My Stupid Pot Melt Fire

How smart can I be? I had this one of 3 of my kilns, sitting on a wooden
dolly, so I could wheel it around when I needed to. The bottom has always
been perfectly cool to the touch, but this kiln is 3 stacked octagon rings
of firebrick. I had a little free time so I tried a stupid pot melt. It
worked out OK but it was way too dense in color. I was told to use mostly
clear, so the next time I used some clear scrap, not fuseable clear. The
temp needed to get it to flow was much higher, so I eventually went to
almost 2000 degrees to get it to drip out the bottom hole of the pot. I
peeked in, and it looked OK, so I shut it off. It eventually cooled way down
under 1000 and all was well so I went home. I got a call from the police
about 2 hours later saying there was a fire at my shop. When I got there the
firemen had finshed and were packing up. There was no real fire just smoke.
From examining the leftover parts I figured out what happened. The molten
glass dripped down on the botton of the kiln floor onto fiber blanket. It
was so hot that the intense heat kind of seeped through the firebrick rings
and so dried up the wood of the dolly, that it was kind of like tinder
waiting to go off. When I left it must have been almost ready to smolder,
but not quite. 99% of the damage was caused from the firemen doing their
jobs. The dolly was smoldered into ash on one side, and surprisingly the
kiln looks like it may be still OK. In the future I'll prop it up on
cinderblock probably, and keep it clear of anything burnable. I had it
surrounded with drywall and some sheet metal, but that one weak link did me
in. Keep in mind that I've been using this system like this here for 6 years
with no issues.

JKSinrod
www.sinrodstudios.com
www.MyConeyIslandMemories.com

"Glassman" wrote in message
...
How smart can I be? I had this one of 3 of my kilns, sitting on a
wooden
dolly, so I could wheel it around when I needed to. The bottom has always
been perfectly cool to the touch, but this kiln is 3 stacked octagon rings
of firebrick. I had a little free time so I tried a stupid pot melt. It
worked out OK but it was way too dense in color. I was told to use mostly
clear, so the next time I used some clear scrap, not fuseable clear. The
temp needed to get it to flow was much higher, so I eventually went to
almost 2000 degrees to get it to drip out the bottom hole of the pot. I
peeked in, and it looked OK, so I shut it off. It eventually cooled way
down
under 1000 and all was well so I went home. I got a call from the police
about 2 hours later saying there was a fire at my shop. When I got there
the
firemen had finshed and were packing up. There was no real fire just
smoke.
From examining the leftover parts I figured out what happened. The molten
glass dripped down on the botton of the kiln floor onto fiber blanket. It
was so hot that the intense heat kind of seeped through the firebrick
rings
and so dried up the wood of the dolly, that it was kind of like tinder
waiting to go off. When I left it must have been almost ready to smolder,
but not quite. 99% of the damage was caused from the firemen doing their
jobs. The dolly was smoldered into ash on one side, and surprisingly the
kiln looks like it may be still OK. In the future I'll prop it up on
cinderblock probably, and keep it clear of anything burnable. I had it
surrounded with drywall and some sheet metal, but that one weak link did
me
in. Keep in mind that I've been using this system like this here for 6
years
with no issues.

You have been slowly drying the wood out for 6 years.
There is a rectangular"pad" used under wood burning stoves, (you have those
in the metropolitan urban area?).
That is what is under my kilns, they are 6 inches away from the walls in my
kiln room, the walls are covered 4 feet up with "transite", same stuff the
glass companies use on the top of their rolling tables. If I didn't have
that, I would stay 18" minimum from the walls.

You are just operating at higher temps than you are used to operating at.
Does the city send you a bill for the fire run? They do here.

Kim,
I don't think you should be trusted with anything that gets hot. Ya
know...Rosy Greer used to do needlepoint.....

Andy

If you haven't looked yet, I think you will find the glass dissolved the
blanket and was kept hot by the insulating features of the blanket,
increasing the risk.

