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cone 10, coating new shelves

updated wed 20 nov 02

 

dalecochoy on tue 19 nov 02


Hi Folks,
I just got a bunch of new kiln furniture/shelves drop-shipped to me from my
local dealer, by Olympic.
This is my first cone 10 gas kiln ( Always used electric @ cone6-7) so I
have some questions /comments.
The shelves are for my new , as yet unfired, Olympic 2827G Kiln, which, I
also got the 41/2" extra ring for.

I got 10 new 1" thick , 24" halves. BTW, those are mighty high profit margin
at $50 per and cast in Mexico. ! I wonder what they "cost"??
They were not the nice clean looking shelves that I see in my dealers
display shelves, but they were scratched, some gouges, stained with various
colored smears of something(s)and quite a few bumpy/splattered areas of the
molded material.
I sanded them a bit. I didn't want to get the right -angle grinder on them
right off and figured I'd have them worse looking if I did. For $50 a piece
I figured they would be works of art!! :>)
I've seen posts on kiln wash coating so I have a few questions.
1. Is same kiln wash used on cone 6 as cone 10, one of my dealers said yes
when I bought the powder a few years ago.
2. Is it mixed about the same for the two kilns.
3. How many coats on brand new shelves? ( my other kiln was used and already
had it, THICK.and, I've repared it several times. I've re-ground them a few
times when they got flakey.
4. Should I do just one side?? I've seen notes about this in the past. Some
say do flip shelves, some say no, some say don't do both sides because it
will flake off bottom onto pots ( I never had this problem with cone 6
shelves coated on bottom).
5. In relation to above, do I flip them to keep from sagging.?
6. Should they be fired to "clean off" junk before I coat them. ( I have no
idea what crud is on them)

I figured I'd ask all this stuff BEFORE I did it, so please, "experienced"
answers.
I'm not real new to firing or kilns, just cone 10 Gas. ( Most things will be
8-9, only some at 10)

Also, for my electric kiln I dipped the ends of each post into kiln wash to
help with sticking. Is this comonnly done ( or at all) by those out there
with higher fired kilns?


Dale Cochoy, Wild Things Bonsai Studio, Hartville, Ohio
DaleCochoy@Prodigy.Net http://www.WildThingsBonsai.Com