Understanding Pottery: Chapter 5 Pyrometric Cones

[@wadewoehrmann2835]

A true educator - thanks for the effort.

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Phil was a well seasoned educator with much valuable experience! He will be missed! I’m very happy that we managed to put these videos up on KZbin to share with the ceramic community.

[@copperchatter6890]

So basically the cones are a measure of temperature saturation? So far your videos are the most informative and well thought out (structured) lectures I have had the pleasure of finding on KZbin. Thank you so much for sharing your many years of experience in such an educational manner. And thank you for promoting the science and dispelling the superstitions. What goes on the internet stays on the internet. You sir will be immortal. Greetings from South Africa.

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

What an amazing comment and compliment! You, my friend, are the reason we do this! Phil has a ton of knowledge and years of experience that we are blessed to share with the ceramic community. If you get a chance watch the interview with Phil to learn his background, it’s impressive! More to come. Enjoy the shows!

[@traceturner9474]

I have watch many utube videos ....you are so thorough with your info...

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Thank you Tracie, we are so happy you enjoy the videos! Tell your friends, we'd love to increase our presence in Australia!

[@gabrielaraujonjaim513]

Phill is the best. And all you guys from WSS as well. Thank you so much for the great material you guys are sharing. :)

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Gabriel, we are so happy to share and we are thankful that you find the videos useful! Please share the channel with your friends and fellow potters to help us grow our community.

[@remibaudouin505]

Very useful advices. Many thanks!

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

It's great that you find the videos useful, please share with your friends and fellow potters to help us grow our community!

[@davebriskham8433]

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. A really useful resource I'm recommending to our Australian Pottery group.

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Dave, Thank you for the feedback, it's great to know the videos are useful! And I love that we will be international! Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. And we have a podcast as well, just search for The Potters Round Table on your favorite podcast platform. They are the audio for the lectures and they are a great to listen to while driving or throwing pots!

[@LorraineLintern]

Thank you , learning so much more

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

I hope you enjoy all the videos and I hope we can list art them up again.

[@tolgadn]

now i understand cones mechanism

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Great, cones are the most useful kiln work measurement tool.

[@Sybilalma]

Thank you so much for this video.

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

We are pleased you enjoyed it, are you going through the Understanding Pottery series? You will really enjoy it!

[@Sybilalma]

@@WashingtonStreetStudios Waaaw ! what an amazing resource. it's fantastic that you are making all this information available for everybody. I'm grateful to have access to this treasure trove of knowledge. Thanks for sharing and for making it so thorough, and so structured.

[@ellietornblom7105]

I have a question! I use an old manual kiln (Paragon AA6-B). Would I manually turn my kiln back on after the kiln sitter drops - to medium (only bottom element on) to try a hold?

[@freddiemoretti8456]

Very helpful, thank you!

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Thanks Freddie!

[@caitlinrathburn7133]

This was really great!

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Caitlin, If you enjoyed this one, you need to check out the entire Understanding Pottery series! You will get a bucket full of knowledge from a scientific point of view and presented at a beginner level. It's really helped me, Phil's business partner, as the cameraman and a less experienced potter! Thank you for your comment and support!

[@caitlinrathburn7133]

@@WashingtonStreetStudios I have done ceramics for ages but have never had my own studio. We are working on that now. I have so much to learn and it is great to get info in deep detail from real experts (not just internet famous folk, although they can be fun too ;)! Thank you so much! I have subscribed and added a bunch of videos to my watch lists!

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Thank you for the feed back!

[@minmaithutikhak2174]

Yesterday i went through Daniel Rhodes ' book called 'Kilns Design, Construction and Operation'. It is written, " He (Herman Seger) started with what is now known as Cone 4, which he formulated by finding the lowest melting composition of clay, potash feldspar and lime. He called this "cone 4" because the molecular formuls contained 4.00 mols of Si02". But in 4:24 it is mentioned the first cone that was made is cone 5.... I am confused. It'd be great if someone could help.

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Sorry, can't help you. Phil passed away in 2021, and I don't know the answer. Regards, Dennis

[@aleisaduley4325]

Absolutely love these presentations, they are filling in the missing links in my understanding of the ceramic processes. Thank you! And now a question: Am I supposed to be using the small cones for the guide, witness, and guard cones in my electric kiln? I've been using the large self-supporting cones, propping them up in front of the peephole on various things, but I still cannot see them. I'm just finishing a glaze firing, so I ran out and blew into the peep as you suggested but I think they're too far inside the kiln. Maybe the small cones are visible because being smaller, you can put them closer to the peep hole and still be able to see all three? This seems like such a silly question, but so important too.

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Aleisa, what did we learn when we were growing up? The only silly questions are the ones not asked! And this is a question I should have asked. I am forwarding this question to Phil and I will post his response. And thank you for the kind and supportive words, now share this channel with your friends and fellow potters to help us grow our community.

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Hi Aleisa, Thanks for your email and your question (NOT a silly one). The small-sized cones were actually developed specifically for use in electric kilns. So, you can make cone packs of guide, witness, and guard cones using the small cones (each leaning at the proper angle), and then they can be placed on the outer rim of the shelves so that each whole cone pack is easily visible through the (normally small) peep holes. This way, also, the blowing-a-puff-of-air technique really works to cool off the cones and make them more visible. If you have a supply of large cones, they can still be placed in other (hidden) locations to check the temperature uniformity when the kiln is unloaded. Phil

[@lunabayaguacatebocasdeltor2925]

@@WashingtonStreetStudios thanks very much, I'll definitely try that. I tried looking through welding glass, taking a picture with my phone, etc. It just looks like a bright glowing mass in there, I can't even see any pots. Currently making lots of changes with regards to kilns, so I'm hopeful! Thanks again Phil, and everyone involved, for making these videos available, they are so very helpful! You are a gifted teacher and potter.👍👍

[@alexisvaca7792]

thanks for the video series. can unbent cones be reused? i just got a FireBox8x6LT & my ^5 cones only bent ~10º when i fired it at a medium rate with a 10 min hold at max temp. so we used them again & they bent.....

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Alexis, Once a cone has been fired and reaches a higher temperature, the cone has changed in composition. The cone no longer is at the starting composition and will not be as accurate as an unused cone. And isn't that why we use cones, to be accurate?

[@bryant4003]

Can I reuse cones that didn’t reach temperature?

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

You could, but I wouldn't advise it. If they have started to melt, they have gone through some changes in chemistry.

[@tomg1448]

Cone pack and Cone Plaque - Now you're just trying to confuse us!

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

Just trying to make it fun!

[@reinisbrics1]

I just hate your USA and British imperial measures, that are different between themselves... Why you are not able to join something scientifically based metrics...? Would be understandable for everyone.

[@WashingtonStreetStudios]

I understand your frustration. Unfortunately Phil and I were already old when we recorded these videos and we were raised with the imperial system. Since Phil passed away last year, we are not likely to switch now. Maybe you can find a source for this information in your home country and it will be more to your liking. As for being more understandable, well, we that were raised on the imperial system would need to convert to metric. It's difficult for me to change the way I think, and I am constantly 'google'-ing the formulas for metric conversion.