[Clayart] Kiln with soft floor?

[KATHI LESUEUR]

Tell her to put a shelf on the bottom to protect the soft brick. Every electric I've ever had had a soft brick bottom.

KATHI LESUEUR
http://www.lesueurclaywork.com



On Aug 27, 2019, at 11:44 PM, Teri Lee wrote:

> A clay colleague of mine recently came to possess an old Duncan kiln. She
> has no idea how old it is, but she is guesstimating it was built in the
> 1970s (no automatic anything, no vent, uses a kiln sitter). She has no
> manual, so she figured she would place three 1/2-inch kiln posts on the
> kiln floor to hold up an initial shelf, then stack her pots the usual way.
> 
> She did a cone 5 firing and all seemed to go well, but when she unloaded
> the kiln, she found that the three kiln posts had actually sunk slightly
> into the kiln floor, leaving three "dimples."
> 
> I have never heard of a kiln with such a soft bottom. Was the kiln built
> with super soft brick or other material? Does this kind of sinking indicate
> that the kiln is deteriorating? Is it safe to use? Should she place a shelf
> directly onto the bottom of the kiln to evenly distribute the weight of her
> pots and stack per usual? Any and all insights are greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> Teri Lee
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