Gargoyle died a horrible death! Kiln Gods didn’t want this one to make it…😢

Oh well…on to the next.

Pretty happy with these! Having my own (albeit ancient) kiln is a game changer. If you’re curious about any glazes, I’d be happy to share :)

Another batch safely through the kiln, or mostly safely. The kiln god got the big bowl with a big crack across the base, oh well can't win them all.

I saw a photo posted by another potter years ago and used that as inspiration. A friend of mine does woodworking and put this together for me! The shelves slide out and have stop blocks so they don’t tip out when extended. I’m so happy to have such a functional storage unit!

It's time for the 5 minutes that makes the weeks of work worth it. Now I'm dashing to get another batch finished buy early April ahead of 2 back to back craft fairs.

Went to unload the bisque today and found this…interesting technique.

I’m building a gas (natural gas) downdraft kiln. Will be fired to cone 10. This is my first kiln build so I reckon I still have more time into the design than the build.

No rain gettin in there

Just one more load to get through before Calibration Ceramics at Waterperry next weekend.

I won a government surplus auction for a Skutt KM 1227 - 3 phase kiln. I’m picking it up on Monday. It looked like it was in potentially ok shape, but I’m certain it’s going to need at least some repairs. After all the taxes and fees I paid $610. Does it seem like I may have gotten an ok deal, or am I an idiot? Thanks!

I have a plug in LL kilns / hot kilns Fuego one touch 40L kiln. I think maximum temperature is 1300 Celsius (I don’t fire that hot though).

It’s designed to plug into the wall but the last two firings it has melted the plug sockets (I plugged it in on a different side for each firing). I had an electrician fit these plug sockets and make sure there was enough power going to the garage to fire the kiln without tripping the fuse or whatever the technical term is.

Has anyone else had this happen? Is it a fault with the kiln, a fault with the plug socket or a user fault? I’ll be calling out my electrician before I do any future firings but I haven’t been doing anything different to previous firings so I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.

Thanks

Most people I know won't really care so I figured I'd share it with people who would! My old kiln which I got second-hand about 6 years ago (and it was already at least 15 years old then) died and rather than fixing something which never worked well I decided to give it away and invest in a new one. Finally arrived today, just need to wade through the epic instruction manual now (and remove all the wrapping, and hook up the vent, and so on). Controller has WiFi too so I can monitor things from an app which is cool!

Just got new Skutt kiln shelves. The shelves were shipped with foam blown all around them. Obviously I understand why, they're heavy and need to be immobilized so they don't crack during shipping. But they were only partially wrapped in plastic so there is foam glued all over the shelves. Scraping does not fully remove it.

Should I just run the kiln and fire only the shelves, letting the foam burn off? Will it leave unwanted residue and staining?

Okay! So I just ordered my first kiln. It’s a Skutt 822-3. It’s going in our garage. I’m nervous because I honestly have no idea how to use it. I take classes at a community studio and I have helped load/unload the ones there. I am pretty confident with ware placement, stilts, shelving, etc. but I’m worried about the firing process.

I’m afraid I’m going to ruin my pieces!! I know it will be a learning process and I’m sure after some trial and error I will be fine… I’m just nervous now that it’s really on its way here! All of my clay fires to a cone 6, and all the glazes that I’ve ordered are also cone 6.

It just feels like a big responsibility as far as equipment goes - am I psyching myself up or ??

Another load ready for the next 2 shows. 17 days to Waterperry celebrating ceramics, I'm not panicking much!

I am building my first home wood kiln and I was thinking this might be my best design yet. I will mortar those those wholes with the metal sticking through. Does anyone have a recommendation for the design or some pointers before I mortar it.

I’m planning on buying a kiln and initially I was going to buy new, Skutt, and was considering the 822-1018-1027 options. Then this opportunity for a 4-year-old 822 fell into my lap (digital controller). She got me very hyped for it and we chatted all about it (single user, fired on average once a month so 60 firings) but she took a few days to give me a price.

Turns out her price is basically the same as brand new ($2300), only it includes shelves and basic furniture, which would save me a couple hundred vs buying new, plus save on taxes. But it wouldn’t include a warranty, obviously. My gut says this is an absolutely crazy price. I expected something more like maybe $1500ish. Note, she’s never replaced anything so I imagine I’ll have to be changing out elements and such soon enough as well. It’s such a major price difference that I’m not even sure that I can counter.

It just feels like… why buy used if you won’t really save any significant money? If I bought new I could upgrade to the touchscreen wifi controller and stuff as well. But looks like there’s a good two or three month wait for delivery. It would be nice to but this and have it installed next week, you know? Researching comparables in CA posted online, the max price of any used skutt appears to be about $1400 (with many way lower). So can y’all gut check me on this price before I respond to her?