Pottery Shorts: Improving Visibility of Cones in an Electric Firing

Welcome to Pottery Shorts, brought to you by The Potter’s Round Table, the topic for this episode is Improving the Visibility of Cones in an Electric Kiln Firing.
Using cones is the most reliable approach to firing a kiln and it can be difficult to see the cones when the kiln is at high temperature. In this episode Phil Berneburg shares tips on how to improve visibility of the cones when firing in an electric kiln. Phil will discuss cone packs, cone placement and tricks to aide in seeing the cones.
The Potters’ Round Table is brought to you by Washington Street Studios, a community pottery studio, gallery, and pottery school located in Harpers Ferry / Bolivar, WV. We exist to provide ceramic artists an affordable, fully equipped studio space for aspiring, emerging and established artists to share their creative energy and knowledge in an environment designed to support the ceramic artist. If you want to learn more about Washington Street Studios, visit our website at www.hfclay.com/.
At Washington Street Studios, we believe the sharing of creative energy and knowledge will improve the quality of our art and increase the appreciation of art within our community. We are striving to create an environment where the arts are shared and appreciated. We want to grow as a family of artists and contribute to our community.
This video is one of our steps to share our passion for the ceramic arts, creative energy and knowledge with other artists and art lovers. We also created an audio version to expand our audience. If you are looking for the podcast of our show search for the ‘The Potters Round Table’ on your podcast platform of choice or go to anchor.fm/thepottersroundtable.

[@pooiabeik3042]

Thank you so much for another awesome video!
I'm already a big fan of your short series of videos on pottery~

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Thanks Pooia, the next one is on making cone packs.

[@pooiabeik3042]

@@WashingtonStreetStudios I look forward to that 🤩

[@lindatortorice9356]

Thank you!

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Thanks Linda, we have 'making cone packs' coming in the next week.

[@juliechamberlain7982]

Awsome

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Thanks, we have five of these shorts ready to post as soon as I finish editing.

[@lunabayaguacatebocasdeltor2925]

Thank you! This is what I plan to do the next time I fire. I have a theory about my lack of visibility: Since it's a small electric kiln (very old), and it does not have a ventilation fan, could it be an abundance of gases burning off which cause the solid, glowing haze? At any rate, a pack of small cones close to the peep hole should work. Thanks again!

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Please be careful when checking the cones, an unvented kiln will have a lot of not-so-good-for-you fumes that could do some damage to your eyes and lungs.
Let us know how it goes!

[@lunabayaguacatebocasdeltor2925]

@@WashingtonStreetStudios Both of my kilns are now vented, and I am now able to see the cones, even in the small kiln. I do believe it was the gases causing the glowing fog effect. Thanks for all of your excellent advise and information!

[@ZinniaRAWR]

I love your videos they are a wealth of knowledge for me 🫶

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Glad you like them!