These directions are designed to serve as reminders for students of Louis Katz. They are not stand alone directions. For instructions on how to fire your kiln, consult the manufacturer.
Old Soda-Salt Kiln
Preparation
Use these cones
- Front Pack 012,04,1,5
- Back Pack 8,9,10,
- Way Back 12
- Fill out log form, get signatures- post
- Check cone packs and loading. Double check stilting.
- Open damper all the way.
- Stack and wad the door.
- Check that the all burner valves are off.
- Make sure flamables are away from the kiln.
Soda Kiln
Lighting
- Check burner valves again .
- turn the main (red) valve on.
- turn on the far pilot valve.
- apply a flame to the pilot and depress the red Baso Valve button. Wait for the pilot to light.
- keeping your face away from the flame light the burner next to the pilot and leave it on low. The flame will stabilize in a few minutes as the flue begins to draw.
- Close the damper to 2" open
- put in the spy hole plugs
- inform the evening building manager that the kiln is lit.
Overnight Setting for soda kiln
- turn up the burners with the pilot progressively over many hours until it is at 4(?) inches. The other burner remains off overnight. The damper is normally left at about 2 inches although this vaires with the need for carbon trapping.
Soda Kiln
Firing Setting
- Damper open
- all burners all the way on
- bells open
Soda
- use between 500 and 3000 grams of soda ash in a bucket of water. Make sure you dissolve it. Use goggles. If you splash any in your eyes rinse them immediately... keep rinsing for ten minutes. This solution will be hard on your skin, keep it off your skin.
- usually the soda is sprayed into the kiln between cone 9 and 12 in the hot spot. It can be sprayed in anytime about cone 1.
- If you spill soda solution inside please rinse it down the drain. Its hard on the cement floor.
- rinse the sprayer after use.
- If you look in the kiln while you spray make sure you use welding glasses. This procedure takes quite a while and staring for long periods into a cone ten kiln may damage your eyes. They are especially needed when looking behind the bagwall when the kiln is near temperature.
Old Soda-Salt Kiln Shutdown.
After the last soda goes into the kiln at least 15 minutes should elapse before shutdown. However if the kiln is over fired, five minutes is usually sufficient to avoid having the ware salt-scum.
- Turn off Yellow Valves
- Turn off Pilot Valves
- Turn off Red Valve
- Close Damper
- Close all salting ports and burner ports without disturbing the thermocouple and pilot.
- Make sure spy holes are plugged
- Make sure all compustables are at least six feet from the kiln.
- Make sure the log has been filled out
- Check the valves and damper again
- If it is night time inform the night time building supervisor.