--
Mike Firth
Furnace Glassblowing Website
http://users.ticnet.com/mikefirth/
"Glassman" wrote in message
...
How smart can I be? I had this one of 3 of my kilns, sitting on a
wooden
dolly, so I could wheel it around when I needed to. The bottom has always
been perfectly cool to the touch, but this kiln is 3 stacked octagon rings
of firebrick. I had a little free time so I tried a stupid pot melt. It
worked out OK but it was way too dense in color. I was told to use mostly
clear, so the next time I used some clear scrap, not fuseable clear. The
temp needed to get it to flow was much higher, so I eventually went to
almost 2000 degrees to get it to drip out the bottom hole of the pot. I
peeked in, and it looked OK, so I shut it off. It eventually cooled way
down
under 1000 and all was well so I went home. I got a call from the police
about 2 hours later saying there was a fire at my shop. When I got there
the
firemen had finshed and were packing up. There was no real fire just
smoke.
From examining the leftover parts I figured out what happened. The molten
glass dripped down on the botton of the kiln floor onto fiber blanket. It
was so hot that the intense heat kind of seeped through the firebrick
rings
and so dried up the wood of the dolly, that it was kind of like tinder
waiting to go off. When I left it must have been almost ready to smolder,
but not quite. 99% of the damage was caused from the firemen doing their
jobs. The dolly was smoldered into ash on one side, and surprisingly the
kiln looks like it may be still OK. In the future I'll prop it up on
cinderblock probably, and keep it clear of anything burnable. I had it
surrounded with drywall and some sheet metal, but that one weak link did
me
in. Keep in mind that I've been using this system like this here for 6
years
with no issues.

JKSinrod
www.sinrodstudios.com
www.MyConeyIslandMemories.com

"Javahut" wrote in message
...

"Glassman" wrote in message
...
How smart can I be? I had this one of 3 of my kilns, sitting on a
wooden
dolly, so I could wheel it around when I needed to. The bottom has
always

You are just operating at higher temps than you are used to operating at.
Does the city send you a bill for the fire run? They do here.



Ah... now we finally can understand why I pay over $10,000 in taxes for my
little shop, and you pay next to nothing. We have running water, sewers,
great schools, fire, police, buses, subways, you name it..... Is it worth
it? No.


--
JK Sinrod
www.sinrodstudios.com
www.MyConeyIslandMemories

wrote in message
ups.com...
Kim,
I don't think you should be trusted with anything that gets hot. Ya
know...Rosy Greer used to do needlepoint.....

Andy



My wife took away my matches and magnifting glass too.


--
JK Sinrod
www.sinrodstudios.com
www.MyConeyIslandMemories

"JK@work" wrote in message
news:OTb%f.2434$s77.1918@trndny09...


My wife took away my matches and magnifting glass too.


Do you suppose we could get her to confiscate Brady's keyboard?

Ah... now we finally can understand why I pay over $10,000 in taxes for
my
little shop, and you pay next to nothing. We have running water, sewers,
great schools, fire, police, buses, subways, you name it..... Is it
worth
it? No.

Ok funny guy, we have all those things too, just don't have to share them
with so many people, well, no subway, and only one bus, but then my taxes
for the business were $120 for the year, (I rent the bldg, for now) and the
insurance pays the fire dept. bill.

"Mike Firth" wrote in message
...
If you haven't looked yet, I think you will find the glass dissolved the
blanket and was kept hot by the insulating features of the blanket,
increasing the risk.

--
Mike Firth


hmmm interesting.... what should I have used that would be better?


--

JK Sinrod
www.sinrodstudios.com
www.MyConeyIslandMemories.com

Putting a kiln shelf on the frax is the most common solution.
Using blanket on the sides and top and insulating castable and or brick on
the bottom is another.

--
Mike Firth
Furnace Glassblowing Website
http://users.ticnet.com/mikefirth/
"Glassman" wrote in message
news

"Mike Firth" wrote in message
...
If you haven't looked yet, I think you will find the glass dissolved
the
blanket and was kept hot by the insulating features of the blanket,
increasing the risk.

--
Mike Firth


hmmm interesting.... what should I have used that would be better?


--

JK Sinrod
www.sinrodstudios.com
www.MyConeyIslandMemories.com