For many people, firing a kiln is the high point of the week. But sometimes obligations interfere with creative activities, and the kiln is left in the background for six months or a year.
If this has happened to you, the following guidelines will help you to take up where you left off the last time you fired your kiln.
1) Make sure the kiln is still safely installed. For example, remove flammable materials from the firing room.
2) Look through the kiln instruction manual and reread sections that you highlighted the first time you read it. Reread the safety rules.
3) Reread your kiln notebook. (If you don't have a notebook, it would be a good idea to start a diary where you record discoveries about firing your kiln. A spiral notebook will do, or keep notes in a computer document.)
4) Did your kiln come with a Quick Start card? If so, review the card before firing the kiln. This is especially important for a digital kiln that you don't remember how to program.
5) Make sure the materials you fire are compatible. Glazes must fit clays, and glass that you are fusing must be compatible. If materials are unlabeled, you may have to test them in small batches.
6) Vacuum the kiln if the lid had been left open while the kiln was idle.
