fibreboard

[flowerjasper]

me again!!
i fired up the kiln, on a speed program as it hasnt been used before, which went ok.
i was then going to program it for a batch annealing,
i put in the fibreboard thet came with the kiln, it went brown and has stained the floor and walls ( i did take off the cardboard!!)
what did i do wrong? i have re read the annealing link and i am sure it says put the fibre board in,

am i being blonde?   i can put in a ceramic tile  instead cant i?
sandy

[♥♥Tan♥♥]

some of them have to have the organic binders burnt off first at a lower temperature and I think they all have to be kiln washed

[glassworks]

yep, the fiber bits all go lovely brown and give off loads of fumes the first time they are used...

they should be kiln washed (just use dilute bead release if you have no "proper" kiln wash).. we never test fire our kilns with the fiber boards in as they do get a bit more brittle as they get used, and crumble a tiny bit more - which makes reshipping a bit trickier.. they are just as strong though - and protect the base of the kiln!!

[turnedlight]

Is it an sc2? I have one, I'm sure it mentions this in the instructions - it looks horrible, but the next time you fire it goes away. I never kiln washed either - the instructions didn't say to! It doesn't seem to be a problem..

[BeadyBugs]

Hi Sandy,

No that's fine - they do kick out a lot of brown rubbish the first couple of times you fire them. Turn it over when you fire it a second time and the residue should burn off the board and kiln wall, (may take another firing or 2).  And as Q says, they do get more brittle and dusty the more you use them. 

I've never kiln washed on one though?  But I have bought new ones when the old one falls apart.

And yes, as you said, you could just use a ceramic/terracotta tile, it's only there to protect the floor of the kiln from escapee beadies.   

HP x

[flowerjasper]

thanks all!!
have thrown it cos i thought i had ruined it!  dah
i have made a rack with galvanised wire to support my kebabs, that will be ok wont it!!
sandy

[BeadyBugs]

Erm don't know, never tried it, I don't know how stable the coatings are at high heat???  Maybe someone else has tried it and could let us know? 

I just got some steel mesh from B+Q and made a cradle for my kebabs.  But that won't protect the bottom of your kiln from sticky beads, so shove a ceramic tile on the bottom if you've got a spare, or get some more fibreboard if you can.  Much nicer than hacking splatted beads off your kiln floor with a chisel if anything goes wrong.

HP x

[*rowanberry*]

I've never kilnwashed my fibeboard either... :S never heard of that before!

[BeadyBugs]

That was new to me too Claire.   I wonder if it would help prevent the board breaking down or getting dusty?   Anyone else done it?

And Sandy, Julie's just posted this techy info on another thread, and it quotes Zinc's melting temp at 419C, well below the annealing range, so it might not be a good idea to use galvanised wire? 

HP x

[Mary]

I didn't kiln wash my fibre shelf either, had it over a year. It just sits in the kiln in case something turns to a puddle! It's a good idea to kiln wash (or thinned bead release) your kiln floor, I've heard of several oopsies when the kiln went wrong and left melted blobs stuck to kiln floors!

[*rowanberry*]

I just have a piece of thin fibreblanket on the base of my kiln to cushion the beads all nice - that hopefully should protect from any whoopsies!

[flowerjasper]

i put a ceramic tile in instead of the fibre so the floor of the kiln is protected,
the wire i got from B + Q, it is a sheet of mesh 1x1cm,
the temp is up to 430 now so i shall go and look to see if things have gone horribly wrong in shed land,
sandy

[flowerjasper]

 
only thing to have happened is one of the beads has cracked in half,
the wire is still ok at 450 degrees so i dont think its zinc, thankfully!
so far so good,
sandy

[BeadyBugs]

Aww poor little bead.   Glad to hear the wire is ok though - I suppose the zinc coating may just burn off if it does anything at all?

HP x

[*rowanberry*]

fingers crossed the rest are okay for you and it isnt zinc coated...

Sandy I am so happy that you have a kiln now!!! and are doing so well in this lampworking lark! well done you!! Let me know when you want me to tell you how to make some of those replacement berries that were stolen...