Charles Moore on tue 12 dec 00
Clayart friends,
I have a new electric kiln which I fire to ^06 for bisque and ^6 for =
glaze firings. My problem is this: I have great difficulty actually =
seeing the cones when the kiln chamber begins to get hot, even during =
the late stages of the bisque fire. The local kiln manufacturer (now =
retired and unavailable) made the interior peep holes quite small, which =
makes it difficult to see the profiles of three successive cones. Since =
my last firing, I have filed the interior of the peep holes so that they =
are the same size as the exterior openings; this may solve my problem.
I recently bought UVEX safety glasses, but I do not find that they have =
helped in spotting the cones.
Any advice?
Charles Moore
camoore@csus.edu
Snail Scott on tue 12 dec 00
At 04:05 PM 12/12/00 -0800, you wrote:
>Clayart friends,
>
>I have a new electric kiln which I fire to ^06 for bisque and ^6 for glaze
firings. My problem is this: I have great difficulty actually seeing the
cones when the kiln chamber begins to get hot, even during the late stages
of the bisque fire. The local kiln manufacturer (now retired and
unavailable) made the interior peep holes quite small, which makes it
difficult to see the profiles of three successive cones. Since my last
firing, I have filed the interior of the peep holes so that they are the
same size as the exterior openings; this may solve my problem.
>
>I recently bought UVEX safety glasses, but I do not find that they have
helped in spotting the cones.
>
>Any advice?
>
>Charles Moore
>camoore@csus.edu
>
To see cones in a hot kiln, blow lightly in through
the peephole, this will cool the cones just enough
to show against the kiln heat. (Don't inhale!)
You can see more cones if they are further back from
the peephole, but then they're harder to distinguish
in the heat.
Here's my little secret for putting many cones in
front of a small peephole: build the pack in rows.
Put the lowest cone(s) in the front row. Put them
in 'backwards' (pointing the other way - right).
This makes them easy to distinguish from the high
cones behind them, which get put in the usual way.
After the low cones drop, they expose the high cones
behind them.
Remember to reverse the order of the low cones, and
not just their orientation! If this is hard to visualize,
build the low-temp row normally, then turn it around
180 degrees and build the hi-temp row behind it.
You should be able to fit 4 cones this way even in the
tiniest peephole (two in front and two behind) and even
more in a normal peephole.
-Snail
Logan Oplinger on wed 13 dec 00
To Charles Moore:
You do not say what type of lens(es) you have in your safety glasses, but I suspect from the brand name you have given, UVEX, they are meant to filter out UV light, not what you want for looking into a hot kiln which is radiating copious amounts of infrared radiation (IR). Try using the type of filter lens used by gas (Oxy-Acet) welders, a #5 shade. Get the rectangular replacement lens only, no need to get the entire goggle assembly.
Logan Oplinger
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Paul Gerhold on wed 13 dec 00
Charles.
This may or may not help. What I did to help view cones was to drill another
peephole at the same height and about thirty degrees away from the existing
peephole. Set the holes so that the lines of sight intersect at the location
of your cone holder. If you use one of the holes to shine in one of those
high intensity mini halogen spot bulbs ( I think I use about a thirty watt
bulb) you can see the cones at cone six with no problem. One word of caution,
turn the bulb on a bit before putting it to the peephole and it will be less
likely to blow. Also let the peephole cool a minute before putting the light
to the hole. Hope this helps. Paul
..
Frederich, Tim on wed 13 dec 00
Charles,
You can try putting a small piece of insulating brick with some Red
Iron Oxide lines on it behind the cones to use as a target to see the cones
against. Also use your safety glasses to protect your eyes.
Best regards,
Tim Frederich
-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Moore [mailto:camoore@CSUS.EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 7:06 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Watching cones
Clayart friends,
I have a new electric kiln which I fire to ^06 for bisque and ^6 for glaze
firings. My problem is this: I have great difficulty actually seeing the
cones when the kiln chamber begins to get hot, even during the late stages
of the bisque fire. The local kiln manufacturer (now retired and
unavailable) made the interior peep holes quite small, which makes it
difficult to see the profiles of three successive cones. Since my last
firing, I have filed the interior of the peep holes so that they are the
same size as the exterior openings; this may solve my problem.
I recently bought UVEX safety glasses, but I do not find that they have
helped in spotting the cones.
Any advice?
Charles Moore
camoore@csus.edu
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