Friday, February 11, 2011

Friday full of thoughts

There has been a great discussion in the comments section on how much it cost to fire an electric kiln.
Years age mark figured it coast about 8.00 for a bisque- years ago mind you.
We have not done the cost on how much in many years and with the formula that was shared we plan to check out how much it does cost.
We do have the pottery on a separate meter from our house.
That allows us to know what it does cost when we are running full tilt.
I can tell you that the kilns are separate from our work area and this allows us to shut off that area when we are firing.
This save heat when we fire in the winter and A/C in the summer.
It also allows us to continue to work even with a kiln going.
We mostly fire bisque in the electric kilns and have two gas kilns to finish fire in.
But a few years back I wanted to make tiles and we bought the smaller kiln just to do that.
Well there is nothing like a new kiln, its like a new car, to see what you have been missing.
We love the new kiln and spent most of last year saving for a new and bigger one to replace the old kiln.
When it came December after a lot of thought and good advice from the blog community we bought.
I think we will be very happy with our choice.

With the tiles I am using mostly bought glazes and playing with color.
I thought I would only be making tiles- but I am now doing some throwing for the kiln and am trying to find some new glazes for those pots.



The teapots are glazed in a slip type glaze that goes on well and has a nice warm toasty color to it.
But after years of the gas kiln I know I want more depth to what I am using.
So I have been reading and looking through cone 5-6 glazes.
I fire to 2190-soak for 15 and then back cool and shut off.
There is still more to learn.
We did fire cone 6 years ago but the glazes I used then were quick and covered the pots.
I want glazes that will let the carving and stamping show.
So it  is like going back to school and digging through much info while I look for what I want.
Mark is planning to put the new kiln to more use with some heavy reduction.
Seems I am torn between the two worlds....
There is no reason I can' t have both, right?!
Cheers from , I want it all!
M





10 comments:

Sylvia N. said...

I love the tiles. Have fun learning! BTW....I posted the box directions for you last night on my blog! Happy Friday!

Unknown said...

Great Teapot. The carvings look great with that glaze.

Tracey Broome said...

I have a bunch of cone 6 glaze recipes from the studios I have worked in. I have also used some of Georgies glazes and some of Spectrums and I like both of them but I'm not sure they are cost effective. I have a very good reliable black, and Nutmeg is always a really good reliable glaze, over matte white, it has a nice "shino" look. That article about the nutmeg/white has been circling around for a long time, you may know this already. If you want some recipes let me know and I can send you some.

cookingwithgas said...

thanks! i will take some recipes and suggestions!

Anonymous said...

lovely tiles meredith. when i bought my coneart, the guy i bought it from told me it would cost 18.00 to fire 1 load to cone 10. i only fire to ^6 but my ^6 profile and my bisque profile both don't just go to temp and shut off so i figure the extra time on my firing profiles plus inflation over the 5 years since i got it, it must cost around 25 bucks to fire, but this is just me guessing... no science or math involved

Anna M. Branner said...

I have SO much to learn. I didn't know you could do reduction with an electric kiln. :0

Mr. Young said...

If you want a whole library of tried and tested ^6 glazes, check out the cone 6 gathering of artists at:
http://cone6pots.ning.com/
Some of the artists there are quite good.

cookingwithgas said...

thanks Robert- i will check them out soon!
And you should be checking your mail next week....seems you are getting a treat!

cookingwithgas said...

Anna- we have two gas kilns for reduction!

Michèle Hastings said...

of course you can have it all! that is what makes this pottery life so interesting. i can't seem to stick to just one thing... i get bored to easily. i have only bisqued in my electric kiln. been thinking about doing some ^6... i like some of the bright colors but reduction will always be my first love :o)