A question for anyone out there who routinely uses one of those
little round electric trinket kilns: I have a problem with the
coating on the surface of the heating element occasionally
sticking to metal and beaking off when I remove the piece from
the surface. This usually happens when I’m fusing heavy fine
silver chain links and overcook the joint a little bit. Is there
any way to re-surface the heating element or do I need to spring
for a new one? I’m thinking that it must be coated with some
kind of glaze that should melt at a temperature somewhat above
the melting point of 24K gold. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance,
Alan
Try using a sheet of mica. The silver won’t stick and is a good
barrier between your piece and the kiln elements. I use mica for
granulation in my trinket kiln and it works great.
Karen Christians
M E T A L W E R X
416 Main St.
Woburn, MA 01801
@metalart
http://www.metalwerx.com/
Current Artwork:
Alan,
Unless your have remove a high amount of metal off your element
you can re-coat it.
All heating elements rely on a layer of oxide grown around the
element to protect the wire. Anytime you damage the oxide layer
it should be re-coated, this is true for any type of heating
elements wire.
The way to do this is to run the temperature slowly to its
highest point and leave the element on for 24 hrs. It is very
important that the element not be covered. As in a kiln, the
oven door should be left open. On a small enameling kiln leave
the top off. The air around the hot element will re-grow the
oxide back on the element.
If the wire is damaged it will eventually open up. Any time you
buy and type of equipment, with an expose element wire, if you
take the time to properly grow this oxide the life of the element
will almost double. This process should also be done anytime you
scratch the element wire.
At any ceramic shop you can also buy ceramic standoffs to keep
items away from the element wire.
Good luck
Frank Zamora
Reaching back a bit into the past, I remember some high-temp
furnace elements are MoSi2 (molybdenum disilicide). On these
elements, some of the Si (silicon) combines with the oxygen in
the air to form SiO2 (same stuff as quartz or fused silica).
Thus, these little bare spots should be self- healing…IF
these are MoSi2 elements…
Tas
Alan-I’ve used those little trinket kilns quite a lot, and they
seem to work perfectly well even when the surface is somewhat
chipped away. I have never heard of resurfacing them–but
perhaps a call to the manufacturer would help. Sandra
your trinket kiln can be protected by coating the surface with a
diluted mixture of refractory cement mixed to a thin slurry with
water . Allow it to dry thorougly befor using.This has been very
successful for me since I have had some spills from enamels and
then wanted to do granulation on a clean surface , Good luck,
Stanley R.Rosenberg
your trinket kiln can be protected by coating the surface with a
diluted mixture of refractory cement mixed to a thin slurry with
water . Allow it to dry thorougly befor using.This has been very
successful for me since I have had some spills from enamels and
then wanted to do granulation on a clean surface , Good luck,
Stanley R.Rosenberg
Hi Alan & Sandra:
It has been a long time since I added to Orchid. I have used
kiln wash powder and a bit of water to make a paste. This is
brushed on the surface element of the beehive kiln. You can’t
used the kiln for 24 hours until the surface is alsolutely dry. I
got the kiln wash from a potter friend. You just need a small
amount. It saves replacing the element. It can fill cracks in the
surface.
Linda
@Red1Eagle
New Jersey - crisp, clear and really cold
RioGrandesell a disc that fits on your kiln. It is on page 203 in
their tools catalog. It is a ceramic center screen # 335-091. Cost
$6.98. Lloyd