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#11
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Anyone building their own kilns?
hi byrd
do you have Kijiji where you are? There are lots of free stuff for stained glass,and articals no longer needed for crafts,there is even a section as skills trade.where you could do something for someone else,and get them to build the kiln for you.worth a try. |
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#12
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Anyone building their own kilns?
Steve Ackman wrote:
In , on Thu, 10 May 2007 16:45:44 -0600, nJb wrote: Rob Morley wrote: If the computer freezes you're running Microsoft Windows[1] - stop it. :-) [1] or the computer's too close to the kiln - move it somewhere cool. Do whatever you like. My firings are much to valuable to even consider using a PC to control the kiln. I've had PCs running hundreds of days without a reboot. Of course, by PC, I mean an x86 machine, not the common misuse of the term meaning a machine running some flavor of Windows. My computers are far more reliable than my present electric company. We've had at least a half dozen power outages since January already, ranging from half-second blips to 23 hours... Computers: Not a single reboot that wasn't a planned upgrade, or due to one of the aforementioned blips (only 2 machines are on UPS) - the other is at the mercy of the power company. One of those blips can cause a reboot, my controller will continue where it left off if I so choose. I'll take the controller any day. Basic computer with kiln software... $700 Dedicated kiln controller..... $200 Not worrying about power bumps.... Priceless Jack |
#13
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Anyone building their own kilns?
What's Kijiji? I live in a very rural community. Not much in the way of any
sort of resource, training, store, etc. within 150 mi and then just a very expensive university in a town with @ 15K population. its at least 200 mi to the nearest city and much available as far as glass goes, except windshield repair and window / door companies. What I do have is several old 286, 386, 486 pcs that should be suitable enough to run a kiln controller after all what is a kiln controller but a self-contained PC with some sort of interface modules. I thought I read an article someplace about a company in New Zealand or Australia that built modules that could be plugged directly in to a PC with Linux, but I can't find the info now. Byrd "dr.klump" wrote in message oups.com... hi byrd do you have Kijiji where you are? There are lots of free stuff for stained glass,and articals no longer needed for crafts,there is even a section as skills trade.where you could do something for someone else,and get them to build the kiln for you.worth a try. |
#14
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Anyone building their own kilns?
In , on Fri, 11 May 2007 16:54:38
-0600, nJb wrote: One of those blips can cause a reboot, my controller will continue where it left off if I so choose. I'll take the controller any day. Basic computer with kiln software... $700 Dedicated kiln controller..... $200 Not worrying about power bumps.... Priceless I like this version better. Dedicated kiln controller... $200 UPS... $29 Using hardware that would otherwise go to the landfill... priceless. |
#15
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Anyone building their own kilns?
In , on Sat, 12 May 2007
12:25:48 -0700, Byrd wrote: What's Kijiji? Basically, craigslist outside the US. http://www.kijiji.com/ I thought I read an article someplace about a company in New Zealand or Australia that built modules that could be plugged directly in to a PC with Linux, but I can't find the info now. Google will find a few options for using a Linux PC as temperature controller. Don't necessarily limit your search terms to glass/pottery, as they're used for coffee roasting, climate control, and just about anything where temperature needs controlling. |
#16
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Anyone building their own kilns?
Steve Ackman wrote:
In , on Fri, 11 May 2007 16:54:38 -0600, nJb wrote: One of those blips can cause a reboot, my controller will continue where it left off if I so choose. I'll take the controller any day. Basic computer with kiln software... $700 Dedicated kiln controller..... $200 Not worrying about power bumps.... Priceless I like this version better. Dedicated kiln controller... $200 UPS... $29 Using hardware that would otherwise go to the landfill... priceless. You still haven't dealt with the power bumps and freeze ups. Nah, priceless is sending a 300 pound, 2" thick counter top to the landfill because the hardware failed. I don't know what most of you use kilns for but to me $200 is peanuts compared to trashing a load while trying to reinvent the wheel. I use two dedicated controllers on each kiln. Each with their own TC. Haven't needed the safety yet but I've also never been in a serious accident. I still have auto insurance. Somebody asked for advice, I put in my two cents. The great thing about advice is that a wise man doesn't need it and a fool won't heed it. The strangest thing is that the original poster hasn't checked back in. Maybe that's not so strange. Jack |
#17
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Anyone building their own kilns?
