Meet the Kilns & Kiln Maintenance

Ken Ison Pottery has four kilns; One electric and three gas. The raku kiln is only used a few times a year, while Sparky, Opal & Hercules are fired several times a month.  On the calendar you will see the firing schedules. 

SPARKY  does the night shift

The newest kiln is sparky with over 150 fires to date. Sparky is a workhorse and is fired several times a month. The automatic controller ensures it is not necessary to ride shotgun as with the gas kilns.  Sparky does all the bisque firing and low temperature glaze fires. 

OPAL is quick fire.

This kiln with 300 plus fires is originally from Weipa and fires our popular Opal glaze. It is a two burner gas fired top loading kiln. Opal fires small loads and does the reduction firing for:   Deep Sea, Eucalyptus  & Opal. 

HERCULES is jack of all trades

This 504 litre 22 c ft four burner gas kiln does the bulk of the oxidation fires.  This kiln came from Vanuatu about 40 years ago and is still in excellent condition.  Hercules fires our Avocado, White Iron, Pacific Green, Pacific Blue, Chocolate, Charcoal & Terracotta  glazes.   
All the kilns are  well maintained, in excellent condition and will probably still be firing in another forty years. 
  

KILN MAINTENANCE
This is a basic guide in caring for your kiln and highlights some common problems. 
If you fire a kiln & the kiln has a manufacturer's instruction manual:    Read it!
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1. ​Pottery scraps and shards should be gently vacuumed from the kiln prior to the next fire 
2. Keep shelves clean and coat with kiln wash when necessary 
3. Every so often clean shelves with a flat diamond stone on an angle grinder & re-coat with kiln wash
4. ​Do not place glazed items close to elements - use edge of kiln shelf as a guide.
5. Do not overhang shelves with pottery.  This can create a hot spot and damage the element. 
6. Glaze splatter also deteriorates elements.  This can be flicked off with a sharp knife - take care doing this as elements are brittle and can break.  They are expensive to replace.
7. Kilns with loose fibre construction should be coated with a fibre coating  as necessary.                                  eg:  Foseco ceramol.
8. Elements which come loose from a kiln wall can be propped up with nichrome wire pins or ceramic pins. 
9. Do not force elements into any position; they are fragile when fired and will break. ​