Join me for a strange one...
- Thread starter kcress
- Start date
kcress
New member
Thanks r3k2p!
I made it to the pottery today and found that everything but three of the plates were lounging at 1,673F on the way to 1,950F.
Kinda crazy looking into a kiln. Normally we see things because of broad spectrum light being reflected off of the thing's surfaces. But when you look into a kiln there is no external light. The light is actually originating on the surfaces you are looking at!!
Because the light spectrum is dictated by the temperature, all the light in the kiln is pretty much the same. So you look in and you see this screaming yellow-orange and everything is that same exact color. So it's like looking thru orange fog at things a 100ft away.
It ran for 8hrs and so should be down to about 800F by now.
The standpipe hides are the worst shapes for loading a kiln, large cylinders, so that was why the last three plates wouldn't also fit in that large kiln.
I made it to the pottery today and found that everything but three of the plates were lounging at 1,673F on the way to 1,950F.
Kinda crazy looking into a kiln. Normally we see things because of broad spectrum light being reflected off of the thing's surfaces. But when you look into a kiln there is no external light. The light is actually originating on the surfaces you are looking at!!
Because the light spectrum is dictated by the temperature, all the light in the kiln is pretty much the same. So you look in and you see this screaming yellow-orange and everything is that same exact color. So it's like looking thru orange fog at things a 100ft away.
It ran for 8hrs and so should be down to about 800F by now.
The standpipe hides are the worst shapes for loading a kiln, large cylinders, so that was why the last three plates wouldn't also fit in that large kiln.
Girly Gears
New member
This makes me wish I was still in pottery class...Do you think you could measure the fired plates compared to the dry ones and figure out how much they shrink? I used to know, but high school was more than a few years ago...
kcress
New member
All the plates have to be made 7% larger so when they shrink they are the size you want. I figured all the finished measurements I wanted, then divided by 0.93.
All the shrinking occurs during drying, not really during firing. It's the loss of the water. Same sort of thing as acrylic getting longer/bigger when it gets wet. With clay this means you have to build anything large, (like my plates), on butcher paper. That allows the surface the plate is drying on, to shrink with the clay as the butcher paper just slides on the supporting surface. If one just leaves the plate on a board the bottom of it would stick to the board and as the rest of it shrank big cracks would form somewhere to allow the shrinkage.
All the shrinking occurs during drying, not really during firing. It's the loss of the water. Same sort of thing as acrylic getting longer/bigger when it gets wet. With clay this means you have to build anything large, (like my plates), on butcher paper. That allows the surface the plate is drying on, to shrink with the clay as the butcher paper just slides on the supporting surface. If one just leaves the plate on a board the bottom of it would stick to the board and as the rest of it shrank big cracks would form somewhere to allow the shrinkage.
Interesting build Kcress. I'm learning alot from your posts and Der....'s too.
Just a side note, if you need to add 7% shrinkage, wouldn't you multiply by 1.07 to get your measurements?
I dig the cnc deal you have, I wish I did enough projects to justify getting that.
I'm elbow deep in my LED fixture build... I'm sending the heatsinks off to get anodized in a coupe of days.
I haven't read beginning to end of this thread, but are you using motorized mirrors (on your chimney?) to track the sun? I have thought of that from much harsher angles (horizontally. through windows) but that isn't practical...
Awaiting more pictures of your build, Thanks for sharing.
Just a side note, if you need to add 7% shrinkage, wouldn't you multiply by 1.07 to get your measurements?
I dig the cnc deal you have, I wish I did enough projects to justify getting that.
I'm elbow deep in my LED fixture build... I'm sending the heatsinks off to get anodized in a coupe of days.
I haven't read beginning to end of this thread, but are you using motorized mirrors (on your chimney?) to track the sun? I have thought of that from much harsher angles (horizontally. through windows) but that isn't practical...
Awaiting more pictures of your build, Thanks for sharing.
kcress
New member
Thanks delmo.
Yeah! I should've divided by .935 or as you point out multiplied by 1.07! Luckily that half percent difference was not noticeable - especially to my diamond saw...
I haven't gotten to the heliostats yet.
My cylindrical hides and two of my plates came out of the kiln and made it home!!
