Digital Kilns a guide for the techno challenged! by Kati Mahdavi

Don’t let digital kilns scare you away! Their complex programming capabilities seem intimidating to the first time doll artist, but do not fret. They are actually a lot more user friendly than you may think. The firing process will become a lot easier once you get past the first few firings. The wonderful thing about digital kilns is their ease of use. They are able to retain segment programs of your choosing until you decide to change them. You are able to program things such as heating speed, maximum temperature in a specific segment, and the time it will hold at that segment. Most digital controllers come pre-programmed with firing schedules for a variety of different projects. If you do choose to customize your own program firing, the controller can store many different your personalized programs that you’ve formulated. With this feature, you don’t need to worry about recreating firing schedules for a project you plan on doing more than once. You can set your most commonly used firing schedule at Program 1 (PROG 1) and your second most common firing schedule at Program 2 (PROG 2).

Some symbols that you will need to know are RA (Rate per hour), TEMP (temperature you want the kiln to get to in that segment), HLD (time you would like the kiln to hold at that temperature), PROG (program), and STRT (start). Once you press start, you will hear the kiln begin to click, which is completely normal.

 Certain factors, such as brand, kiln model, age of kiln, and location all affect the way your kiln will fire. All kilns fire differently and certain temperatures may need to be adjusted, so experimenting with different firing programs is a great way to start. Try firing some “mess –up” bisque pieces for these experiment firings, just so that you can get a feel for which program yields the best results for you without ruining your good bisque in case the kiln over-fires. Sometimes firing at a true Cone 6 can be too hot and you may end up with over-fired pieces (indicated by little white dots on the porcelain). In this case, try firing to Cone 5 or Cone 4 and see if this changes the results. If your porcelain is under-fired, try adding a hold to the next firing. This should correct the under-firing. However, use holds with caution because it can easily over-fire the bisque if you accidentally enter 2 hours (02.00) instead of 20 minutes (00.20) of hold time. Experimenting at the beginning really helps the first time kiln user with establishing a good firing schedule.

 There are many advantages of digital kilns:

·       -They offer a variety of tools that provide you with more information, more accurate temperatures, and solutions   for fixing various problems that may arise in the kiln

·       -They are able to better inform you before and during the firing process

·       -Give you the freedom to go about your day instead of constantly monitoring your kiln for multiple hours

·       -More user control with setting customized programs

·       -More consistent results

·       -Peace of mind knowing that your firing will go exactly how you programmed it to, every time