Howdy all -- on the scrounge for yet more advice (and more requests to
come). This one was 'fired' by the thread on transporting Calor gas...


A friend of mine is a potter (hobbyist grade so far), and she'd like me
to help her make a DIY kiln for firing low-end ceramics.

She sent me this Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmbXl6pSMzg

... and I found lots mo apparently it's a popular thing among potters
worldwide.

I'm very interested to know what the relevant experts in the uk.d-i-y
club would say to a project like this. My own initial reaction was:
propane gas? Firing for hours? Temperatures of *well* over 1000º? No
bloody way!

Cheers
John

On Jan 29, 9:37 am, John L wrote:

I'm very interested to know what the relevant experts in the uk.d-i-y
club would say to a project like this. My own initial reaction was:
propane gas? Firing for hours? Temperatures of *well* over 1000 ? No
bloody way!

why not? fear of hot things? :)

your worst case scenario required....

JimK

JimK wrote:
On Jan 29, 9:37 am, John L wrote:
I'm very interested to know what the relevant experts in the uk.d-i-y
club would say to a project like this. My own initial reaction was:
propane gas? Firing for hours? Temperatures of *well* over 1000 ? No
bloody way!

why not? fear of hot things? :)

your worst case scenario required....

JimK
The China Syndrome.
;-)

On Jan 29, 10:10 am, PJ wrote:

The China Syndrome.
;-)

Steady on! it's only propane...er ...I assume?

JimK

Well away from your main house, in a reasonably fireproof building
(i.e. not a wooden shed!), no inflammable materials around, long hose
from the gas bottle, no kids or animals around - and with someone
checking up on it reasonably frequently - the risks might be
acceptable.

Depends heavily on careful use and a watchful eye.

Compare it with the tar boiling rings used for road repair - they
could be upset easily (or when the guys heat the gas bottle up *on the
ring* on cold mornings).

It might be other less obvious dangers that need thought, good
ventilation to avoid dangerous fumes etc, that needs extra care.

On 29 Jan, 09:37, John L wrote:

A friend of mine is a potter (hobbyist grade so far), and she'd like me
to help her make a DIY kiln for firing low-end ceramics.

Easy

I use this a lot
http://jarkman.co.uk/catalog/forge/cylinderforge.htm

Burner is a Ron Reil propane / natural draught design, but built by
the Christian guy in the USA who makes them very nicely, for a
reasonable price, and includes little tracts when he ships them.
Bless.

Insulation and stuff comes from Bath Pottery Supplies (I'm in the
South West). Used to be Purimachos too, but they seemed to have
closed in Bristol and the site turned into a knocking shop.

For small enamelling work, and stuff where you want precise
temperature profiles, consider electricity with a good programmable
controller. Kilns are cheap, running them is expensive, so it can pay
to have multiple kilns and only use the smallest / simplest you need
for the job. Quicker too, as they heat more quickly.

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:37:10 +0000, John L
wrote:

Howdy all -- on the scrounge for yet more advice (and more requests to
come). This one was 'fired' by the thread on transporting Calor gas...


A friend of mine is a potter (hobbyist grade so far), and she'd like me
to help her make a DIY kiln for firing low-end ceramics.

She sent me this Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmbXl6pSMzg

.. and I found lots mo apparently it's a popular thing among potters
worldwide.

I'm very interested to know what the relevant experts in the uk.d-i-y
club would say to a project like this. My own initial reaction was:
propane gas? Firing for hours? Temperatures of *well* over 1000º? No
bloody way!

Cheers
John


There's a microwave kiln for glassy stuff... looks insane if you ask
me
--
http://www.Voucherfreebies.co.uk
http://www.holidayunder100.co.uk

On 29 Jan, 19:17, mogga wrote:

There's a microwave kiln for glassy stuff... looks insane if you ask

I've got one of those. Quite slow, and very small. It'll fuse glass
for jewellery though.

OP here.

Wow -- impressive links there Andy! And I'm encouraged by the general
lack of horror reactions.

I think I must be a wood spirit rather than a fire spirit. Which is
another way of saying I prefer to work with pieces of wood, with 2"
nails, rather than welding and cutting metal and using fire (except to
get rid of my debris).

I was worried about the safety of propane cylinders, leaving a burner on
for hours, and poisonous fumes -- Dom has mentioned and adequately dealt
with those. (I didn't specifically mention them because I had no idea
of what other risks there may be in addition.)

Thanks a lot for the responses so far.

John

John L wrote:

A friend of mine is a potter (hobbyist grade so far), and she'd like me
to help her make a DIY kiln for firing low-end ceramics.

I'm very interested to know what the relevant experts in the uk.d-i-y
club would say to a project like this. My own initial reaction was:
propane gas? Firing for hours? Temperatures of *well* over 1000º? No
bloody way!

Dad built his own, full size oil drum, some expensive insulation blanket
I had to collect for him, he's had some success (and some failures!) ...