I love my new kiln. At least, I'm ready to fall in love with it, though time will tell whether it's true love or not.
After attending a crystalline glaze workshop I decided to try that specialized way of firing pottery. However, it requires a kiln that is super insulated and can shoot up to high temperatures and stay there for hours while the zinc crystals grow in the glaze. So after numerous emails full of advice from the workshop presenter, I settled on a double-insulated kiln with an element in the floor from Bailey Pottery in New York state.
I ordered the kiln in September. It was assembled, shipped cross country and arrived, after being "lost" by the freight company, in November. And in the garage it sat and sat because it would not fit through the door into the studio without being disassembled. Yikes! All that expensive electronic stuff had to be disconnected before the kiln could come apart. I was in over my head.
I mentioned my dilemma to a friend and she thought her husband would be willing to help me and sure enough, Jules came to the rescue. It took several hours in the cold garage, carefully reading the (not always clear) directions and finally it was disassembled, moved, and reassembled. Without Jules' help, the kiln would still be in the garage.
It took me several more weeks to hook up the exhaust fan and run the ducting out of the basement under a crawl space, but finally - ta da! - the kiln was ready to fire.
Unfortunately, the first firing was a disappointment because of operator error (that would be me) when I programed the kiln incorrectly and it shut off before the crystals could grow.
But right now I can hear the relay switches click on and off as the kiln works its way up to the target temperature. I'm feeling hopeful that at this second firing I will have my long-awaited crystals.
