[ThisIsMelissa]

So, I returned the Artista wheel yesterday and got a previously owned, but never used Clay Boss for a good price that I found on Craigslist.

The guy says, "if you want that, you can have it".... pointing to a small kiln in the corner of the garage. Looked pretty old... not sure of the year. Hasn't been fired in at least 6 years as the family has lost interest in clay and glass.

It's a Paragon A66B. I called a (different) local company and the technician was very nice. He said I could call him with the particulars and he'd let me know if it's still service-able and whether it was even worth my time. I asked, "so, what if I take it and it's not worth servicing to get it up to par? How do I responsibly dispose of it?" He said, "then I'll recycle what I can for you and what is still useable, I'll keep in my 'graveyard' for when someone might need to service a similar model". Nice!

Win-win!

I picked it up..... well, the seller loaded into my minivan for me. And I'm going to drop it off at the shop next week.

I've still got it in my van, so I asked my instructor this morning, to give his opinion. He said it looks decent. The kiln sitter is missing a prong or 2

It has no stand, I'm not sure if it would need venting or not and hubby would have to run electricity for it.....

I was sooooo not prepared to even THINK about a kiln.

I've never even helped load a kiln, let alone, fire one!

[atanzey]

Congrats - sounds like you got a good deal and a new adventure all in one!

[Theresa from Tas]

I'll be following your progress with interest Melissa! I did a summer school in wheel throwing at the local Uni in January, and then borrowed a few glaze books from the library. In the last few weeks, I've bought a pottery wheel and invested in some glaze materials. I havn't yet committed to a kiln, but I'm probably not far off...

ThisIsMelissa, on 18 March 2012 - 09:57 AM, said:

So, I returned the Artista wheel yesterday and got a previously owned, but never used Clay Boss for a good price that I found on Craigslist.

The guy says, "if you want that, you can have it".... pointing to a small kiln in the corner of the garage. Looked pretty old... not sure of the year. Hasn't been fired in at least 6 years as the family has lost interest in clay and glass.

It's a Paragon A66B. I called a (different) local company and the technician was very nice. He said I could call him with the particulars and he'd let me know if it's still service-able and whether it was even worth my time. I asked, "so, what if I take it and it's not worth servicing to get it up to par? How do I responsibly dispose of it?" He said, "then I'll recycle what I can for you and what is still useable, I'll keep in my 'graveyard' for when someone might need to service a similar model". Nice!

Win-win!

I picked it up..... well, the seller loaded into my minivan for me. And I'm going to drop it off at the shop next week.

I've still got it in my van, so I asked my instructor this morning, to give his opinion. He said it looks decent. The kiln sitter is missing a prong or 2

It has no stand, I'm not sure if it would need venting or not and hubby would have to run electricity for it.....

I was sooooo not prepared to even THINK about a kiln.

I've never even helped load a kiln, let alone, fire one!

[AmeriSwede]

It sounds like what started out as a possible ensuing tornado-like nightmare (circumstances with the Artista wheel), actually has turned into a wonderful 'yellow-brick road'.

Now starts a great adventure with your progress down that road, with a myriad of wonderful discoveries to be made, muted with the occasional 'flying monkey' encountered.

Congratulations and good success!


--Rick

[Jeri]

Sounds like you managed to turn a bad situation into a good one. I'm happy for you!

[TJR]

Congratulations on turning a lemon into lemonade. Sounds like you would have never been happy with your first choice. Whwen a salesman suggests hitting it with a hammer, it's not good.
Good luck with the rest of the studio.
TJR.

[Arnold Howard]

ThisIsMelissa, on 17 March 2012 - 05:57 PM, said:

It's a Paragon A66B. I called a (different) local company and the technician was very nice. He said I could call him with the particulars and he'd let me know if it's still service-able and whether it was even worth my time. I asked, "so, what if I take it and it's not worth servicing to get it up to par? How do I responsibly dispose of it?" He said, "then I'll recycle what I can for you and what is still useable, I'll keep in my 'graveyard' for when someone might need to service a similar model". Nice!

I will be interested to know if the kiln fires. You could test it yourself with an ohmmeter to find out if all the parts are okay. The instructions:

http://www.paragonwe...er_Readings.pdf

You will need a 4-wire circuit for the A-66B. The instruction manual includes a section on electrical installation:

http://www.paragonwe...er_Readings.pdf

Good luck!

Sincerely,

Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com

[kevin]

i would definatly find out how to fire it bisque fireing is easy the bone dry clay can touch anything. just don't over load the kiln other wise it might not heat evenly due to all the stuff you have in there. glaze firing you need to get stands for the pots to sit on. the general rule about fireing is bisque low like cone 06 or 010 and glaze high or to what the glaze bottle says. if you overfire glaze it will run and might turn a different color because the chemicals with react different with the heat. also if you do a bisque fireing at a high temperature like cone 5 then there will be little to no pores in the clay to absorb the glaze and it will not adhear to the pot. all in all you found a really good deal !

[bciskepottery]

At the studio where I teach and take classes, we bisque fire to cone 05. We have no problem with glaze adhering to pots at that temperature. We bisque to cone 05 because it provides a bisque piece that is a bit stronger/less fragile for students to handle without marring surfaces and because students tend to be a bit heavy handed when glazing and the harder bisque is slower to absorb glaze. Yes, we still have runs, but in general it works. With a variety of clay bodies in use, it also allows clays with organics more time/temperature to burn out impurities. I also bisque to cone 05 at home.