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holes in kilns

updated tue 4 feb 03

 

mel jacobson on fri 31 jan 03


remember, the holes in stainless are put in there
before the kiln is constructed.

more than likely they are punched into the metal.
that is why the holes are so clean in a stainless jacketed
kiln.

in modern metal working facilities, holes are punched, laser
cut, but usually not drilled. and of course no professional
metal worker would use a hand held drill/motor to make precision
holes.

those of us that are chatting about this, are referring
to after market, down home town, back yard holes.
stainless can be a bugger, especially when it is not backed
with a solid material.

this is all purest talk. you can just bash a hole, but
it will probably look like hell. it probably will not affect
the firing quality of the kiln, it will just look like hell.

i am sure jim skutt will not haunt you...as, i know they
see wrecks that no one can believe. i always loved that
little bottle of kiln shining polish that came with skutt kilns.
when i left hopkins high there were about 8 bottles on a
shelf. not one was ever opened.
those were working kilns.
mel
thanks phil, vince and other that have done
a great job explaining this. it is one of those
little tasks, that turns into hell.

From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots

Arnold Howard on mon 3 feb 03


--- mel jacobson wrote:
> remember, the holes in stainless are put in there
> before the kiln is constructed.
>
> more than likely they are punched into the metal.
> that is why the holes are so clean in a stainless jacketed
> kiln.

Mel is right. Kiln factories use massive computerized punch presses
to punch holes in sheet metal cases. A kiln case, ready for
assembly, has holes pre-punched even for the handles.

Some of the holes, however, have to be drilled because no two kilns
are exactly the same size.

Paragon makes a spring-balance lid assembly that requires 54 holes
to be drilled in the stainless case. One time I installed the lid
assembly to see how long it would take me. The first time it took
only 20 minutes, which included all that drilling and inserting
screws. I used a variable-speed cordless drill.

The secret to drilling is to use a sharp drill bit with light
pressure. Also, I used the lid assembly holes as a guide for the
holes in the stainless case. That eliminated the need to make a
starting mark with a punch.

Sincerely,

Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P.
www.paragonweb.com




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