[Clayart] Small kiln

[Snail Scott]

> On Feb 25, 2020, at 10:05 AM, Kathy Forer <kef at KFORER.COM> wrote:
> 
> Does anyone make a 16 x 16 x 16 inch interior bisque kiln that would work in a garden shed on extension cord – doesn’t sound right? Would probably need an electrician to bury a wire for the twenty feet away from the shed house. Does a garden shed even work for a kiln in the Northeast? …


There often small and medium-sized ‘doll kilns’ on Craigslist and such which will hit bisque temp reliably, from various good manufacturers.  Lots of hobbyists get enthusiastic, then give them up.

i would avoid an extension cord. The issue is mainly (as I see it), the resistance that occurs where the contacts of the plug and receptacle touch each other. This is always the ‘hot spot’ in such a circuit, and with an extension cord, you increase the number of such spots. Since you would likely have to build your own extension cord out of #6 wire anyway (nobody sells one), you might as well just hardwire it in. It will be safer, you can always pull it out later, and it will actually be less work than making an extension cord!
If you want, go ahead and have the existing plug on the kiln attach to a receptacle on the ‘studio’ end of wire, but attach the other end of the #6 wire wire right to the breaker. Minimize the number of connections within the circuit even if you can’t eliminate them all.

Disclaimer: I am not an electrician, but I’ve always wired my own kiln connections, and never had a studio fire.  I can’t say the same of kilns wired by professionals: I‘ve personally seen two fires which started due to undersized wiring which was installed by licensed professionals. And the fires all started at a wiring connection, not in the kiln or in the middle of a wire or even on a wall near the kiln.  (My insurance agent says the same: connections are where fires start.)

-Snail