Description
What is the course about?
This course gives you all the information you need to select, maintain and fire an electric kiln in a safe and efficient way. It also goes over what happens to clays and glazes when they are fired.
How is it Delivered?
The course is structured into eight modules (nominally weekly but you can decide on your own pace). Each module consists of a video presentation, a PDF of the presentation for you to download, and links to additional material (both on and off my tech website) that you may wish to explore if you want more detailed information on any aspects of the course.
You’re also encouraged to ask me questions about the course content and your practices during the course. This may be by email, or by participating in the monthly “Ask me Anything” video conferences for all my current students and Patreon supporters.
You have access to the course material for 12 weeks from your booking date. After that, you can have access whenever you want by supporting me on Patreon for the cost of buying me a cup of coffee each month.
What will we cover?
The course covers everything you are likely to need to know about electric kilns and firing them. It is ideal for you if you’ve just bought a kiln and want to get to grips with it, or if you use a studio where work is fired for you and you want to understand what happens, or if you’ve had a kiln for a while but aren’t sure if you’re getting the most out of it.
The course covers choosing, installing and maintaining your kiln; kiln safety; how a kiln heats up, how we measure it with thermocouples and cones, and how we control it with the kiln controller; what happens to clays and glazes during the firing; how best to load your kiln and when to unload it; and firing faults, their prevention and cure.
The course doesn’t deal with older technology such as kiln sitters or kilns controlled manually through dials or switches.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should have achieved the following:
- Identify and understand all the components found in an electric kiln and its controller
- Know what to look for when buying a kiln, whether new or 2nd hand
- Understand the mechanisms by which a kiln heats up, and how different materials used in kiln construction and in kiln furniture (shelves etc.) behave
- Understand temperature and heatwork, and how they are measured
- Understand how clays and glazes, and their constituent materials, are transformed through the firing process, and what fumes may be given off from the kiln
- Loading and unloading your kiln, including the best spacing of shelves and positioning of pots
- Understand and use your kiln controller, and monitor your firing
- Determining the best firing schedules for your work
- Identify firing faults, their identification and cure
- Understand safety issues – heat, electricity, and fumes
- Learn about kiln maintenance, and how to diagnose faults
- Know about how to install the kiln
What do I get?
- Eight lectures , each lasting about 90 minutes
- Recordings of all lectures for later viewing during the course, with subtitles in all attendees’ languages
- Additional optional online course material, giving background info and greater depth
- Optional participation in monthly “Ask me Anything” live online discussion sessions
- Downloadable PDFs of all presentations
- Premium level access to the Tech part of my web site, containing much more information, references etc.
- Course attendance certificate
Note that the lecture recordings and premium level site access are included at no cost until 12 weeks after you sign up to the course. After that, continued access is available for the cost of buying me a coffee each month.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
Beginner to intermediate.
You should have some experience of making and firing pots in a pottery studio, whether you do the firing or it is done for you.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
The course is primarily run through video lectures.
Additional material that you may wish to explore is on the course website. This will help you go deeper into the subject matter, should you wish to do so.
There will be suggestions for you to consider specific aspects of your studio between sessions.
For those with an imperfect knowledge of English, all session recordings now have subtitles in the languages of all attendees. This uses computer translation, so isn’t guaranteed to be perfect, but should help you in following the sessions.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
There are no other costs or requirements.
Do I get a certificate or anything at the end?
Yes. A course attendance certificate (as a PDF) will be sent to all students.
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