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| Note how the liquefied clay eats into the firebrick. And the blobs on the base and shelves are quite solidly vitrified. |
......an over-fire of earthenware clay....and it's not very pretty. Events and complacence wandered hand in hand to arrive at this sad state. i.e. I screwed up and toasted my Skutt 818 kiln. A kiln shelf was placed too close to the kiln-sitter and this is what can result. I estimate the kiln hit about cone 5 instead of 04. The Crow-Kins on the top shelf liquefied and ran down each lower shelf until puddling in the bottom.
The end result is 3 shelves and the kiln -- all ruined. Repair cost will rival the purchase of a new kiln at this point. BUT......I think I can salvage the kiln itself and turn it into a gas-fired unit...for substantially less. We'll see.
Fortunately I have another kiln - much smaller, but hey...it's where I started out at. And learned that no matter how many successful firings one has (I estimate about 400), disaster ever lurks when the timing is right.
Mhm...and it occurred on the anniversary of the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens....synchronicity?
Oh, BG, what a shame really... but you certainly seem to have a positive attitude about it. I'd be banging my head against the wall.
ReplyDeleteIs it really ruined beyond repair?
Anyway, you did manage to get a lot of great things fired in that kiln!
Oh Dia, it's ruined beyond reasonable repair....I could probably repair it for $1000 - it needs a new kiln base, about 1/3 of the bricks replaced and new elements. A new version of this kiln Or...aboucan be had for about $1500. I do plan on keeping this one and likely converting it to gas fire for a fraction of the repair cost.
DeleteAs for a positive attitude, it's just that I've come to terms with what's done -- no sense in dwelling upon the obvious. I screwed up grandly as I do from time to time and life continues on.
AND YES I DID get a lot of good things fired in that kiln. And there shall be MORE!