Pottery Kilns - Making or Otherwise, Gas or Electric?

[Matchless]

I have an electric side loading kiln that I have no use for, £150.00 may not be hot enough for your use but can maybe be uprated, big heavy lump, electric, 240v, I have never even attempted to use it................ Essex, just north of London may be the issue.... too big to post.

 

[Islander71]

There is a huge difference between getting temperature to near 1000*C for stoneware bisque firing and to reaching 1280*C for the glaze firing. The last 20 or 30* seem to take an age and a staggering amount of gas. If buying secondhand be aware not all kilns are rated to get that high. There was a magazine " The Ceramic Review" that had adverts for new and secondhand kilns, and there is/was " The Scottish Potters Association" which may know of s/hand ones available. There was a place near Perth that dealt in s/hand pottery equipment, but cannt remember the name.

 

[eSCHEn]

Thanks for all the gas advice - I wasn't sure on how much sitting a gas kiln would need and I'm glad I asked as no way I would manage to do those increments - I would forget and screw it up for sure. Electric it is

@Matchless, that's a very kind offer thank you Unfortunately if the rating isn't there to begin with it's a serious amount of work to get it high enough without retrofitting a lot of the hardware.

@Islander71, many thanks for those leads

There is very little up here and those that do appear are usually scams. The kind where the item is "located in the middle of nowhere" (which is usually not that far from me) but when you ask to view you are met with silence...

Now if I lived in southern Englandshire then you get way more options; for example this is perfect size/price etc to restore but is basically nearly Southampton - https://www.gumtree.com/p/hobbies-collectibles/pottery-kiln-by-kilns-and-furnaces-ltd/1498322609

 

[fizzy]

Beware of shipping 2nd hand kilns. We had several claims through our pallet shipping business. You broke my kiln
I soon realised that after they have been fired the bricks develop cracks and WILL fall when shipped. We now have to issue a disclaimer refusing insurance on a used kiln should the bricks fall.

 

[eSCHEn]

Beware of shipping 2nd hand kilns. We had several claims through our pallet shipping business. You broke my kiln
I soon realised that after they have been fired the bricks develop cracks and WILL fall when shipped. We now have to issue a disclaimer refusing insurance on a used kiln should the bricks fall.

Good advice thank you. I had thought bricks fired multiple times would be super brittle.

 

[fizzy]

Good advice thank you. I had thought bricks fired multiple times would be super brittle.

Oh yes - they are!

 

[Misterg]

I had thought bricks fired multiple times would be super brittle.

Not just the bricks - the elements get very brittle too.

You can get automatic gas systems (with controllers, automatic valves, etc.), but I would imagine that the cost would be a substantial proportion of a new kiln.