Kiln Work

I have learned a lot about kilns this week.  On Wednesday, David Snyder (the Kiln Doctor - check him out at www.kilndr.com) came back and we got the new kiln put together and working. I'm going to try to explain what we did. 

First, we took out the old elements we were replacing.  Then we took the kiln apart to make it easier to work on the bricks. We also called in reinforcements with muscles (Jeff) to help us lift the old kiln up enough to get the stand and castors out from under it. In the picture above, there's the base and bottom ring of the new kiln, the stand and castors from the old one, and the old kiln. 

Below, you see two of the parts of the new kiln sitting on the table and David who said that he did not mind appearing in pictures for my blog.

 I am amazed at how very fragile kilns are. They are basically soft brick held together by strips of sheet metal. Our first task was to remove all those screws to take the hinge off.  Most of them were rusted and wouldn't budge.  Plan B: work on the screws from the inside of the loop of metal.  We needed to take the sheet metal off so that we could get to the bricks that needed to be replaced anyway.

There is is.  Two rows naked kiln bricks. 

I worked on the rusted screws with a hack saw and David worked on deciding which bricks to replace with the few new ones we had and which ones to sort of patch with the bricks that were coming out.  I am not good with a hack saw, so my part didn't go very fast.  Eventually we had the two rings of bricks the way we wanted them and the sheet metal bands back on them and tightened up.

Then we started with the new elements. 

 Working from the bottom up, the new elements were carefully placed...

 ...element pins were put in place and pushed in until they were flush with the edge of the brick.

I got to help with this part.

 Notice how I'm managing to do this without messing up my hair too much.  I had to go to graduation at work after this all day project. 

(Photo credit to Lisa Claytor)

I almost forgot to show you this.  Remember how we took the casters out from under the old kiln? The plan was to take the legs off that kiln stand (that fits the dolly with casters) and put the new kiln on it.  Unfortunately, those screws wouldn't budge either. Why not just sit the new stand on the dolly? Because it wouldn't fit.  The old kiln was just a little bit larger than the new one. This Plan B involved 4 of the old bricks cut to fit the corners of the dolly, then the lid from the old kiln, and the new kiln sitting on all of this.  I did insist that we get the kiln centered on the old lid as much as possible.  It might have been suggested at this point that I am a wee bit obsessive.  Call me what you want, but that minor adjustment means I'm going to be much happier with how it looks. I plan to look at this for a lot of years.  My kiln has wheels - very handy.

Once the elements were all in, David worked to get the wires all connected to the control box and attached the box.  I paid attention to what goes where in the hopes that next time I need new elements maybe I can do the installation myself.  Fingers crossed.

And now for the new hinge for the lid...that big old spring supports the weight of the lid, so it is super easy to open and close.  Another added bonus is that it holds the lid open so we don't have to prop it against the wall, nor do we have to be concerned with it falling down on our heads while we load and unload.  

 Lots more screws to get it all attached...

 And finished!

Thursday morning, I loaded up the first bisque fire. I was so relieved to be able to get moving on all that work that had piled up. Everything seemed go fine with the fire except...

The weld on the clamps on the sheet metal strip on the lid let go.

I talked to David and got advice on what to do, and Jeff and I worked on getting that fixed on Saturday.  As of now, I think we are good. We'll see if it holds next time I fire.  I'll be loading another bisque early next week.  The work is ready, I just wasn't up to getting it done this weekend.  Jeff gets major props for putting up with me through the repair.  I don't handle it very well when things don't go well and when I don't feel like I know what I am doing.  Plus I'm sick with a yucky cold and a cough.  Bad moods all around.

 Next project: Old Kiln Demolition.

Took out the elements first.  Then I carefully destroyed one column of bricks to get them out of the way. After that, the others were easy to lift out. I kept a few of the least damaged ones. You know, just in case we needed them again for some reason. 

 The rest I put in buckets to make them easy to move. 

I didn't get a picture of the carcass of the old kiln, but once the bricks were out, it was pretty easy to move.  I'll get back over there later with the truck and load up the metal and the old bricks and haul them off.

If you find yourself in need of kiln repair, I highly recommend David Snyder from All Fired Up in Charlotte.  He is pleasant, knowledgeable, and patient.  That website again is www.kilndr.com.