I was feeling really down on myself this week, so I decided to take a personal day to work on a project that I have been eagerly looking forward to finishing. A few days ago/weeks ago Frankie sold Yvette a Dyna-Kiln to use for enameling. We got a killer deal on it (Thanks Frankie!) but it was pretty beat up inside, which was no problem because I accidentally purchased too many firebricks to make Yvette a kiln from scratch, which would work out perfectly for this project.
A little about the history of this kiln, it was well used by all my friends in metal smithing, Frankie Flood, Chad Bridgewater, and Aaron Delanty. I feel so lucky that its finally found its way to Yvette and I.
Anyway, the fire brick was heavily stained with iron oxide and melted in parts due to one of the last firings. Chad Bridgewater explained to me that he was assisting Aaron Delanty with a burn out for casting, and both of them forgot to check the kiln. When they returned to check, the iron was melting into the fire brick, the investment shrank from the steel form, and what you see is the resulting mess.
Don't get me wrong though, I still hope that Aaron's part turned out ok!
But anyway I digress, I started right away by systematically removing panel after panel, measuring and cutting soft brick and Kao wool to reline the kiln.
I made sure to wear a mask and dispose of all old kiln lining, because I was not sure of what harmful substances I was exposing myself too, but it looked heavily used and in need of refreshing.
Kao wool is similar to fiberglass insulation but can withstand a lot more heat. It is the same material that Frankie, Chad, and I have already lined forges and furnaces successfully that generally get in the ballpark of 1500-2500 degrees fahrenheit.
Notice the use of gloves. Kao wool similar to fiberglass insulation can be an irritant, and in the past when I have handled it my arms will burn hours after.
I started with the door which seemed like the least hassle to get to. I removed 10 sheet metal screws, removed three bricks, shaped the bricks for the opening, cut Kao wool to size and reassembled the cover. Simple!
Cover back on.
The hard part was the back of the kiln. I made sure to take plenty of pictures of all the electrical connections because I wanted to remove the heating coils to replace the bricks. Everyone told me to this point that the coils are extremely sensitive, and I could believe it! All the heating and cooling, expansion and contraction of the metal, it has to be hard on the Nickel Chromium wire.
I carefully unwound the twisted wire making the connections and removed the back cover.
I removed all the bricks and took measurements to recreate the new lining.
Soft fire brick is extremely easy to carve, so creating this U-channel was easier than it looks. I remember Frankie sharing a story of 3D concepts students having to carve soft firebrick for an assignment. I don't think they do that anymore, but it makes sense. I was able to quickly make these channels with only a pocket knife and screwdriver.
In order to get the hard fire brick channels, I used one of the channels to essentially repeatedly press it into the fire brick until it snuggly fit inside the channel that I carved.
All the coils are still in tack and ready to heat up.
All the Kao wool liner and fire brick is firmly in place, the last thing to do is put on the back cover and wire everything back up.
I guess I should mention at this point that the thermister/ thermometer that reads the internal temperature was broken when it came to us. I am sure that is probably why Aaron and Chad had the burn out mishap, but Yvette and I will be sure to replace it in the coming weeks.
Relining this kiln only took about 3 hours (max) and I am sure will last Yvette years and years of service for all her enameling needs.
Hope you like your new kiln Yvette!
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