My Stupid Pot Melt Fire

You have been slowly drying the wood out for 6 years. There is a rectangular"pad" used under wood burning stoves, (you have those in the metropolitan urban area?). That is what is under my kilns, they are 6 inches away from the walls in my kiln room, the walls are covered 4 feet up with "transite", same stuff the glass companies use on the top of their rolling tables. If I didn't have that, I would stay 18" minimum from the walls.

You are just operating at higher temps than you are used to operating at. Does the city send you a bill for the fire run? They do here.

Kim, I don't think you should be trusted with anything that gets hot. Ya know...Rosy Greer used to do needlepoint.....

Andy

If you haven't looked yet, I think you will find the glass dissolved the blanket and was kept hot by the insulating features of the blanket, increasing the risk.

Ah... now we finally can understand why I pay over $10,000 in taxes for my little shop, and you pay next to nothing. We have running water, sewers, great schools, fire, police, buses, subways, you name it..... Is it worth it? No.

My wife took away my matches and magnifting glass too.

Do you suppose we could get her to confiscate Brady's keyboard?

Ok funny guy, we have all those things too, just don't have to share them with so many people, well, no subway, and only one bus, but then my taxes for the business were $120 for the year, (I rent the bldg, for now) and the insurance pays the fire dept. bill.

hmmm interesting.... what should I have used that would be better?

Putting a kiln shelf on the frax is the most common solution. Using blanket on the sides and top and insulating castable and or brick on the bottom is another.

I think there is a misconception on someone's part, maybe it's mine?

The fiber blanket that the glass ran on was inside the kiln. "Using castable and brick on the bottom" you are talking outside the kiln correct?

What should you have done? Use the "saucer" for the clay pots with a shelf primer on it, the lip keeps the glass in a puddle and it cools faster with out anything(fiber) other than the kiln temp keeping it hot, it comes down as the kiln does.

Could have used fiber to create a ring on a heavily primered kiln shelf, the ring contains the glass, the shelf keeps it off the floor.

But most important, put brick of any kind under that kiln to hold it off the floor, and put a heat barrier under the brick, like those used for wood stoves. Works great in my wood frame building, has for nearly 20 years.

I've wound up with cracked mullite shelves by setting them directly on fiber.

I have stainless steel rings that I use if the melt would run over the shelf. Line them with 1/8" fiber.

I weigh all of my melts to calculate the free size or the dammed thickness. I also use a bullseye level on the shelf before each firing. My kiln sets on a tripod stand with adjustable legs.

OK, fill me, and others if you would be so kind, in on the weight conversion for my 20" shelf. How do I know how much weight in the pot, makes how large a disc?

Went to Michaels Crafts and got some pots, fresh from Germany, little 6" jobbers and some larger saucers, but I just guessed at the sizes. How do I know what fits what? Sounds like a "try it" to me.

Like Glassman said, 3 lbs for a 12" circle. I work in grams. 1100 for a free pour 1/4" thick. 550g for each additional 1/8" inch. Be sure to dam over 1/4" thick.

I buy my pots at the Home Despot. Made in Italy, last well. I've heard the Mexican pot doesn't hold up well.

For big melts I look for bulb pots. Big diameter without the added height.

Experiment with your whole size and shape and drop height.

I usually drop onto 1/32" Unifrax.

If you're not thrilled with the outcome, nona fretta. You can grind off the top layers and usually find some good color with sharper lines.

Size??

Ya know, I better go take a look at that web page and read up on this. I might have some free kiln time at the end of May sometime and it looks like fun.... firemen, smoke, insurancve agents, arson squad... could be interesting

So much fun that I'm ready to do it again! But then again I'm from Brooklyn, and used to living dangerously. Pot size doesn't really matter. Cut up about 3 lbs of scrappolla in long skinny strips, and you'll see what size container it will fit in. Crank it up, let it drip, and you'll be hooked. Of course what to do with the results is the real question.

Don't get hooked on just long skinny strips. The size and shape and how it is placed in the pot are also important variables.

What to do with them? Check below. Eight of nine on page 1 are pot melts. Redwood Sunset on page 2 is a pot melt. Each photo can be enlarged twice.