[shoobs]

Hey there,

So I received some brand new 26" corelite kiln shelves. 10 to be exact. 8 of them broke right down the middle during firing. My supplier said there might have been a bad batch, I got ten new ones. Of the new batch of ten, four have already broken. I use three posts, don't load a lot of heavy work (the last incident cracked with just a few tiles on them, and most interesting; I have not fired past 04! They all break at low temps. I am using a Cress electric kiln.

Is anyone else having this issue? Any suggestions? I have switched to using six posts and putting the middle line in the same place (as if I were loading with two half shelves) it might prevent damage to projects (in case the unbroken ones break) but it is a pain in the butt and it takes up space in my kilns.

Please help,

Nick  DSC_3197.JPG (805.7K)
Number of downloads: 24

[bciskepottery]

Have you contacted the manufacturer? Sounds like the second set came from the same lot as the first.

[shoobs]

bciskepottery, on 30 October 2012 - 12:03 PM, said:

Have you contacted the manufacturer? Sounds like the second set came from the same lot as the first.

Not yet, I was trying to see if there was some other variable that I should be aware of first.

[Mark C.]

This has been a problem I have heard about before and I would again take them all back and start with new ones as these all are from the same batch. This has is not a new issue with these.I think its the whole batch gone bad.
Either talk with supplier or manufacture.
I would 4 post those (al on the outside edges) as 3 seems to be a large hang-also Have you thought of the lighter hollow core shelves for these full size ones?
Mark

[neilestrick]

Interesting. I hadn't heard of this with the Core Lite shelves. Everyone I know has had no trouble at all. Definitely a bad batch. When Laguna bought Thorley some years ago, their shelves were having major cracking problems.

Are you putting any half shelves in there, too, where the posts are not aligned vertically?

I respectfully disagree with Mark on the 4 posts. 3 should be fine. I tripod my 14x28 shelves with no problem. You should only nee to 4 post if you have half shelves above, in order to keep the posts aligned. If you 4 post, shim with clay and a glob of kiln wash to make sure the shelf does not rock.

[Mark C.]

neilestrick, on 30 October 2012 - 05:07 PM, said:

Interesting. I hadn't heard of this with the Core Lite shelves. Everyone I know has had no trouble at all. Definitely a bad batch. When Laguna bought Thorley some years ago, their shelves were having major cracking problems.

Are you putting any half shelves in there, too, where the posts are not aligned vertically?

I respectfully disagree with Mark on the 4 posts. 3 should be fine. I tripod my 14x28 shelves with no problem. You should only nee to 4 post if you have half shelves above, in order to keep the posts aligned. If you 4 post, shim with clay and a glob of kiln wash to make sure the shelf does not rock.

Thats ok Neil as I usually 3 post my 1/2 shelves up to near top of kiln then on top load the full shelve and to line them up I have to 4 post it and as noted need to shim a tad to stop the rocking-(good point) In 99% of all my posting I use 3 point stands-line up is key as you noted.
That cracked shelve looks like a mullite Thorley in photo. My studio assistant works at local ceramic supply hose and she has had a few thorley batch's crack badly like these in recent times.
Mark

[shoobs]

Thanks everyone,

Yes indeed I load the posts above each other. I am pretty sure I am not at fault here, especially considering the frequency of the breaking. Thanks everyone for your input. Looks like I will be contacting my supplier.

[justanassembler]

I had this exact thing happen, resco was emphatic that it was not a production defect, however they were very responsive when it came to replacing or refunding.