ITC 100: good or bad?
Jake Loddington
originally decided to spray the walls with ITC 100 first.
However, Clive Shellard has reservations about the use of this stuff; he
claims to have heard of cases where it has flaked off the kiln walls,
especially with soft insulating brick.
Has anyone had good or bad experiences with ITC 100 on used kilns?
Clive says that a local client (Bath, UK) is going to experiment with a
brand-new kiln. I wonder if mudslinger Steve knows of this?
Jake Loddington, Poulton-le-Fylde, UK
Email ja...@jakelod.demon.co.uk
Tommy Humphries
happy with the kiln.
First ;you must clean the kiln out...vacuum out all the element grooves and
corners.
Spray down the entire interior of the kiln with water...get it good and wet,
if you do not do this the coating will not stick.
Next thin down the TIC 1 to 1 with water...It will not take much to do a
small kiln...heck it don't take much to do a large kiln.
Wear a good respirator for the next steps
Using a siphon spray gun, start spraying the inside of the kiln, paying
attention to the element grooves and all corners. Spray on a LIGHT
coat...wait a few minutes and spray on another LIGHT coat...don't forget to
do the underside of the lid while you are at it.
Let the coating dry, reinstall the elements and fire to 04 to set the
coating and you are good to go.
If you plan on doing any reduction firing in your electric kiln, you should
coat the elements with ITC 213...
first scrub the new elements with a bleach solution to remove all traces of
machine oil from the manufacturing process.
Mix the 213 with water to a very thin consistency...you will swear it is too
thin, but it should be almost watery. 4 to 5-1 is a good ratio water to TIC
for this
In a drywall mud pan, or other shallow narrow container, run the elements
through the 213, and hang to let dry. when dry you can handle the elements
with out worrying too much about rubbing the 213 off, as the good stuff is
now bonded to the element wire.
install the elements
plug the holes in the wall where the element pigtails exit with fiber
give the kiln one last coat of 100ht to coat the elements
fire that puppy up!
Tommy Humphries
"Jake Loddington" <ja...@jakelod.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:VSH0xDAi...@jakelod.demon.co.uk...
GURUSHAKTI
the directions precisely. Most people run into a problem because they don't
follow directions and put it on too thickly. It only needs a very thin
application. Then fire the kiln once or twice empty or bisque if you're
concerned about any spit outs from the ITC.
I have used it on my kiln shelves and kiln furniture and on an old fiber and
insulating brick kiln and it stopped the old fibers from shedding. It also has
the benefit of giving better insulating qualities to your kiln.
When you install new elements, you might consider using the other ITC made just
for elements. It is reportedly wonderful for prolonging element life; and
again, apply very lightly. You might expect some spit outs from the first
couple of firings, so just do a couple of bisque firings after you apply the
ITC.
Regards,
June
Natalie Winter
<ja...@jakelod.demon.co.uk> writes
>I am about to fit a new element to my small stoneware kiln, and I had
>originally decided to spray the walls with ITC 100 first.
>
>However, Clive Shellard has reservations about the use of this stuff; he
>claims to have heard of cases where it has flaked off the kiln walls,
>especially with soft insulating brick.
>
>Has anyone had good or bad experiences with ITC 100 on used kilns?
I've sprayed a soft-brick electric kiln (6.5 cu.ft, used mainly for
stoneware and porcelain) with ITC100 and it's worked fine. Adhesion
seems good, even to used elements (!) and there's no flaking. It
certainly seems to give a harder surface to the bricks, and so far seems
to be holding up well to my latest form of kiln-abuse -- reduction
firing using a gas flame in an electric kiln. It also works a remarkable
transformation on ceramic fibre, making it strong and hard rather than
soft and flaky.
Don't try applying the ITC with a paintbrush. It's darn near impossible
to get a good, even coating. A regular glaze sprayer won't work (ITC100
has the consistency of gritty mud) but a sandblasting sprayer works a
treat.
I've also used ITC213 for metal components (thermocouple sheath,
elements) -- this works too, as long as the component is clean when it's
applied. I also use ITC200 repair cement and am quite satisfied with the
repairs I've been able to do with it -- very much better than regular
fire cement.
All in all, I'm very happy so far with the ITC products. I mean to do
some more experiments with ITC on kiln furniture but it's looking good
so far -- being a crystal glaze devotee, dribbles of exceedingly runny
and corrosive glaze are an occupational hazard for me.
Oh, and finally... a metal-sheathed Type N thermocouple coated with
ITC213 is very, very durable. Type N's have lots of advantages over
platinum t-couples (which I've written about before), their only
limitation is the service life of the nicrosil sheath, but this seems to
be massively extended by the ITC.
Best regards
Nali.
Natalie Winter in Exeter, Devon
The Dawnmist Website:
http://www.dawnmist.demon.co.uk
Steve Mills
application, very useful, I shall pass that on.
Jake, I was unaware of Clive's comments, I'll pass Tommy's Post on to
him.
Steve
Bath
UK
In article <3c8fe...@news.shreve.net>, Tommy Humphries
<th...@shreve.net> writes
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
Jake Loddington
On balance, I have decided that I *will* try ITC 100. I shall not apply
it to Clive's nice new element, because I've no plans for reduction
firings. (It's taking me all my time to produce something pleasing in
oxidation.)
Regards
Jake Loddington Email ja...@jakelod.demon.co.uk
Web Site www.jakelod.demon.co.uk
GURUSHAKTI
from reduction firings.
High zinc glaze, for instance, at lower stoneware temperatures on down, can
shorten element life and the coatings will prolong the life of the elements.
Some people firing high zinc crystalline glazes at cone 6 may only get ten or
so firings before they have to replace elements. So, depending on the type of
glazes you're using, how high you are firing, etc. coating the elements might
be a desirable way to go. The cost of a new set of elements far exceeds the
cost of a pint of the ITC metal coating.
Regards,
June