Thank you! I just got my kiln, and I thought that I was over firing it, based on how I read my witness cones were supposed to look. I now see that I was misinterpreting how far they were supposed to melt over. It looks like my kiln is firing fine. I'm looking forward to more of your videos!
To hook up thermocouple the correct way, test the wire and the thermocouple with a strong magnet. One wire and one side of the thermocouple is magnetic. Connect magnetic to magnetic.
Hi man,,, I have question for you, What if I have cone 11 (1320c°), and in atrial in very small gas kiln I designed & built to firing refractorys, while last firing the Cone combleatly melt down as ball of water,, sadly my thermocouple in this firing was unstable, so I did not know where I am accept from an experience of timing, but haply the refractory product which was fired is out with magnificent results, with 4% more shrenkage ratio, Could you tell me how many degree am fired more???
I suppose you can only make your kiln "hold" a temperature if its programmable, correct? A kiln sitter, or a manual-automatic wouldn't lend itself to that, would it?
Yes, sort of. You can have you kiln sitter do a “hold” but it would only be at the end of a firing. You’d need to stick around to see the sitter drop, then flip it back up, turn the kiln back on, hold the sitter in the up position, and keep the kiln on for the length of hold time you want. Other than that it would be difficult to do a hold during the firing itself.
According to the Orton manual it says after an accurate firing the tip of the cone should line up with the top of the cones base, not the bottom of the base. So im confused bc a lot of ppl are judging it y the tip lining up with the bottom of the base and wouldnt that mean it's over fired?
The distance between the top of the base and the kiln shelf are probably so minor that we’re only talking a few degrees difference. Once the cone begins to flatten after it touches the shelf then you’d be in the hotter stages of that cone
Speaking of kiln wash, just got my kiln and new furniture going to kiln wash my shelves. Do you put two or three layers. Skutt manual says two but what’s best most common practice! Thanks! Loved your video!
Kiln wash thickness is going to depend on a few things: 1) whether your glazes are very stable or some drips/runs will happen regularly 2) the silica content in your clay: i.e. are you using porcelain or a high silica stoneware (If so, these clays have a tendency to stick to kiln shelves so kiln wash thickness would be higher) -I tend to mix my wash on the thinner side for my work but since I am a class based studio, I have to take "oops" into account. So, I have my kiln wash thicker on shelves that are for student work. -HOWEVER, if you do this, be mindful of how much it flakes on and off when loading the shelves in and out of the kiln. I turn my kiln shelves vertical before setting them on the posts, but in doing so, a loose piece of kiln wash could fall in a bowl or pot and I wouldn't see it until the glaze firing is done. That can be rectified by grinding the bit of kiln wash away, then dabbing some glaze on that bare spot, and re-firing it in the glaze firing -If you have SUPER drippy glazes and fear the pot sticking, Id recommend a thin layer of kiln wash but lay down a small bed of silica sand. You can buy a 50lb bag of this at any clay provider near you or clay refractory location like a brick making factory. -***DISCLAIMER*** to the above comment though: play ground sand is NOT the same as silica sand, there are differing impurities in regular sand, where as silica sand is pure and has a VERY high melting point so it'll remain in sand form even past cone 10 Hope all that info helps :0)
Thanks for the video... I'm a new potter and my first Glaze fire ran too hot... basically set at cone 6 and the witness cone was completely melted... so I'm guessing it ran cone 7... or maybe hotter :( Anyway-- it is all a learning experience. I decided to get witness cones for my bisc so I could check before I do my next glaze... and the weirdest thing happened- the witness cones reacted the opposite way... 04, 05, 06, 07... should be most bent to to least, right? (or maybe I'm completely wrong) Instead 04 was bent perfect (yeah!) but 06 and 07 were completely melted to my kiln shelf :(... What am I missing? Thanks for any tips you can offer, they would be much appreciated.
You’re not doing anything wrong! Cone 04 is hotter than cone 06 and 07. It seems backwards but when there is an “0” in front of the cone, as the temp increases and gets hotter, then number goes down. Once you reach cone 01, you drop the “0” and then count cone 1, 2, 3, etc. Does that make sense? I’d also recommend getting a cone chart too which you can hang in the studio.
Thank you!, I used witness cones for the first time and was not sure how bendy they should be. Should the cones be placed in a certain location on each shelf?
Bonnie Bradbury there isn’t a specific place to put each cone. You’ll just want to make sure they’re farthest away from the thermocouple. That way you get an accurate reading. Other than that, it’s ok to vary their location to help provide as much info as to the internal atmosphere of your kiln
Thermocouples age and will slowly get less accurate. Buy a new thermocouple, or you can test your existing thermocouple by switching the thermocouples in your kilns and see if the issue travels with the thermocouple.
Ambjojo1 I order Orton Self Supporting cones for my glaze firing. I fire to cone 6 so I order a box of cone 5 and cone 6 and put one of each in the kiln. You’ll also want to put them as far away from your thermocouple as possible to get the most accurate atmospheric reading
Nice!!! I searched through a ton of videos until I finally found yours, which is the first one to actually show the melted cones. Thanks!
IAmTheWaterbug awesome! I’m so glad it could help you!
Thank you! I just got my kiln, and I thought that I was over firing it, based on how I read my witness cones were supposed to look. I now see that I was misinterpreting how far they were supposed to melt over. It looks like my kiln is firing fine. I'm looking forward to more of your videos!
fictionalhuman you’re very welcome! I’m glad to hear this information will help you understand your kiln firings 😁
glad the video helped! the more good information we can put out there the better!
Nicely done! I just bought a kiln and I am still trying to understand how firing works. This was very helpful. BTW-I like the helpers.