There are 2 more plates in the kiln awaiting firing that didn't fit the last load. And..... the last plate..... broke into 100 pieces while trying to move it onto a kiln shelf. The bird seed did something to it.. It was very crumbly.
So this minute I'm off to re-make that FAILED plate.
Yeah! I should've divided by .935 or as you point out multiplied by 1.07! Luckily that half percent difference was not noticeable - especially to my diamond saw...
I haven't gotten to the heliostats yet.
My cylindrical hides and two of my plates came out of the kiln and made it home!!
There are 2 more plates in the kiln awaiting firing that didn't fit the last load. And..... the last plate..... broke into 100 pieces while trying to move it onto a kiln shelf. The bird seed did something to it.. It was very crumbly.
So this minute I'm off to re-make that FAILED plate.
When you get a chance let the faithful masses know.
kcress
New member
Greetings Adam.
We are talking hurry up and wait - to the max.. :sad1:
I've finished fabricating everything I'm going to with ceramics. That one plate shattered and I made a replacement. Yesterday it was sitting on top of a kiln that was 2153F. I asked why, and was informed that that was to assure it was dried out for firing this coming week.
I made two large batches of "things" to hide all the tile seams. Those are drying too and have been for about a week. They're all small and should dry quickly. I'm hoping they will all go in this week also...
Remember the seeds I used in the clay? This is what happens when you roll them into the surface.
We are talking hurry up and wait - to the max.. :sad1:
I've finished fabricating everything I'm going to with ceramics. That one plate shattered and I made a replacement. Yesterday it was sitting on top of a kiln that was 2153F. I asked why, and was informed that that was to assure it was dried out for firing this coming week.
I made two large batches of "things" to hide all the tile seams. Those are drying too and have been for about a week. They're all small and should dry quickly. I'm hoping they will all go in this week also...
Remember the seeds I used in the clay? This is what happens when you roll them into the surface.
canesfan44
New member
Yeah!
Staph!
Wash your hands. Clean under your fingernails. Wash your hands. Check for and clean any small cuts or scrapes. Wash your hands. Wash your hands and wash your hands.......
A place I used to wrestle at once had an outbreak of MRSA, and that's pretty much what we were told all day.
Those pieces turned out very nice. Have you gotten your eductors and figured out how you are putting them in you stand pipe yet? I think that once you get all of your pieces in and everything hidden, this will be one of the best natural looking tanks I have seen. Not very often you see a tank without power heads and other stuff cluttering up the view.
Girly Gears
New member
canesfan44, if you ever had MRSA you would be kicking yourself for not washing those hands, it's horrible! Kcress, what happened to the pieces with the garbanzo beans in it? Did they weaken you pieces too much?
kcress
New member
?? Looks like canesfan was leading the charge to wash hands!
They do indeed weaken things. Anything in the clay will weaken it as it raises stress locations. The plate that broke had a lot of them - more than any other plate. But if you're reasonable they will provide interesting results.
I use a roller to make the large flat quarter inch thick sheets. Once they've been rolled I sprinkle the seeds on the sheet and run the roller back across the clay sheet. In the case of the garbanzo beans they actually punch clear through the sheet creating a hole once they incinerate away.
Here's an example: The smaller holes.
Lupine
New member
This is OT, but MRSA is everywhere, and like ordinary staph, you won't have a problem with it unless you're immuno-compromised. MRSA is everywhere, you've already come into contact with it unless you live in a bubble.
Back on topic, awesome work kcress!!!
canesfan44
New member
I know. My buddy, that I wrestled with thought he had a mosquito bite. 3 days later, it was still there and he started picking at the scab. Next thing you know, there's a small hole in his leg that went pretty much all the way to the bone, followed the next day by chills and a major fever.
Lupine, I agree, and it's that way with many diseases/viruses/infections.
Again, sorry for derailing the thread, it was just the first thing I thought of when I saw the pictures of staph. Anyway, I've been following this thread from the beginning and I love it. I love the way you're going about this build, from the initial plans, the pics of his other tank (the wave tank) with the pic of the yellow tang going through a bridge, to watching him build his own rock. This a great thread and will be a tremendous help for people in the future (i.e. someone that's wants to be able to lower & raise their tank, use natural sunlight, etc). Anyway, keep up the great work and watching this build come together from the very beginning makes myself, and I imagine lots of others, feel like we have been a part of it. :thumbsup:
