RE: Help...

Looking at their website, it does appear to be a manual kiln, with a kiln watcher. I'd call the company and see if they have a repair rep around - they would be familiar with the kilns and should be able to check it out for safety. If you need kiln furniture (posts & shelves), you can get it from them too (although mail order is likely cheaper - but if you buy local, they might come over & show you the ropes).

There's four sizes/shapes of cones - small bars to use in the kiln sitter (which is a backup safety device to shut off the kiln when it's hot enough), small cones that can be used in the kiln sitter or visible through peep holes to monitor the firing, and large cones that are used to monitor the firing process (cone packs visible through peepholes and/or scattered around the kiln). There's also self-supporting cones (large cones on a base) that don't need holders and are used the same as large cones.

See if they'll let you watch while they load a time or two - that will give you an idea of what's involved, and if the loaders are at all chatty, you'll pick up a lot of tips on the way by.

Bisque is usually to cone 06 or 04 (depending on the clay and glazes - I've been taught to bisque to 06, fire to 6, the glazes recommend 04 bisque). Hard to tell without looking at the kiln, but... what I'd expect to see is 2 or three knobs marked "high/medium/low" - those control the elements, plus a timer knob that turns the kiln off when it runs out (backup to the kiln sitter).

There's some useful pdfs at

that discuss cones and kiln sitters. With luck, you have a Dawson kiln sitter and the manual is there for it.L&L Kiln's website has a lot of good info on it - including this one on firing a manual kiln. The first discussion is a glaze fire, the second is a bisque fire.

also have other pdfs in the download section.

Ahh, you have shelves, but no posts.... You'll need 3 posts per half shelf (I suspect you can use 3 with a full shelf too, set up as a triangle, but I only have half shelves, and would probably go with 4 per full shelf). The pack I got with my kiln came with sets of (6 each)

1/2", 1", 2", 3", 4" as I recall.

.. Good luck

... Bruce

Another suggestion: Check out some of your local secondary schools to see if they have an "adult education" class in pottery. Also, sometimes colleges have classes you can sit in on for free. At least then, you can ask questions. As a self taught potter, myself, the road is long...but, rewarding. There is alot to learn and it seems it never ends! cheers

Although I do not agree with what your teacher did (not allowing students take part in all aspects of the pottery experience) I can understand their wanting to protect other students work. Still, I would be very surprised if they would object to you observing them load and use the kiln. For a bisque firing you can stack pots and have them touching sides. You have to be careful to not put heavy pieces on top of light pieces. You can stack rim to rim and foot to foot. Think in terms of not putting stress on fragile walls. Once upon a time I could fill an entire bisque kiln without using any shelves. Of course it was a small kiln - probably 4 cubic feet. Your kiln is too large and you are too inexperienced to load without shelves. Keep in mind that clay is going to expand and shrink during firing. Pots within pots have to have enough room to account for this.

NOT just plug the kiln in without knowing what you are doing. You will probably need an electrician to install the proper plug with the wiring for the voltage and amperage you need. You need to be sure that you are the requred distance from any flamable material. These kilns get HOT. Your kiln appears to be a manual with a cone sitter in it. I can give you a sample of what you would do for a bisque fire and you can tell me what does and does not make sense. A guess is that after you 'candle' your kiln it will take about 12 hours to fire. Make sure that you have venting one way or another - if you don't have a kiln vent have open windows and a fan. The fumes coming off pottery can be quite nasty.

Load your kiln. Make sure that you have the 04 or 06 cone properly in place in the kiln sitter and that you have in position where you can see them through the peep hole at least 3 cones for monitoring the kiln- one which is 1 below the temperature you are firing to, one at the target temperature and one above the temperature - for example 07, 06, 05. More on this later.

Turn the bottom control onto low. Have the peep holes out and the lid held open with a brick. Let it run overnight (this is called candling and is a precaution to make sure your pieces are dry).

In the morning shut the lid and turn the middle control onto low. Run for an hour then turn the top controller on low.

Put the peep hole plugs in. Run for an hour then turn the bottom controller onto medium. Proceed in this fashion (one controller upped one level for every level) until all the controllers are on high.

If life were perfect, when your kiln reached the heat work you wanted (what the cone responds to rather than temperature) then the kiln sitter would fall and your kiln would shut off. Life is seldom perfect. You have to monitor your kiln using cones to show what the heat work is in the kiln. You use 3 cones typically or at least until you are comfortable with your firing. The three cones are a guide cone, the target cone and the guard cone. The guide cone is the one that is one number below the target cone and the guard cone is one number above the target. Let us say that you are firing to cone 06. Your guide would be 07, your target cone would be 06 and your guard would be 05. Notice that guide number is higher than the target cone which is higher than the guard. Cones that are preceeded with a zero go from high to low and vs for those without a zero - so rank order would be

022, 021, 020....., 07, 06, 04....01, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... 02 is for a lower temperature than 01 but cone 2 is higher than cone 1.

You need to monitor your firing to be sure that it does not over fire or under fire. If the target cone has dropped and your kiln sitter has not dropped you will have carefully watch and if the guard cone begins to fall then turn the kiln off manually. If your kiln sitter drops too early you can carefully set it again. It will now be without the cone in the kiln sitter to make it turn off so you will have monitor your cones and manually shut off the kiln when the target cone drops. To look at your cones you need to be wearing glasses to protect your eyes. I'm not sure where to tell you to get these. Usually you get them when you buy a kiln. I'm surprised the person you bought the kiln from did not have posts, glasses and gloves.

The cones that you monitor the firing with and you do not have self supporting one will have to be put in a kiln holder which you probably don't have or you can easily make a kiln pad. For this you roll out a log of clay about 3" long and 5/8" Diameter, carefullly place the cones in the pad and let the clay dry. The cones must go in the right order and direction.

mounting cones.Again all of this is easy to demonstrate and difficult to talk you through. If you can become a member of a pottery studio, which will if nothing else allow you to observe, it would be far better. Donna

I have an answer! One way for a beginner potter to understand the process: including loading a kiln, types of clays, how to make glazes and such: now don't laugh....There is a section of this book that does a wonderful job of explaining it all: you may have to order it: "Reader's Digest CRAFTS AND HOBBIES --a step by step guide to creative skills" ISBN 0-89577-063-6 copyright, 1979 I think someone I referred this book to, got a new copy....however, by now, I bet you would have to pick up a copy at a book dealer. (as a sidenote, there are also glass projects, quilting, etc in the book also. I still use it at times to help students see how lids are made, types of coilbuilding projects, etc.) I hope this helps. Ren