ON LOADING KILNS

These are the points most often overlooked by students loading
kilns. See if they apply to you.

The basic principle is that kilns heat by convection, conduction
and radiation. We desire to heat the ware, not air spaces in
the chamber, therefore we must load the kiln evenly and tightly.

Biscuit Firing

1. Pots should not touch sides of kiln, or elements. Generally,
1" away from elements, or 2" away from wall and roof on "live"
fuel kilns.
2, Pots can be stacked one upside down on the cther provided
the rims or lips have sufficient strength, and provided the rims
or lips match up evenly. These columns can go several feet up if
the heaviest and strongest pots are on the bottom. This is called
rim to rim or foot to foot stacking.
3. Pots may be placed inside each other provided no pressure is
placed against walls of the host pot. These inside pots may tend
to end up harder than the other pots because the host pot tends to
retain the heat around them.
4, Greenware should be completely dry before firing. Using your
kiln as a drying oven often causes cracking and warping.
5. Pots dried on uneven cr warped boards often come out of a
biscuit kiln warped due to stresses they acquire while drying.
Do net dry your pets in drafts for similar reasons.
6, Greenware can be stacked in columns cutside the kiln then
placed inthe chamber. This saves time and is a safer loading
method.
7. Biscuit fire to the same temperature each time, usually cone
010, 060r04. Then, if your glazes always have the same con-
sistency you will find them much easier to apply to the same
thickness.
8. In small kilns shelves are not generally used. You must judge
the weight of your ware and use shelves where you think it
necessary.
9. Biscuit firing shouldn't be done too fast. Generally, 1 hour is
required for every 100 degrees C. of temperature rise. I have

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