Just got my kiln.....HELP!!!

[Zeldazog]

Thank you Dennis, I knew you would confirm if I was right.  I never work with Spectrum/System 96 to be honest, but I am sure that's what the kiln pre-program is designed for. 

Regards your point 2, I do tend to ramp slowly, but only up to my bubble soak.  Once I have done that, I ramp as fast as possible up to soak, and as fast as possible back down to anneal - although my bubble squeeze, or hold to equalize is actually higher than that, at around 650 C (1200F), which I got from Bullseye.

The main reason for my slower ramp before that is simply laziness on my part - even in terms of a 12" diameter its a bit slow, but it covers me if it has to go back into the kiln a second or third time.

For a lot of home fusers, maximizing the number of firings you can do each day is not so important, although I can see why you do it.  Sometimes I do crack the kiln early, if I have a lot of work going through or if I am impatient to see results!  And I bought myself a second shelf for those times when I need to reload straight away.

Dennis, I'd love to see your studio, it must be a hive of mad activity!

[Bluebell]

Thanks guys!  Yes, I have bought in a lot of Bullseye which is what I intend to use.  With the kiln, I also got a load of Spectrum/System 96 glass which I never expected (thought I was just getting a couple of samples).

Gosh, I wish I was more technically savvy!  There are a couple of abbreviations/terms that I'm just not sure of.  When you mention

3.  FAP to 960F hold 60

- what does FAP mean? Also when you say

crack the kiln

is this when you open the door/lid?  As you know the Hotstart Pro is a top loader, so a little heavy.  If this is what you mean, do I wedge it?

Sorry, I'm such a newbie at this and I'll probably laugh at these questions soon enough, but right now everything is a foreign language to me!

I fully appreciate that it will be a case of trial and error until I am familiar with the kiln and I'm VERY grateful for your patience and help with this.

[Warm Glass UK]

Please, please don't struggle with your kiln - give us a call on 01934 863344 and we will talk you through your first firings. We spend literally hours talking to customers on the phone to "hold their hands" through the early days so please don't feel isolated and give us a call. Simon is the best person to speak to about firing schedules and technical stuff but any of the staff here should be able to help you.

Thanks, Pippa

[Krysia@No98]

(I got my kiln from somewere else but...)

Take these guys up on their offer for any problems, I did (for my suppliers) and they were fantastic!!  I didn't feel like I was pestering and I didn't feel like an idiot.

[Bluebell]

Thats it - the kiln is finally switch on!  I've acted on all your advice - thank you all sooooo much!

I'll let you know the outcome in a few hours - fingers crossed x 

[Dennis Brady]

Gosh, I wish I was more technically savvy!  There are a couple of abbreviations/terms that I'm just not sure of.  When you mention

3.  FAP to 960F hold 60

- what does FAP mean?

FAP means Fast As Possible.  The controller programming code for that is 9999.

Also when you say

crack the kiln

is this when you open the door/lid?  As you know the Hotstart Pro is a top loader, so a little heavy.  If this is what you mean, do I wedge it?

Yup.  It means to open the lid an inch or so and prop it open.  Some makes of kiln have a notch on the lid lift arm specially for that purpose, but for kilns that don't have a notch, a shelf post works perfectly to hold the lid open.  Opening the lid to expedite cooling is a common practice for pottery and is sometimes recommended for glass.  Be verrrrrry careful about fully opening your kiln lid at full temperature.  Pottery kilns have smooth surface lids and can tolerate the shock of room temperature air striking the hot kiln lid.  Glass kilns with groved in lid elements tend to start to crumble along the element groves when temperature shocked.  This article has a photo of what happens when you open a glass kiln lid at top temperature:
http://www.glasscampus.com/tutorials/pdf/Kiln%20Lid%20Dust.pdf

Sorry, I'm such a newbie at this and I'll probably laugh at these questions soon enough, but right now everything is a foreign language to me!

Don't worry about it.  Everybody started off the same.  In every profession (and kilnforming is a profession) specific terminology is used to assure universal understanding.  Don't be afraid to ask questions.  We've all heard the statement, "There are no stupid questions".  That's not entirely true.  There is one universally stupid question.  That's any question you wanted to ask but didn't.  Ask away.  Some respondents might display impatience at hearing the same question repeated 100 times.  Ignore them.  Most will instead understand that just because they've heard that question 100 times doesn't mean it isn't the first time you asked it.  Ask away.


[/quote]

[Dennis Brady]

Dennis, I'd love to see your studio, it must be a hive of mad activity!

Absobloodylutely.  Mad is the appropriate term.  In addition to stained glass and sandblasting, we have 6 kilns firing non-stop.  I'll see about getting some photos on our website.

