First Kiln to Buy
First Kiln to Buy
I’m getting the electrical for a kiln put in tomorrow and I’m pretty stoked. I’ve been doing pottery on and off for the last couple of years now and one of the bottlenecks has always been not being able to do my own firings.
I particularly like to test my own glazes and experimenting with stuff like that is hard to do in a community kiln. I’d feel so guilty if something happened and I ruined someone else’s piece, so I’ve been looking forward to doing my own firing.
Anyway, the problem now is deciding what kiln to get. My initial idea was just go get a Skutt KMT-1027-3. It’s expensive but I’m sure it would just work. (Price: ~$5000)
But I am kind of hacky too and I love a good electronics project, so I’m toying with the idea of getting a KilnSitter model of the 1027 and putting together my own controller with a Raspberry Pi. I would love to be able to control my kiln with some open source software from my phone like I can do with my 3D printers using Octoprint. (Price: ~$1500)
Then there is the question of whether or not the 1027 is too much kiln for me in the first place. It’s quite large and I am not a fast producer so it would probably take me a while to fill the kiln unless I was doing a lot of large objects or platters. But I like the ability to do these if I want to, so I don’t want to limit myself with a kiln that is too small. (Price: ~$3000)
There’s also one guy asking for $3500 for a used Skutt KM (non-touch) 1027 and I think he’s asking too much for a used kiln but it is cheaper than the brand new models and does include kiln furniture. So that’s another route. (~Price : ~$3500)
Any tips about which route I should take?
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first limit is your electrics, what can it handle (don't max it out). second, physical space and accessibility, how big can the appliance be on the outside. frontloader are nice but almost twice as expensive (here at least) and of course what size works are you realistically making, and how much. A kiln shouldn't stand around unused for months at a time.
I just got myself a new pyrotec kiln (I'm in Germany), it had 36 weeks delivery time. My old one was an ancient smaller front loader, and while it was fine as a first one, it was pretty EOL and affected the outcome of rhe firings a lot, but it was too old and crumbly to refurbish. I did put in a new controller (bentrup tc66) and a new thermocouple and that just works. On my new kiln i went with the TC75
while it is probably possible to program you own PID controller and the power electronics with the contactor, I would advise against this if you are not knowledgeable in electrical engineering, and kiln building is a different hobby than pottery ;-) Also your home insurance might have opinions one homecooked heating appliances.
Thanks for the response! The circuit I am putting in should comfortably handle the KM-1027 and I would not go bigger or more powerful than that kiln.
The usage aspect is a concern of mine, which is why I’m thinking of going smaller. I don’t know how long it would take me to fill a kiln. It may be a month or two since I’m a slow producer doing it as a hobby. But I also don’t want to be too limited in size, and the smaller kilns cost almost as much as the larger kilns anyway so I’m wondering if I should just go with the 1027. I could put my kiln on KilnShare in between my own firings but that opens up a different can of worms.
I do have an electrical engineering degree so the electronics portion of it doesn’t scare me that much. I’d probably use existing open source kiln controller projects but I don’t know how good they are. I probably wouldn’t want to program my own from scratch, that’s a little too much investment. lol. I’m mostly wondering if the current solutions out there are any good and whether it’s worth it to go for the older cheaper kilns and that, or just get new. I’m leaning towards new though.
From the intro/training when the new kiln was set up I've learned that most used kilns are more abused than they look (microcracks from opening too early, while still above 50C etc, these things are not fixable). If you can afford it, I'd say go for new. it'll last decades with proper care and maintenance.
I'm not familiar with the Skutt models, only know the brand name from online articles and shops here don't carry them next to the multiple German brands.
For me the decision against building my own controller was mainly because I wanted pottery as a functional hobby, not kiln building. But it's only a big toaster oven in a way.
Kilnsitter control where you need a pyrocone to switch off are not common here and a recommended against for safety concerns. I'm very happy with the controller I have now.
That's a good point! I think I'm convinced to buy new now.
It's kind of funny that the manual/kiln sitter kilns are not recommended. I feel like they're still quite popular in the US.