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Flower pot melt-down
Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2004 7:24 pm
by Meera
I have been using a ceramic pot, made in Italy, to pull cane in a vitrigraph kiln. It has been working fine till the last 2 times. The same flower pot as before completely melted down, destroying the elements. Take 2, with new kiln and it happens again. Do I need to use a special flower pot? Where can I buy it online? Is there something special I should be doing?
Meera
don't reuse the flower pot
Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2004 7:29 pm
by Cheryl
Meera, you don't say what kind of firing schedule you're using, or the size of the pot relative to the size of the kiln, but here are a few general tips:
1. flower pots should come from Germany or Italy (as opposed to Mexico). Usually they're stamped on the bottom or side. Don't ask why, these just seem to hold up better.
2. Terra cotta isn't sturdy stuff. Use your pot only once - not more. So plan ahead and pull all your stringer at once -- the stuff left in the bottom of the pot is just the price you'll have to pay for the wonder of vitreograph.
3. Try to pull all the stringer relatively quickly when the pot is hot (I use 1700 F). It's not great on a kiln to keep the elements on that high for longer than an hour or so.
Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2004 9:13 am
by Meera
The pot was Italian, after the preheat it was on at 1700 for 30mins.
Re: Flower pot melt-down
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 5:41 pm
by charlie
Meera wrote:I have been using a ceramic pot, made in Italy, to pull cane in a vitrigraph kiln. It has been working fine till the last 2 times. The same flower pot as before completely melted down, destroying the elements. Take 2, with new kiln and it happens again. Do I need to use a special flower pot? Where can I buy it online? Is there something special I should be doing?
Meera
if i treat it gently, i can get 3-4 firings from the same mexican clay flowerpot. it shouldn't have melted at all if it was clay, although it could have broken and fallen to pieces.
Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2004 12:12 am
by GGWLtd
20-30 minutes on High on top two controllers. medium for bottom controller throughout the pull
stay at medium for the rest of the time.
You will be waiting around longer but you will have better control of the thickness of your glass. Your pots will last longer and will never have a melt down. They do crack usually after one to three firings. So you wiil have to use good judgement.
You can buy them at Home Depot for about .67 cents each. I buy a package of Twenty at a time. They do have melt down after 1650- 1700 so watch it .
Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2004 12:16 am
by GGWLtd
20-30 minutes on High on top two controllers. medium for bottom controller throughout the pull
stay at medium for the rest of the time.
You will be waiting around longer but you will have better control of the thickness of your glass. Your pots will last longer and will never have a melt down. They do crack usually after one to three firings. So you wiil have to use good judgement.
You can buy them at Home Depot for about .67 cents each. I buy a package of Twenty at a time. They do have melt down after 1650- 1700 so watch it .