A test kiln with firing controller: A necessity.

Every potter should have one of these. Every clay body manufacturer should have one. This one has a Bartlett Genesis electronic controller, you will never go back after having one. Start with a kiln like this and then graduate to having a large, second kiln (or more of these if you are doing lab or development work). We have done 950 firings on this one in the past few of years, it is still like new. Ongoing testing is the key to the constant development of your products and their quality.

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A test kiln: Enabler to testing glazes

And to evolving your own glaze recipes

Oatmeal cones 6 glaze needs improvements

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The evolution of the quality and aesthetics of your work, and even your ability to cut costs, are stunted when you depend too much on others (e.g. for firing, for premixed glazes). This mug is a good example of tests I need to do. This is G3933, made by adding iron oxide, rutile and tin oxide to a 75:25 blend of our base matte and glossy glazes (G2926B and G2934).
-It is crawling at some of the sharp angles of the incised decoration, would a little CMC gum fix this?
-Would an 80:20 blend of the two glazes give a little more matteness?
-Our red-burning body gives better color at cone 5, would this glaze be richer and more matte on it in the C5DHSC slow cool schedule?
-I want to test increases in the rutile (for variegation), iron (for better color) and granular manganese (for more speckle).
-Would a Ravenscrag Slip base glaze be a better host for the rutile, iron and tin?
Having a small test kiln puts all of these changes on my radar. An account at insight-live.com to document everything well brings it all together.

A modern electric test kiln, a marvel of utility

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This is a ConeArt 119D, 0.57 cu ft, 11"x9" cone 10 test kiln. While there is 120v model, don't take a chance, go with 220v (actually ours is 208v). Ours fires 1000 times on a set of elements, mostly in the cone 4-7 range. The old BX controller is shown here, it is $300 cheaper, but don’t even think about getting that! Do not use your electric like a pop up toaster, make it a technological enabler of custom firing schedules, get the Genesis GX. Having good control of firing is a key to success and this is superior for that. These kilns are economical to fire. Big enough for 5 mugs, but I typically fire a dozen clay and glaze test specimens. We make our own super-thin shelves. The controller holds about 20 schedules, even controllable remotely (it is Wi-Fi connected). We can fire cone 04 up and down in three hours! Of course, since this type of kiln can enable so much more testing you also need a code numbering system and a place to record and search all the results: An account at insight-live.com.

A small 220V electric test kiln

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Very well endowed with elements. From the back view you can see how simple the wiring is on a kiln like this.

Videos

Links

Articles	Electric Hobby Kilns: What You Need to Know Electric hobby kilns are certainly not up to the quality and capability of small industrial electric kilns, being aware of the limitations and keeping them in good repair is very important.
Glossary	Test Kiln A test kiln is a must for all potters and small manufacturers, even serious hobbyists. Here is why.
Glossary	Kiln Controller In ceramic kilns the firing schedule is typically managed automatically by an electronic controller. But that may not mean that ware gets automatically fired to the correct temperature and atmosphere.
Glossary	Kiln Firing All types of ceramic are fired in a kiln to cement particles together to produce a hard and water and temperature resistant product.
URLs	https://kilnfrog.com/ Wide selection of glass, clay, metals, jewelry, blade kilns. Especially smaller sizes. Brands in 2024: Evenheat, Jen-Ken, Olympic, Hot-Shot, Cress, Paragon, Heat Treat Now.

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