Electric to Gas Reduction
So I finally decided to make the plunge to gas reduction, but wanted a cheaper option than a pre-fab and an easier option than building one. Electric to gas conversion was the way to go.
I bought a 7.0 Cu Ft kiln carcass from my local pottery supply store, Kentucky Mudworks. My next big decision was which burner system to buy, Olympic Torchbearer or the Summit Kiln Conversion Kit. Cathi Newlin of The Square Peg was a wealth of information for how she set up her system using a Summit system. I finally settled on the 23" Olympic Torchbearer burner system with ignition ring and thermo-couple shutoff. It just looked studier and I figured since it would be living outside in the crazy Kentucky weather, it was a better way to go.
Gutting the kiln carcass took some time,
but was not terribly hard.
The next big step was to cut holes for the burner ports and top vent. There was surprisingly little information on the web for how big to make the holes. This is where the Summit Conversion Kit would be handy; it comes with templates and instructions. The Torchbearer burner system did not and there was no information on the Olympic site. I finally found some specs on the Ward Burner System site.
I bought a 7.0 Cu Ft kiln carcass from my local pottery supply store, Kentucky Mudworks. My next big decision was which burner system to buy, Olympic Torchbearer or the Summit Kiln Conversion Kit. Cathi Newlin of The Square Peg was a wealth of information for how she set up her system using a Summit system. I finally settled on the 23" Olympic Torchbearer burner system with ignition ring and thermo-couple shutoff. It just looked studier and I figured since it would be living outside in the crazy Kentucky weather, it was a better way to go.
Gutting the kiln carcass took some time,
but was not terribly hard.
The next big step was to cut holes for the burner ports and top vent. There was surprisingly little information on the web for how big to make the holes. This is where the Summit Conversion Kit would be handy; it comes with templates and instructions. The Torchbearer burner system did not and there was no information on the Olympic site. I finally found some specs on the Ward Burner System site.
The burner port holes should be directly over the burner ports and cut 1" larger than the size of the burner port. The burner ports for my kiln are 1-1/2", so I cut 2-1/2" burner port holes.
The hole on top of the kiln should be center and needs to be at least the same size as the burner port hole, preferable 1" larger. For my kiln, this came out to 3-1/2", 2-1/2" for the burner port hole + 1".
Now all I have to do is prep the site in the backyard, hook up the gas and we're ready to go!
The hole on top of the kiln should be center and needs to be at least the same size as the burner port hole, preferable 1" larger. For my kiln, this came out to 3-1/2", 2-1/2" for the burner port hole + 1".
Now all I have to do is prep the site in the backyard, hook up the gas and we're ready to go!
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