Friday 26 February 2010

Kiln Elements & Blogging

Last month I put this picture up and asked for advice.
"Were my Elements about to pack up"?, I asked,
and how can I get them back into shape.
were these elements a reflection of myself after the Christmas Festivities.
As ever you very kindly gave me some excellent advice, which I followed
I heated the kiln up to 75oc over a 90 min period,
turned off the power supply and with my kiln gloves on I eased them back into place.
Two firings later and they are still in place.
I love doing the blog for a number of reasons.
1. You don't feel so alone.
2. The feed back to your work gives great encouragement
3. You can ask questions that your partner would just look at you blankly.
4. The amount of inspiration I gain from looking at other blogs.
5. A sense of belonging.
6. When the Virtual friends that you make Turn up in the real world.
and so on...
So thank you for all of your help and advice
Today marks the end of my first year of my workshop being open at Barrington Court.
and the New season starts Tomorrow.
I will be moving to the new workshop this time next week
and I'm already sorting out what track to dance around the new workshop too.
resistance by Muse it top of my play list at the moment.

8 comments:

Tracey Broome said...

Happy Anniversary! I could have written this same post, I have very much the same feelings about blogging and what I get from it, well said!!

Christine--RHP said...

yay for kiln repairs!!! and anniversaries! and long distance blogland buddies! I couldn't agree with you more. Good luck with the move. And I'll be here waiting to see the handheld studio dance vid.

doug Fitch said...

Congratulations Paul, exciting times and me too about the blogging thing :-)

Peter said...

Good for you Paul. So pleased that things are going so well, I am sure that is inspirational for all of us.

Well done with the kiln repairs. Not sure if I would have been as daring as you in diving into a 700 degree kiln! My own technique is to just switch on the affected elements for about 30 or 40 seconds, then turn everything off (at the wall) and swoop into the kiln with long nosed pliers in one hand, and a hot air gun in the other, and carefully do surgery on the element whilst blasting it with the hot air gun. I sometimes repeat the cycle of switching the kiln back on and heating for a few seconds, as my hot air gun isn't quite hot enough to keep things red heat. Your way sounds faster.

Anonymous said...

congrats paul... got to remember that kiln element trick for when the same thing happens to me

Trish said...

Expertly said, Paul..I agree.
I have only been in the blogging world for a few months and already the advice, friendship and encouragement have cheered me on to new heights. :)!...
Looking so forward to seeing the new workshop AND..you doing the happy dance.
Trish from Alberta

Hannah said...

Congrats on the anniversary Paul. Looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks down the Doug way. Did you pin the elements back? If not you can make U shapes with old bits of element and pin them back into the brick work just to make damn sure they stay there.
h

Unknown said...

Howdy Paul,
First time blogger, but know kilns.
I don't know the age of the kiln but elements realy shoudn't come out. There are reasons that they do and most of the time it is the way they were installed. See the element has a natural twist in it and if that twist is not followed in installation it causes the element to "unravel" and pop out of the brick. The safest way to put them back in the groove is by heating them up with a torch and using a pair of plyers to hold them in the groove untill they cool. and use a new pin to hold it down, too many pins will hurt the elements resistance and cause cold spots so be carefull. You will also notice how the element will now hold itself in the groove. But hay thats my two cent anyway. Good Luck

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