Hi I have a small kiln that I use with silver clay. I have read that
it can be used with enamel. How close to the burner plate do I need
to be for it to enamel?-thanks barb
My experience says, do NOT put the piece to be enameled directly on
the bottom of the kiln. When I have a few firings to do and don’t
want to heat my big kiln, I use my Paragon SC2 kiln and put a ceramic
kiln shelf on the bottom while enameling and use my regular footed
trivets to hold the enamel piece.
Prepare the ceramic shelf with kiln wash and dry thoroughly. Putting
it on the bottom does three things…Helps to spread the heat and
reduces the hot spot - Helps keep the heat in when the door is
opened - Protects the bottom from drips and scrapes. When the shelf
gets too dirty, simply scrap off the kiln wash and replenish. I set
the kiln dwell time for as long as I think I’ll need it and
temperature to firing temp. Each time the door is opened, the
temperature drops 150-200 degrees so firing time has to be increased.
It may take 2 minutes to reach the set firing temp again. Start
timing the enamel firing when the temp is back to the set point you
have chosen.
Another way would be to set the temperature higher than normal so
the heat gets back up to firing temp faster, but you then have to
watch that it doesn’t go too high while firing. (You may have to
crack open the door to bring the temp back to where you want it.)
Jean