Glad it was helpful for you! And thanks, I like the little helpers too!
Great Information!! Thank You! Your kids are adorable to!
they are so cute! this is very helpful as I am just about to try out my new to me used kiln for my first bisque fire
To hook up thermocouple the correct way, test the wire and the thermocouple with a strong magnet. One wire and one side of the thermocouple is magnetic. Connect magnetic to magnetic.
This video was very helpful. Thank you!
Hi man,,, I have question for you,
What if I have cone 11 (1320c°), and in atrial in very small gas kiln I designed & built to firing refractorys, while last firing the Cone combleatly melt down as ball of water,, sadly my thermocouple in this firing was unstable, so I did not know where I am accept from an experience of timing, but haply the refractory product which was fired is out with magnificent results, with 4% more shrenkage ratio,
Could you tell me how many degree am fired more???
Which witness cone did you have in your firing? If it was cone 11 witness cone and it was in a puddle, I’d say you went several cones hotter than that
I suppose you can only make your kiln "hold" a temperature if its programmable, correct? A kiln sitter, or a manual-automatic wouldn't lend itself to that, would it?
Yes, sort of. You can have you kiln sitter do a “hold” but it would only be at the end of a firing. You’d need to stick around to see the sitter drop, then flip it back up, turn the kiln back on, hold the sitter in the up position, and keep the kiln on for the length of hold time you want. Other than that it would be difficult to do a hold during the firing itself.
Lol your kids totally video bombing you lol , thanks for the video , awesome info . 👍
According to the Orton manual it says after an accurate firing the tip of the cone should line up with the top of the cones base, not the bottom of the base. So im confused bc a lot of ppl are judging it y the tip lining up with the bottom of the base and wouldnt that mean it's over fired?
The distance between the top of the base and the kiln shelf are probably so minor that we’re only talking a few degrees difference. Once the cone begins to flatten after it touches the shelf then you’d be in the hotter stages of that cone
@@jhpotteryworks6023 ohhhh okay!! This makes so much more sense, thank you so much!!
Speaking of kiln wash, just got my kiln and new furniture going to kiln wash my shelves. Do you put two or three layers. Skutt manual says two but what’s best most common practice! Thanks! Loved your video!
Kiln wash thickness is going to depend on a few things:
1) whether your glazes are very stable or some drips/runs will happen regularly
2) the silica content in your clay: i.e. are you using porcelain or a high silica stoneware (If so, these clays have a tendency to stick to kiln shelves so kiln wash thickness would be higher)
-I tend to mix my wash on the thinner side for my work but since I am a class based studio, I have to take "oops" into account. So, I have my kiln wash thicker on shelves that are for student work.
-HOWEVER, if you do this, be mindful of how much it flakes on and off when loading the shelves in and out of the kiln. I turn my kiln shelves vertical before setting them on the posts, but in doing so, a loose piece of kiln wash could fall in a bowl or pot and I wouldn't see it until the glaze firing is done. That can be rectified by grinding the bit of kiln wash away, then dabbing some glaze on that bare spot, and re-firing it in the glaze firing
-If you have SUPER drippy glazes and fear the pot sticking, Id recommend a thin layer of kiln wash but lay down a small bed of silica sand. You can buy a 50lb bag of this at any clay provider near you or clay refractory location like a brick making factory.
-***DISCLAIMER*** to the above comment though: play ground sand is NOT the same as silica sand, there are differing impurities in regular sand, where as silica sand is pure and has a VERY high melting point so it'll remain in sand form even past cone 10
Hope all that info helps :0)
Thank you for the reply. Helps a lot!
By the way,,, what a sweet girls you have, God bless you all.
Thanks! They’re pretty special but then again I might be a little biased
Thanks for the video... I'm a new potter and my first Glaze fire ran too hot... basically set at cone 6 and the witness cone was completely melted... so I'm guessing it ran cone 7... or maybe hotter :( Anyway-- it is all a learning experience. I decided to get witness cones for my bisc so I could check before I do my next glaze... and the weirdest thing happened- the witness cones reacted the opposite way... 04, 05, 06, 07... should be most bent to to least, right? (or maybe I'm completely wrong) Instead 04 was bent perfect (yeah!) but 06 and 07 were completely melted to my kiln shelf :(... What am I missing? Thanks for any tips you can offer, they would be much appreciated.
You’re not doing anything wrong! Cone 04 is hotter than cone 06 and 07. It seems backwards but when there is an “0” in front of the cone, as the temp increases and gets hotter, then number goes down. Once you reach cone 01, you drop the “0” and then count cone 1, 2, 3, etc. Does that make sense? I’d also recommend getting a cone chart too which you can hang in the studio.
Thank you!, I used witness cones for the first time and was not sure how bendy they should be. Should the cones be placed in a certain location on each shelf?
Bonnie Bradbury there isn’t a specific place to put each cone. You’ll just want to make sure they’re farthest away from the thermocouple. That way you get an accurate reading. Other than that, it’s ok to vary their location to help provide as much info as to the internal atmosphere of your kiln
Thermocouples age and will slowly get less accurate. Buy a new thermocouple, or you can test your existing thermocouple by switching the thermocouples in your kilns and see if the issue travels with the thermocouple.
Blake Lewis excellent reminder for people! Thanks for sharing
What cones do you order?
Ambjojo1 I order Orton Self Supporting cones for my glaze firing. I fire to cone 6 so I order a box of cone 5 and cone 6 and put one of each in the kiln. You’ll also want to put them as far away from your thermocouple as possible to get the most accurate atmospheric reading
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Hi...