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does anyone have one of these puppys? how do they like them, are they any good? anyone have problems with them...?

thanks for the feedback.

shasta wrote:does anyone have one of these puppys? how do they like them, are they any good? anyone have problems with them...?

thanks for the feedback.

Ask on Craftweb. There are plenty of people with that experience over there. There should be a link in the WGBB links and resources button.

Crucible is a brand of kiln made for Seattle Pottery Supply. I've heard they're good. Delores Taylor said she's happy with hers. They are brick kilns, originally designed for ceramics work and adapted to glass by adding elements to the lid.

Els

The crucible kilns I've seen are made for holding... well, crucibles. They typically have a recess in the top for a blanket to seal between the crucibles and the wall. I saw a Jen Ken crucible kiln last week that looked nice except the lid lifted vertically. At 2200°, I'm not sure I want my hand over the heat. Sara Creekmore's crucible kiln had a lid that swung off to the side which made a whole lot more sense. I'm not sure which way the door swings on Seattle Pottery's crucible kiln, but it's worth asking.

Tony

They're using "crucible" as a brand name? That's really confusing.

Tony

I have one of the "Crucible" Kilns from Seattle Pottery. Since I believe that they are all "Crucible", I'd better describe it. It is an octagon, roughly 30" kiln with 3 "stacks" and a Barlett controller. I have used it for hundreds of runs, slumping glass and it has worked great.
The Bartlett controller is obviously a ceramic controller. My only wish is that it gave me more control. You can turn off "error mode" so that you can skip a step and "peek" without putting the controller into "error"... and thus shutting it down. I like to peek.
The Barlett controller always sets its "base" temperature from the current temp. This is great when you are starting from room temp, but not good if you peek in and see that you didn't go high enough to get the glass smooth.
So, for example, you set up a run to climb to 1550, hold for 10 minutes, and then come down for your annealing. After you start dropping, you peek in and see that the glass isn't smooth enough. With the Barlett, you cannot abort the run, set up a new run that goes back up to 1550 to hold for longer. You cannot set the annealing run at this point because you have to be at 720 deg before you can define a temperature that comes back to 720 deg. So, if you have Seattle Pottery build you a kiln, ask them about the Barlett to see if there is a better one.

Steve

Steve:
You must have a Bartlett V6-CF controller which is geared towards ceramics. Try the Bartlett RTC-1000 circuit board, same wiring hook-up, but you can "edit on the fly' while running, ie: change temp., rate of rise, etc. I have both and the RTC-1000 is much better for glass work. You could also add a momentary by-pass switch and "hot rod" the relay up to temp., let go and be back on the controller.
Rich Edelman KILN-TEC
( ex-production foreman SPS)

Excellent! Thanks!