[Jewelry making - Article 00489] - Re: [Orchid] Homemade burnout kiln

[Peter W . Rowe]

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    It's not complex, so don't worry about whether you've got it exactly
    right. Take one of those red clay (terra cotta) flowerpots, and line
    it with a decently thick layer (maybe an 1/8th inch or a bit more, of
    furnace tape.  The stuff used to be made of asbestos, and isn't now,
    but it's still now a fire resistant (once the binders burn off) and
    insulating material.  Wet it to form it, and let it dry.  Cover the
    furnace tape with a layer or two of aluminum foil.  Place this over
    the top of your flask, on your stove or hotplate, and turn it on.
    Temperature regulation and burnout time are figured just by eye.  a
    gas burner will go quicker, but even a simple electric hot plate will
    do it, given enough time.  As I recall, something on the order of 8
    to 12 hours worked just fine. This is the method mentioned in
    publications describing the steam casting method.  With a casting
    "machine' that amounts to a jar lid nailed to a bit of broomstick,
    and lined with either wet newspaper or wet furnace tape, and a
    burnout kiln made of that flowerpot,  it's likely the only thing you
    might need to buy, and maybe not even that, is the furnace tape for a
    few dollars,  the investment mix (your casting flask can be a steel
    tin can (don't use an aluminum one), and a torch of some kind.   And
    the hardest part, once you figure the sequence out, and figure out
    how to correctly sprue for steam casting, is the little detail, the
    second time around, of convincing the "significant other" in the
    house that you should be allowed to make that smokey mess of the
    kitchen again  (meaning, the first time, don't forget to turn on the
    vent fan over the stove.  And if you've a decently clean looking
    stove, be prepared to replace the burner liner.  That little chromed
    dish thing under the burner.  K-mart or Target or the grocery stores
    sell em.  It will get a bit gunky from the burning wax..   Expect the
    whole process to take you a few tries before you learn it and figure
    out it's quirks.

Peter

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