[CPT]

Hi all:

I found out that I may be moving in a few months and will have to sell or put my kiln in storage.

I will be moving into a rental house. Can you suggest a good small kiln (Cone 04-06 Firing) that plugs into a standard outlet? 120V?

Thanks so much

[justanassembler]

anything that runs on 120V should probably also be on its own 20A circuit... Additonally, everything I've seen that is 120v is really tiny, like test kiln tiny, so it may not be worth spending the 5-800 dollars on it if you believe this move is temporary, or that you can find other firing resources.

[CPT]

Very true; may have to do a kiln share.

[Lucille Oka]

CPT, on 27 January 2013 - 12:00 PM, said:

Very true; may have to do a kiln share.

There is the smaller Skutt KS 609; Kiln-Sitter model. Or the Skutt KM or KS 614-3; both fire to cone 6 (2250 degrees F). KM 614-3 is the largest of the three kilns I am mentioning in this post. Of the two KS 614-3 is the one I am the most familiar. You may have to have an outlet change and a larger breaker for the KS or KM-614-3. Go to the Skutt website they explain what you will need.

I recently purchased an Olympic Doll/Test kiln it goes to cone 10. I have not gone that high yet. (I am using cone 6 porcelain just now). I have done quite a few firings but it is too soon for me to recommend it. I am just mentioning it for it does exist. I have encountered a peeling lid coating, an erratic pilot light and floor cracks. But it does fire quickly and cools quickly. The controller is fun to use and is consistent. The relays are a bit loud when they click on and off. I have had it only a few months and the first firing was November 9th 2012, I have done 35 firings including last night. I purchased it for testing but have fired ware also. The interior dimensions are 7" wide, 9" high, and 11" long; but it is not a true rectangle. It was shipped UPS. I ordered it during a special and shipping was free. I also purchased the shelf and post kit. The kiln plugs directly into the wall. Does not need any changing of outlets. It does however, need to have most, not all, but most of the available power to the circuit which needs to be 20 amps.

Ventilation is a must for all of the kilns.

[CPT]

Huh; interesting! Thanks for the tip, Lucille! Which model is it?

http://www.bigcerami...lympic-120v.htm

[justanassembler]

I have fired that olympic doll kiln a few hundred times, its generally fine, but given its small size and cooling profile your glaze results are almost sure to vary from a larger kiln unless you program it to fire down. Left to cool on its own, its just really too fast. Additionally, they (olympic) use a stainless encased thermocouple (k-type) which I assume they did for accuracy's sake... Problem is to replace it its a 40.00 part and a genuine pain in the butt to remove. I changed the one I was firing over to use a standard skutt thermocouple using a spare TC block I had around and some extension wire. Works fine and costs 15.00/ replacement couple (@ full retail..) instead of 40.00 + S&H.

[Lucille Oka]

CPT, on 28 January 2013 - 06:44 AM, said:

Huh; interesting! Thanks for the tip, Lucille! Which model is it?

http://www.bigcerami...lympic-120v.htm

The Kiln has no model number but the name 'Olympic Doll/Test Kiln'. On the Big Ceramic Store link it just says 'DOLL' There are two controllers available and you have to decide which one you want and be sure to specify it when you order.

Also something they don't tell you in the manual, I had to call Olympic to find out what it was, there is a fuse compartment on the side of the controller the fuse may burn out and need replacing. The fuses are readily available from Radio Shack, Amazon,etc. They are inexpensive.

The little kiln is cooling down now from a firing this am. I started it at 5:40am it completed at 12:37pm. It was a C05-1911 degrees F programmed with a 23 degrees offset, this was a slow glaze fire (SGL) total firing time was 6 hours 53min. Total firing time reads on the display at the completion. The temperature now at 4:27pm is 550 degrees F.

If you keep a log you can really get to know the little kiln well.