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#19
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Anyone building their own kilns?
"nJb" wrote in message ... Rob Morley wrote: In article , nJb says... You still haven't dealt with the power bumps and freeze ups. A UPS will deal with an unreliable power supply, but the right software will recover gracefully from a power failure anyway. Only Windows users think that machines lock up regularly. DOS would work fine for this sort of application, and has been used for process control in science and industry for many years. The open-source UNIX derivatives are also used for critical real-time control. The PC hardware required to run this sort of thing is minimal: I have some old 486 machines that would be more than adequate, and have proved their reliability over many years, NASA still uses Intel 386 based hardware because it works - but you can bet it doesn't run Windows. You may not be interested in using a PC to control your kiln, and I wouldn't try to persuade you otherwise, but you said "A PC is not reliable for controlling a kiln" and that's just not true. It's probably only going to appeal to people who have an interest in programming and DIY electronics, but it's potentially a very workable solution. Go for it. I prefer to spend my time melting glass, which I do everyday. You sound like your expertise is in computers. Mine is in glass, kilns, and building controllers that are inexpensive and the least computer literate person can use. Jack http://www.glasterpiece.com http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/xmissionbobo/ Beautiful work. Why so judgmental about others using computers as a controller? The population of potters is large enough that you are going to have plenty of potters who are computer literate. We soon won't have computers that are easily adaptable to run kilns but right now you still have old computers that are probably far more stable than the new ones and when run on DOS are the perfect kiln controller. Why pottery is such a great 'job' is that there are so many dimensions to it. It isn't standing at the conveyor belt packing widgets. There are as many ways to do the trade as there are individuals to do it. making clay recycling clay making glazes making tools inventing tools writing a program to analyze glazes analyzing glazes creating glazes making functional pieces making sculpture combining sculpture and functional making monster pots (I have made some really ugly/cute things) making a wedging board making shelves designing a studio making a kiln making oxide pencils/crayons/etc. making stamps (does that fall under making tools?) researching, reading, writing, ....... so little damn time |
#20
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Anyone building their own kilns?
DKat wrote:
"nJb" wrote in message ... Rob Morley wrote: In article , nJb says... You still haven't dealt with the power bumps and freeze ups. A UPS will deal with an unreliable power supply, but the right software will recover gracefully from a power failure anyway. Only Windows users think that machines lock up regularly. DOS would work fine for this sort of application, and has been used for process control in science and industry for many years. The open-source UNIX derivatives are also used for critical real-time control. The PC hardware required to run this sort of thing is minimal: I have some old 486 machines that would be more than adequate, and have proved their reliability over many years, NASA still uses Intel 386 based hardware because it works - but you can bet it doesn't run Windows. You may not be interested in using a PC to control your kiln, and I wouldn't try to persuade you otherwise, but you said "A PC is not reliable for controlling a kiln" and that's just not true. It's probably only going to appeal to people who have an interest in programming and DIY electronics, but it's potentially a very workable solution. Go for it. I prefer to spend my time melting glass, which I do everyday. You sound like your expertise is in computers. Mine is in glass, kilns, and building controllers that are inexpensive and the least computer literate person can use. Jack http://www.glasterpiece.com http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/xmissionbobo/ Beautiful work. Why so judgmental about others using computers as a controller? The population of potters is large enough that you are going to have plenty of potters who are computer literate. We soon won't have computers that are easily adaptable to run kilns but right now you still have old computers that are probably far more stable than the new ones and when run on DOS are the perfect kiln controller. Why pottery is such a great 'job' is that there are so many dimensions to it. It isn't standing at the conveyor belt packing widgets. There are as many ways to do the trade as there are individuals to do it. Thank you. Not judgmental at all. Somebody asked a question about building kilns and controllers and I answered to the best of my knowledge. A few people took it as if I said they "can't" use a PC. I pointed out some of the pitfalls. What I didn't point out is that the part I use instead of a PC is 2"x2"x4". There are many ways to get any job done. Hey, I don't own an electric mixer. Jack |
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