My kiln shelf cracked right in the middle of a big piece

I was finishing a 14 inch vase at the studio in Asheville last Thursday when I heard a loud pop from the annealer. Opened it up and found a 3 inch crack right across the middle of my kiln shelf, with the piece still sitting on it. I had to slowly heat the whole shelf back up to 900 degrees over an hour to safely remove the vase without it shocking. Has anyone else had a shelf fail like that, and what brand do you trust now?

2 comments

2 Comments

wadea536d ago

That's rough. It feels like everything from phone screens to car parts is just built to fail sooner these days.

the_michael5d ago

That "built to fail" feeling is real, but in my experience a kiln shelf cracking is usually about thermal shock or an old shelf. I've had good luck with the brand I get from my local supplier, but your mileage may vary, wadea53. It's one of those things where paying a bit more upfront can save a huge headache later.