacks are like that -- they cloud the mind and blank out useful info which is stored there.

Up ( not so early) this morning to start the gas kiln.
Now, it's been ages and ages since i've attempted to fire this kiln. But, battling with the Paragon electric exhausted me and out of pure desperation, decided to overcome my fear of burning the house down and go for the gas kiln.
Just kidding.
The operation is perfectly safe.
In the past, haven't had much better luck getting the gas kiln up to temps than i did with the electric.
But
The propane fello and i have modified the gas pressure from the tank to the kiln; shortened the gas line; i erected a hood over the entire ensemble, and this morning . . . .
Well, this morning i'm going for the brass ring.
But
In my eagerness to see if the kiln would, now, reach temps -- forgot to bring the initial temps up slowly.
Ran a candle flame for the first hour-and-a-half -- to temps of 300°F
Then opened the main burners, not fully open mind you, but ignited.
Temps climbed rapidly. Thought oaah-oh! Too fast. But let it go as it's already past the first inversion layer.
So. We'll see. It's a test run. Right? Merely to see if the kiln will now reach at least Cone 5-6. So far; so good. Good steady heat increase of 300°F per hour. Yes. Yes. i know. That's too fast. Like i said: just want to see if 2167°F can now be obtained.
The 3 cups inside were created with with Georgie's G-Mix 6 with Grog which is a pretty forgiving clay, so am keeping my fingers crossed that it will humor me on this firing.
Great kilning days to y'all
Chae

2 comments:

Sister Creek Potter said...

I got my fingers crossed for you. Is the gas kiln small? You mention having 3 cups in there...Hope you are a happy girl at the end of the day! Gay

chaetoons said...

Thanks Gay
No. The gas kiln is a standard big kiln except i've removed the top ring which makes it a wee bit smaller.
Just didn't want to mess up more than 3 cups !!!
Hugs
Chae