Am new to pottery and this group. I took a college course in Ceramics and loved it. I then bought a wheel and kiln from a neighbor, only to realize I have no idea how to use an electric kiln. Don't know how to load, turn it on, bisc or even if it works. Thought I would ask help from some experts about where do I start??? Also, kiln was made in Metarie? Louisiana, which I think was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina, so I don't think there's much help from that end...Would appreciate any advice I could get. Thanks.
You can do this - you are probably going to have a higher failure rate though than if you were coached through. Where are you at? How large is your kiln? Does your kiln have a controller or is it manual?
There are potters and centers that would be happy to train you in exchange for your work (loading kilns, recycling clay, unloading, mixing glazes, etc). Community colleges are usually good places to go as well for support. Get some books. Do you have a nearby crafts center that you can join?
Decide how high you want to fire to. I would actually recommend that you start with low fire work. You are going to need some cones to check the temperature work in your kiln in different areas even if you do have a computer controller.
Someone could easily show you how to load a kiln. Talking your through it is something else.
Welcome to the wonderful world of pottery experimentation :)
Many kiln companies have manuals on-line - and there's always the chance that someone will have a manual available somewhere even if the original manufacturer is unavailable.
Loading - bisque can touch & nest, glaze cannot is the fundamental rule... beyond that, it's experimenting to find out what the kiln does. Mine is a bit wierd - the hot spot is the bottom shelf. Still tweaking that.
There's a number of books out that talk about firing and kilns - one I have is "The Electric Kiln" by Harry Fraser - very technical, but it covers everything abut electric kilns - with a focus on British electrical rules. Pretty much every book I've seen that purports to be "complete" or "beginner" books on pottery has instructions on firing (I'm a bookaholic, so have picked up a lot of books).
Where I'd start - what model of kiln is it? Does it have an electronic controller? Or a kiln sitter? Does your neighbor know anything about it or its history? (Used can be it was fired 4 times and the person gave up on pottery, or it's been fired daily for 20 years...). Since you mention Metarie, is it a Blue Diamond Kiln ? (Google is a wonderful tool- searching Metarie LA Kiln popped up Blue Diamond instantly) If so, they may still be in business - their web site hasn't been updated since 2003, but Bailey is still listing their kilns for sale.
This newsgroup is pretty quiet - you might want to check out the ClayArt e-mail list (You may look at the archives for the list, post messages, change your subscription settings or unsubscribe/leave the list here:
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or the yahoo group PotteryBasics (
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- lots of friendly folks on both those lists.Good luck!
I would suggest you DO NOT set up the kiln, until you have had it looked at by an electrician and let him wire it into you house system. Kilns are notorious fire hazards if not used properly.(IMHO) You are asking a question that entails a myriad of answers and advice, rather than a specific problem. I suggest you do some apprentice work under another local potter, telling him/her what areas of knowledge you require. There is an art to working and loading a kiln. Good luck.
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