Loading the Kiln for Bisque Firing

I worked on so many clay pieces a couple of weeks ago that they will not all fit in my kiln. I have a relatively small kiln so I have to do two loads for my bisque fire. The first thing that I have to do is clean out all of the dust and other particles from previous firings. Then I carefully load the bone dry pottery into the kiln on my kiln shelves.

Since there is no glaze on the pottery, they can touch each other without a problem.

After loading the objects in the kiln on each shelf, I also have to place a pyrometric cone in the kiln setter.

My kiln is a manual kiln and is not digital. It works fine but I have to change the settings myself whereas with the newer kilns, the temperature switches over automatically at the proper time.

My good friend owns a newer digital kiln which is twice the size of my kiln. She has offered to fire my pottery any time I want, but that means that I would have to crate my pieces and take them over to her house at her convenience. I would rather do it myself when I can. I have some larger pieces that will not fit in my kiln, so I will take those pieces over to her house to be fired.

My pottery will be ready to be glazed tomorrow after the kiln cuts off and has a chance to cool down. I have several other pieces that need to be bisque fired as well. The weather is cooling off so it is a good time to run the kiln and to work on my pottery wheel.

Enjoy your evening.