Terminology 2: Electric boogaloo
Jul. 15th, 2015 02:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrTime for more terms:
1227. Designates an electric kiln with twelve sides, 27 inches high. Technically it's a model number for a Skutt brand kiln, but potters use it (and the smaller 1027) interchangeably on different brands. My bisque kiln at home is manufactured by Cress, but it's a 1227 regardless of its actual model number.
Kiln rings. For ease of shipping, repair or expansion, most ten and twelve-sided kilns are made of modules, each two bricks high, nine inches, with two elements in each, sharing a control box and switch. You can expand your kiln by removing the lid and stacking on another ring if you need more space, say for large sculptures.
Blank ring. A kiln ring with no elements or switch, usually only one brick high. Used to expand a kiln temporarily to fire something a little too big for the standard size. We've got a 2.25" blank ring at Club Mud for the smaller, 1027 electric kilns.
Element channel. Groove cut into the soft brick to hold a kiln element.
Elements. Long coils of high temperature alloy wire that glow at high voltages--think giant toaster. They're custom wound to fit a particular kiln, with crimps built in at each corner, and a doubled lead at each end that runs through the wall out into the control box. Because they have to provide more heat to compensate for loss through lid or floor, the top and bottom elements are wound with more coils than the center four elements on our kiln.
Element pins. Lengths of high-temperature wire used to hold elements down in their channel. Standard ones are straight, but you can also buy hook-end or staples, which are handy when working around damaged bricks.
Oxide coat. A protective coat of metallic oxide that forms over elements during firing. Repeated firings, particularly with a reducing atmosphere, say carbonates from clay, or smoke from burning out paper in a sculpture, will damage the coat. It will reform again, but leave less element underneath. Eventually the diameter of the element will be enough smaller to affect the resistance and the firing time and efficiency.
Resistance. To electric current. Too little and the elements won't generate heat. Too much and either the current can't get through (again, no heat) or the element overheats and melts.
Crimp or barrel connector. A metal tube that slides over the end of the element wire and the power lead and is crimped (compressed with a pliers-like tool) in place to make an electrical connection.
1227. Designates an electric kiln with twelve sides, 27 inches high. Technically it's a model number for a Skutt brand kiln, but potters use it (and the smaller 1027) interchangeably on different brands. My bisque kiln at home is manufactured by Cress, but it's a 1227 regardless of its actual model number.
Kiln rings. For ease of shipping, repair or expansion, most ten and twelve-sided kilns are made of modules, each two bricks high, nine inches, with two elements in each, sharing a control box and switch. You can expand your kiln by removing the lid and stacking on another ring if you need more space, say for large sculptures.
Blank ring. A kiln ring with no elements or switch, usually only one brick high. Used to expand a kiln temporarily to fire something a little too big for the standard size. We've got a 2.25" blank ring at Club Mud for the smaller, 1027 electric kilns.
Element channel. Groove cut into the soft brick to hold a kiln element.
Elements. Long coils of high temperature alloy wire that glow at high voltages--think giant toaster. They're custom wound to fit a particular kiln, with crimps built in at each corner, and a doubled lead at each end that runs through the wall out into the control box. Because they have to provide more heat to compensate for loss through lid or floor, the top and bottom elements are wound with more coils than the center four elements on our kiln.
Element pins. Lengths of high-temperature wire used to hold elements down in their channel. Standard ones are straight, but you can also buy hook-end or staples, which are handy when working around damaged bricks.
Oxide coat. A protective coat of metallic oxide that forms over elements during firing. Repeated firings, particularly with a reducing atmosphere, say carbonates from clay, or smoke from burning out paper in a sculpture, will damage the coat. It will reform again, but leave less element underneath. Eventually the diameter of the element will be enough smaller to affect the resistance and the firing time and efficiency.
Resistance. To electric current. Too little and the elements won't generate heat. Too much and either the current can't get through (again, no heat) or the element overheats and melts.
Crimp or barrel connector. A metal tube that slides over the end of the element wire and the power lead and is crimped (compressed with a pliers-like tool) in place to make an electrical connection.