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ramping schedule

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2014 2:55 pm
by grayeye
can anyone give me a ramping schedule for high fire and low fire decals? I don't want to sacrifice any more decals...
I have a Vulcan 111f

Re: ramping schedule

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2014 3:00 pm
by Valerie Adams
Where did you purchase your decals? They should offer some suggestions for best results.
I know that Tanya Veit sells them over at AAE Glass.

Re: ramping schedule

Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 7:16 pm
by grayeye
there were instructions, but it didn't turn out. I don't want to test fire the ones I got from AAE until I have some sort of ramping schedule for my kiln. I bought it used. I have figured out one for firing my glass but now I would like to move on to decals. I only have an infinity switch on there so when they say hold it at a certain temp, I am a little confused on how to do this and I can't seem to get anyone's help or suggestion! this site has not been very helpful to me so far.

Re: ramping schedule

Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 11:30 pm
by Valerie Adams
Hmm. Well, with just an infinity switch, it's very difficult to hold at any specific temp, for obvious reasons. I've heard of people babysitting their kilns, and switching that switch up and down to try to maintain a temperature, but the real answer is there's no way to be on target unless you've got a digital controller. They can be added to your kiln, but they're quite expensive. Hopefully someone with a controller similar to yours can chime in.

Re: ramping schedule

Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 11:13 am
by linn keller
Since everyone's kilns are all a little different, even someone with a kiln like yours may have different results than you do. I would think that if, as you say, you've got the glass schedule worked out, then that means you know how long it takes glass to get to certain temps in your kiln. So that should mean that you can match the decal requirements (from AAE or whomever) to the glass-in-the-kiln knowledge you have, and after a few trial runs, be good to go. I don't know who was the first person on this board to say it, but "test, test, test" is what comes to mind, because no one knows that kiln as well as you. Good luck, linn

Re: ramping schedule

Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 6:41 pm
by charlie
with an infinite switch, you can't really tell what the temp is. you can get a thermocouple with a readout so that you can tell, and adjust the switch to change the temps. you'll have to do some anticipating, because when you change the switch, the temp rate won't be affected for some time, so is extremely hard to be very accurate. that's why god invented controllers.

Re: ramping schedule

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 10:41 am
by Jeanice
I worked with an infinite switch during my first year and a half of kiln forming and it taught me a lot. There's something about working "old school" that is a great teacher.

How are you reading the kiln's current temp... do you have an analog needle gauge or a digital, numerical read-out? If you have the first may I recommend getting a digital pyrometer. I really liked the Bartlett pyrometer I got at auber instruments auberins.com but I don't see it on their website. The analog needle gauge pyrometers are unable to display temps down to 1-5 degrees and this makes it nearly impossible to achieve accurate results.

Charting: if you chart your firings you can become proficient at achieving more precise ramp rates as well as proper annealing. It takes some time and a lot of documenting on your part but its worth it in the long run.

I don't make jewelry and have never used decals. I just wanted to let you know that you CAN fire glass with an infinite switch.