I get the impression from various comments that Bullseye is more commonly used in the UK then Spectrum.  Is that so?  On our side, I'd estimate about 80% of the market is Spectrum.  In our shop, it's 90%+.  Many retailers no longer even carry Bullseye.  Spectrum is about half the price of Bullseye and only a few purists still use it. 

Why the greater popularity of Bullseye?  Greater supply availability?

[Zeldazog]

Be verrrrrry careful about fully opening your kiln lid at full temperature.  Pottery kilns have smooth surface lids and can tolerate the shock of room temperature air striking the hot kiln lid.  Glass kilns with groved in lid elements tend to start to crumble along the element groves when temperature shocked.  This article has a photo of what happens when you open a glass kiln lid at top temperature:
http://www.glasscampus.com/tutorials/pdf/Kiln%20Lid%20Dust.pdf

Wow, Dennis, I *never* knew about that - I know there are differing opinions about crash cooling some say do it, some say never. I have done it a few times, and I mean only a few, probably 2 or 3.  One time was I was in a desperate hurry to reduce the firing time (that was probably one Xmas Eve when I was still making a present) and on another, I needed to halt the process temperature.

I certainly shan't be doing it again without a very good reason, thank you for telling us about that, Dennis.

[Zeldazog]

Why the greater popularity of Bullseye?  Greater supply availability?

When I first started, which was 3 or 4 years ago, my teacher introduced me to Bullseye.  I knew others were out there, but at the time, I couldn't find a UK supplier.  The local stained glass supplier stocked a range which I Think included some Spectrum cathedrals, but couldn't tell me the COE, but I couldn't find any other brands for a long time (And it was through a stockist mentioned on FHF that I found other suppliers)

Even now, I wouldn't say it's widely available, not online anyway and I don't live near any of the glass stockists.

In terms of price, I just had a quick look, and whilst Spectrum IS cheaper it's certainly not almost half the price.


So probably a combination it being more readily available, and that Bullseye getting to market quicker means a lot of us already have it, and that Spectrum isn't SO much cheaper that changing can be justified.

[Bluebell]

Well...........What a relief!  It really is very simple.  I followed the recommend instructions and in seconds chose Auto.....Fast.....Full Fuse, and that was it! 

Don't laugh.... but I made a log.  I decided to put a few pieces (of different sizes from 2cm - 5cm long and 1cm to 2cm wide) in the kiln as it's recommended to do that to see if it's firing properly.  So after careful cutting I wrote down a full description of of each little stack with a few experiments i.e. overhanging with clear caps, stacking exact cuts, measurements of each piece etc etc.

The whole program took 4hrs and 41mins but another 8 hrs to cool down - and YES is was 2am in the morning before I got to bed! but I was determined to log everything for the first firing and I logged the cool down temperatures every hour or so.   Honestly it was like waiting outside a maternity ward - you can tell my passion for this!

I suppose now I could just switch off the power once it's finished the program and know that I can leave it for 8hrs overnight before opening it?  or can't I???

Anyway, I am REALLY pleased with the outcome and of the test pieces I put in, I have a good idea of what works well.  The Spectrum 96 performed the best I have to say - nice clean lines and rounded in the right places. 

I also popped in a couple of stacks of 90coe dichro (ripple on black) and clear Tekta which didn't work so well - they were kind of uneven and rippled at the sides.  I took it that I didn't overhang the Tekta enough to encase the ripple. All part of the test though.

But overall - I'm very pleased. 

Thanks again for all your help yesterday - I learned a lot!

Linda x 

[Dennis Brady]

I suppose now I could just switch off the power once it's finished the program and know that I can leave it for 8hrs overnight before opening it?  or can't I???

For small pieces (like jewelry cabochons) you can do that.  Many artisans fire that way.  However, you may end up with pieces that are inadequately annealed (to pop apart at some later time) or thermal shock crack from too rapid cooling.  You've discovered that the longest part of the firing schedule is the cooling time.  You can ramp up and down quickly above 1000F but below that is the danger zone.  The greatest risk is between 600F and 1000F.  Kilns are very efficient at holding heat.  It's not uncommon for you to program a ramp down schedule that your kiln can't cool fast enough to match.

You can take a couple or more hours off your cooling time by using the 3-2-1 cooling system.  You can also experiment with higher speed ramps than commonly recommended.  Our shop practice is to routinely ramp at almost twice the super-safe speeds recommended by Bullseye.

If you want to just shut down after completing the fuse, you don't need to physically turn it off.  Just program it in the final segment to ramp down FAP to 0.  The sooner you stop using the preprogrammed schedules in your kiln, the sooner you'll start learning how your kiln works.