Technology hates me
Jan. 23rd, 2015 11:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrSome days I curse technology.
Denise just came into my office, saying "Frank, there's something wrong with the kiln." I dash into the studio to find I've forgotten to reset the limit timer, and an hour into warm-up, it's shut the kiln down. Thankfully, an easy fix.
But the last two firings weren't so good. (I'd say "weren't so hot," but in fact they were. That's the problem.)
The first one, I'd warmed the pots up after supper, turned the kiln to high around bedtime, came in the next morning to find that the kiln-sitter had dropped but the limit timer had also run out to ten hours and shut down. Apparently, either the sitter didn't switch off the power button or else a broken element had slowed down the firing so it took ten hours on high, rather than the usual six or seven. I was hoping for the latter.
Sadly, no. The cone was a melted blob in the bottom of the sitter, and the pots were ruined. Must have gotten to at least cone 4, which means they're no longer porous, won't absorb water and hence take a coat of glaze. Instead of beginning to glaze on Monday, I was back at the wheel, throwing replacement pots, 150 lbs. worth in one insane marathon day.
I cleaned up the kiln sitter, fiddled with an element that had come out of its groove, loaded up the kiln again. This time, I timed the firing so I'd be awake when the sitter dropped, trimming bowls in fact. Seven and a half hours on high and it still hadn't fallen, so I wiggled the hook and the weight immediately fell. When I looked in the morning the cone was starting to melt (It's just supposed to deform) but the pots were still pink and porous. I'm guessing about two cones hot. I'll have to mix the glaze a hair thicker, or dip a little longer, to get my normal glaze thickness.
Club Mud has a kiln sitter template, so I've brought it home to tweak the alignment of the sitter parts. It looks like the center rod in the sitter has wandered off to one side, making it harder for the cone to bend. I've adjusted it and hope that fixes things.
I'm firing again today, but the limit timer will be set to six and a half hours once we go on high. Better a little under-fired than over.
But better still would be for the damn thing to work properly.
Denise just came into my office, saying "Frank, there's something wrong with the kiln." I dash into the studio to find I've forgotten to reset the limit timer, and an hour into warm-up, it's shut the kiln down. Thankfully, an easy fix.
But the last two firings weren't so good. (I'd say "weren't so hot," but in fact they were. That's the problem.)
The first one, I'd warmed the pots up after supper, turned the kiln to high around bedtime, came in the next morning to find that the kiln-sitter had dropped but the limit timer had also run out to ten hours and shut down. Apparently, either the sitter didn't switch off the power button or else a broken element had slowed down the firing so it took ten hours on high, rather than the usual six or seven. I was hoping for the latter.
Sadly, no. The cone was a melted blob in the bottom of the sitter, and the pots were ruined. Must have gotten to at least cone 4, which means they're no longer porous, won't absorb water and hence take a coat of glaze. Instead of beginning to glaze on Monday, I was back at the wheel, throwing replacement pots, 150 lbs. worth in one insane marathon day.
I cleaned up the kiln sitter, fiddled with an element that had come out of its groove, loaded up the kiln again. This time, I timed the firing so I'd be awake when the sitter dropped, trimming bowls in fact. Seven and a half hours on high and it still hadn't fallen, so I wiggled the hook and the weight immediately fell. When I looked in the morning the cone was starting to melt (It's just supposed to deform) but the pots were still pink and porous. I'm guessing about two cones hot. I'll have to mix the glaze a hair thicker, or dip a little longer, to get my normal glaze thickness.
Club Mud has a kiln sitter template, so I've brought it home to tweak the alignment of the sitter parts. It looks like the center rod in the sitter has wandered off to one side, making it harder for the cone to bend. I've adjusted it and hope that fixes things.
I'm firing again today, but the limit timer will be set to six and a half hours once we go on high. Better a little under-fired than over.
But better still would be for the damn thing to work properly.