manual kiln use
 

I purchased a manual kiln at an auction. It's a Skutt model 231-18
and is probably 35-40 years old. It's in excellent condition, in
fact, it's in better condition than the electronic kilns I use at the
contemporary pottery studio where I work. The person who owned the
kiln before me no longer had the instruction manual for this kiln.
Can anyone tell me how to use it or where to look for an instruction
manual? I have e-mailed Skutt kilns asking for their help as well.

Have you checked with Skutt? They almost certainly will have the manual. It may
even be uploaded to their website.
Congratulations on your great find!
Gaye

"Mike LaViolette" wrote in message
m...
I purchased a manual kiln at an auction. It's a Skutt model 231-18
and is probably 35-40 years old. It's in excellent condition, in
fact, it's in better condition than the electronic kilns I use at the
contemporary pottery studio where I work. The person who owned the
kiln before me no longer had the instruction manual for this kiln.
Can anyone tell me how to use it or where to look for an instruction
manual? I have e-mailed Skutt kilns asking for their help as well.

[There's no big difference between an electronic kiln and yours. All you
need to do is to put an electronic controller between your kiln and its
power supply. You can get them with the same plugs as your kiln: the
controller plugs into the wall, the kiln plugs into the controller. You just
turn your kiln up to "high" and let the controller do its thing, ramping the
heat up in a controlled way and holding a certain amount of time at a preset
temperature before shutting off. This beats sitting up all night goosing the
thing up, and resolves a lot of problems in the glazes. You can use your
kiln-sitter as a fail-safe, to make sure the kiln shuts off at some point.
Put a cone in several cones up from your target temperature.]

Andrew Werby
www.unitedartworks.com

I also have this kiln that I just had wired. I have been up and down the
skutt website and cannot find info about it. Have you had any luck since
you posted? If so, could you please email the the info at
. Thanks. Pam