The rod is also connected to the control panel on the outside of the kiln. At this end, the sensing rod is positioned above two metal cone supports. One end of the kiln sitter probe sticks out of the kiln wall into the internal kiln chamber. The rod sits loosely in the tube and can waggle around. This metal rod is called an actuating rod or sensing rod. The probe consists of a metal rod that runs through an insulated tube.
And a control panel that is mounted on the outside of the kiln. Pyrometric cones are a key part of how a kiln sitter works.Ī kiln sitter is made up of a probe, or tube assembly, that goes through a hole in the side of the kiln. That’s why you will hear potters talking about a cone 6 firing, for example. Cones in that range are given different numbers. There is a range of cones with different ratings, that bend according to different amounts of heatwork. The potter knows that once the cone has bent to a particular angle, then the pottery has had enough heatwork. Often they are used by potters as a visual aid. Cones, also called Orton cones are small pieces of ceramic material that are designed to bend once they’ve had a particular amount of heatwork. Kiln controllers are designed to control the amount of heatwork your ceramics receive in the kiln Kiln Sitter’s and HeatworkĪ kiln sitter measures the heatwork that’s going on in a kiln using a pyrometric cone. This is because it hasn’t been hot for long enough. However, if the temperature has climbed up too quickly, the clay may be underfired. It is a combination of the temperature reached and the time that is taken to reach that temperature.Ī kiln might reach a high temperature. It is the amount of heat energy that a piece of pottery has received in the kiln. ‘Heatwork’ is the term used by potters to talk about the temperature and time a piece has been fired. It also needs to have heated the clay for a certain length of time. For clay to mature a kiln doesn’t just need to reach a particular target temperature. Mature clay is clay that has become as dense and strong as it can be. When clay is fired in a kiln, it matures. So, here is an overview of heatwork and kiln controllers…. To understand how kiln sitters work, you need to understand a bit about heatwork.
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