Loading and firing the kiln,,,,,

Greetings,

This morning I went and loaded and fired the kiln.  I thought you might like to see a bit about what it is like so I took some pictures.  This old kiln is about 25 years old.  I bought it new had it for a few years and sold it to a friend, Mike.  Mike had it for several years and last summer I bought it back from him.  It has taken a bit of a beating over the years and has had prettier days but it still fires like a charm.  I need to clean it and do some repair work on it one of these days. 

This is the box of items I fired today.

These items will be fired today.  A 3 piece mixing bowl set, 3 coffee mugs, 2 sets of salt and pepper shakers, a tea pot, a vase, a heart shaped bowl, and a bathroom set consisting of tumbler, toothbrush holder and liquid soap dispenser.  They should all fit, but lets find out, LOL.

This is the inside of the kiln.  I used the half shelf to raise the mixing bowl up off the floor of the kiln.  There are 4 posts in place to hold the next shelf that will go in place.

This is the largest of the three mixing bowls.  I will not put anything else on this layer because this is such a big piece.

This is the shelf that sat on the posts in the previous pics.  As you can see there are a set of 4 new posts to hold the shelf that will go over this one.  Under this is the largest mixing bowl.

This is the middle sized mixing bowl in the center.  Around it are salt a pepper shakers, the bathroom set and one of the mugs.  Notice the set of posts that will hold the next shelf.  Also in this picture at the bottom center you can see the kiln sitter with a pyrometric cone in it.  This is what tells the kiln when to shut off.  The cone will melt and trigger the kiln to shut off when it reaches proper temperature.  This is the old fashioned way of doing it.  Most kilns today are all fully automatic.

The top and final shelf is now installed.  There are two layers of items beneath this shelf.  Note that none of the items can touch each other or they will be fused together permanently.  I "dry foot" all my items do I do not need to use stilts to keep them from sticking to the kiln.

The top shelf is now loaded and I am ready to start firing the kiln.

You can see in the picture that I have used a small post to prop the lid open.  Also on the left side of the kiln are two peep holes.  I leave both the lid and the peep holes open until I turn the kiln to high.  This helps to allow any gases in the ceramics to escape.  Most people do this only in the greenware firing but I do it in all firings.  On the red box on the front there are 5 switches.  These switches turn on the heating elements inside.  I turn on the bottom two switches first.  Because heat rises this will help the bottom part of the kiln to get hot enough.  Then every hour I turn on another switch working my way up the panel.  When I have turned on the last switch on the top then I will close the lid and the peep holes.

It took a little over 4 hours to fire.  Tomorrow the kiln will be cool enough for me to take the items out.  I can't wait!!  I will take some more pictures tomorrow of unloading the kiln.  :-)

Rusty usually goes with me when the weather is good.  Win's yard is fenced in and he can run without having to be tethered.  He likes that!!  When he gets tired of the yard, he comes in to the basement with mom to keep an eye on the kiln while it is firing.  He is my best buddy and good company!!

Until next time,,,,,,,,,,,,, Blessings!!