Greetings. My first post to the group. I have to questions, pertaining to my old kiln. The kiln is about 20 years old, an old olympic, 2.5" firebrick. I purchased it used.
- I didn't know enough at the time I purchased it to ask what had been fired in it. I'm now getting VERY scared that the kiln was used to fire lead glazes. I'm sure it was used to fire hobbiest ceramics. I bought it 10 years ago. Does anybody have any advice on testing to see if there is lead in the bricks and on my pots after firing? I've read that just using a kiln that had been used for lead glazes can be hazardous.
- I use it to fire to cone 6. I don't consider this a fire hazard at all (it advertises itself as a cone 1 kiln). It's just quite inefficient. So, I'm wondering if anybody has ever removed the metal sheathe from an Olympic, wrapped it in fibrefrax and then recovered with perforated stainless. I've considered building my own kiln (the local store here has excellent plans), but I only have 40 amps to play with in my studio I don't want to go through the work for such a small kiln. So does anybody have any advice on adding insulation to my kiln?
- I lied ... I have another question. How difficult would it be to add an electronic controller to my kiln?
Thank you in advance.