Kiln Building Materials and Design

Brock · Post by **Brock** » Fri Nov 14, 2003 8:33 pm

1. Will 12" be enough inside height, or does that seem a bit too low? I plan on working mainly with float glass and perhaps casting billets.

I have seen many kilns of your proposed size, and 12" is enough height between the glass and the elements.

2. The Watlow controller is a single zone controller. If the kiln is designed right and element placement correct, giving me good even heat, is a multi zone controller really needed?

Most of the large kilns that I have seen don't have these.

3. mercury vs. solid state?

Do you like sharp cracking sounds all the time?

4. 1100 watts per cubic feet with the ability to throttle down when not casting, Sound good?

Yup

5. Is a raduis bell corner on the long sides a good idea to cut the cubic feet down, or just an added design nightmare as far as even heating goes?

Nightmare!

6. Movable bell or movable table? I originally planned on building two tables and moving the bell from one to the other via track. I'm now leaning towards a single table and movable bell on a shorter track.

Try a pair of tracks (angle iron) extending under, and past the bell on both sides. Two tables, one on each side. While one is firing, the other is being laid up. I have seen this system in use, and very intricate small repetetive pieces were being fired. Good quality rubber wheels on the kiln tables, very smooth rolling, no problems.

Dean Hubbard · Post by **Dean Hubbard** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 2:16 pm

Bert Weiss wrote:I am looking in to a new insulation setup. Skamol 375 vermiculite board backed up with calcium silicate board.

Bert,
Can you tell me what the wall thickness for the sides and the top is for the tests that are being conducted?
My current configuration calls for 3" of insulation in the sidewalls and 5" of insulation in the top. I hope I won't have to change these dimensions.

Bert Weiss · Post by **Bert Weiss** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 11:18 pm

Dean Hubbard wrote:
Bert Weiss wrote:I am looking in to a new insulation setup. Skamol 375 vermiculite board backed up with calcium silicate board.
Bert,
Can you tell me what the wall thickness for the sides and the top is for the tests that are being conducted?
My current configuration calls for 3" of insulation in the sidewalls and 5" of insulation in the top. I hope I won't have to change these dimensions.

I haven't heard back from Skamol, but The configuration I use now is like yours. 1" HD board inside walls and roof backed up with 2" 1900Âº mineral wool in the walls and 4" in the roof. Blanket back up requires 4" in the walls and 6" in the roof to get the same R factor.