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Since you're hearing the relays click, that says the controller is working. If you hadn't gotten it to fire, I would have told you to cycle your circuit breaker, because half of your 220 volt circuit was off. I can't imagine what would make your 220 circuit intermittent, other than a loose connectio...

Cheryl,

Channelock makes nail cutters that open pretty wide... about an inch, but not more than a half inch deep. Home Depot has them. Sneak in a piece of your murrini in and see if they'll work.

Tony

You could make a tool like this
http://hobbyglass.com/Murrini-Chopper-P458592.aspx

The arbor press can be bought from Enco for $40. Then you need someone to weld cutters onto the arbor and table.

Tony

Are you sure it's not kilnwash that you're smelling?

Tony

Try soaking in acetone. That will soften many adhesives.

Tony

No. The cerium will do as good a job as the cork.

Tony

Wet. No cerium.

Tony

I think the biggest lesson learned is to not underestimate the weight of glass. We've seen beautifully constructed glass racks come crashing down and taking thousands of dollars in glass with them. So use quality materials, plywood vs particle board, and keep the largest sheets (and heaviest weight)...

Just go in and tell the salesman that you're a glass artist, that you have a CRLaurence wet belt sander and you want an account so you can buy belts. That's how I got my CRL account.

Tony

Can you see the lines because the piece has thinned out at the joint? This can happen with two layers if the glass is on the thin side. Another possibility is that the glass is moving slightly during heat up. Damming the piece would prevent the glass from moving. Adding a third layer, or using a 6mm...

Agreed. The Gleco Trap is the way to go.

Tony

Sorry. I misunderstood the question. With a four-wire cord, you have two hots, a neutral and a ground. Connect the two hot leads to the same places the hot leads connected to with the three wire cord. Connect the neutral to where the third wire on the three-wire cord connected to and connect the gro...

A three prong dryer cord ties the neutral directly to the chassis ground.

Tony

I've never seen an infinite switch used with a relay. Is that how the Norman is set up?

Tony

I'm not sure what you're asking. Infinite switches usually come as a switch block with push-on spade lugs on the back. Sometimes you can get them with a knob and indicator bezel as well.

Tony

No, not really. You can expect a kiln that size to draw about 30 amps at 240 volts or 7200 watts. Thats about 1500 Watts/cubic ft for your kiln. Even the most efficient kilns use about 800 Watts/cubic foot which gets you down to about 16 Amps at 240 volts. You're still talking about rewiring power t...

Something else to consider is to increase your hold on the way down to get the entire mass of glass at the same temperature before entering the annealing range. I'm still a bit unsettled about the recent change to 900F for annealing since thermocouple inaccuracy can quickly take you out of range. An...

A tack fused piece has much greater potential for residual stress after annealing than flat pieces due to the constantly changing thickness. Every edge is a potential crack initiation point. Proper annealing on the tack fuse is critical, because with your second firing, you're trying to heat the var...

I would first unplug the kiln and make sure there is voltage at the outlet using the voltmeter. We have seen circuit breakers fail in the past. If the circuit breaker is bad, consider having an electrician upgrade that circuit to a higher current rating. Next, the fuse in the controller has very lit...

I've seen this effect on some of the reds as well. It wouldn't surprise me if the effect is from exposure to oxygen during the rolling and annealing process. We may be seeing a slight chemical change on the exposed surfaces due to oxidized lead, or whatever chemical that contributes to the glass col...