Keeping a Log

There is no “one program fits all” firing schedule for kilns. Even supposedly identical kilns behave slightly differently. Plugging the same kiln into different outlets in your house may also alter the firing schedule you need. Additionally, different size projects or different colors of glass will react differently, necessitating changes to your firing schedules. It is therefore very important for you to keep detailed firing logs whenever you do a new project or change any parameter in an existing project. We know that keeping a kiln log can be tedious but, it will help you learn as well as help you to prevent mistakes along the way.

As you gain experience using your kiln, you may find that you need to use the “add hold time” or the “skip step” sequences to get exactly the results you want. If this is consistently the case for your particular project, you may want to generate a user program, written to your desired specifications or modify one of the pre-programmed firing schedules.