Epic fail....

[rockstar glassworks]

You know... I'm usually really good about going back out after I hit anneal to check on the oven... make it sure it struck, make sure it's cooling down... you know, be a good daddy to my glass.

Well I put in a really long day, got caught up in cooking dinner, young justice-generator rex-and thundercats, and trying to relax and go to bed so I could get back to work today and.... "errorF"

wait... the lights on... sh*t!! the kilns on...F$%K F*&K F@$K

So anyway, the relay in my controller got stuck open at some point last night and left my kiln on all night into this morning.

20 spoons, 8 ornaments, and 4 new seahorse ornaments all toast.

Relays usually fail by not turning back on, for me at least. In the 9 years of blowing glass I've never had one get stuck open. Of course it happened over night after I hit anneal, Of course it happened after a really long day, of course I was lazy and trusted my equipment, of course it happened during the crazy Christmas rush.... dang.

Just wanted to share my misfortune.

34995

[rockstar glassworks]

So I figure...I just can't motivate myself to work today...

Frisbee golf with dog, food shopping, then get drunk and watch movies...or play Civ 5

[Samson]

sux hard ... I always wonder when that's going to happen to my kiln (knock on wood)

[zine74zcv]

sux man i feel for u x-mas is fuking busy

[Kato]

Did you have some cracked pieces or what? The only problem I see with your pile is maybe a little too much reduction. Still, sucks about your relay.

[TlkQ]

Had that happen once when I was working with N. Dark. Luckily I was working late and noticed the kiln rising to 1400. The only "damage" was slight slumping and a texture on the back of a head spoon. Luckily it still looked totally fine and sold.

[gn0me]

Did you have some cracked pieces or what? The only problem I see with your pile is maybe a little too much reduction. Still, sucks about your relay.


I believe that the problem is that he started with 20 spoons and 16 ornaments, and now has one slightly functional ornament...

Sell it anyway! You never know what people will want to smoke out of next!

(sorry for your loss :bummed:)

[Mecha]

Man, that sucks. I feel your pain.

Odd thing about the stuck relay, why does it never happen when there is only a spoon or two in the kiln and your not that busy?

[NUBBLET]

sell it as a statement of art . I guess you could mib it up .

bummer to have happened. just fuckin bummer

[Master Yoda]

It would look cool in a fish tank

[Julian]

That's a lousy thing to see in the morning! How hot was it when you got out there?

I've had relays fail, too and melt work. One time it also melted an electric plug and tripped the breaker. I'm thinking of switching to solid state or mercury relays, since they last so much longer than mechanical.

Back when I was using a ceramic kiln with no pyrometer, I melted some pieces totally flat by accident a couple of times. A sidecar became a 7mm thick tomahawk.

[Bo Diddles]

Odd thing about the stuck relay, why does it never happen when there is only a spoon or two in the kiln and your not that busy?

That's just what I was going to say.... Check out the first post in my work thread (http://www.talkglass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26153).
Amongst the carnage are my first 'good' floral implosions, my first sleeving, a hammer bubbler, etc.
I feel your pain as well brother.

[glassdocnc]

Ouch. That hurts to look at.

[rockstar glassworks]

Sigh... The pile is already taken. One of my buddies has a bunch of lizards so he's stoked for some new tank art.

Thanks everyone, nice to know I'm not alone.

Kinda neat to see all the silver colors after 12 some hours of heat.... all muddy and nasty looking.

Kato, I'm a little lost about the cracked pieces comment... when I left the shop today nothing was cracked but it was all well fused together. Nice coating of devit on everything too.

Gome, your right. One spoon did not get stuck in the pile, it's alittle bent and all frosted with devit...but who knows maybe I can upcharge a $13.50 piece for it's art value.

[rockstar glassworks]

Wow Bo...checked out your thread. No devit huh? That's pretty dang amazing, my puddle is completely forsty.

[SNYD]

Did you have some cracked pieces or what? The only problem I see with your pile is maybe a little too much reduction. Still, sucks about your relay.

Take a closer look, they are all stuck together.

Sucks for your loss, I had the same thing happen lucky for me the kiln was empty when I walked in the shop and the kiln was at 1500.

[Bo Diddles]

Wow Bo...checked out your thread. No devit huh? That's pretty dang amazing, my puddle is completely forsty.

Yeah it happened in my old Jen Ken top loader. I wish I knew what temp it got to before the element burnt out.
It's still hanging on my wall.

[FredLight]

They're all stuck together?

First of all, why are they all touching in the kiln? That's crazy.

Sorry about your loss.

[Julian]

I used to arrange everything so it wasn't touching. Then I saw people like Milon or Wonka who would just pile stuff in their kiln until it reached the ceiling... so I'm not too concerned anymore. If you anneal slowly it should work out fine.

If my kiln elements were on all night, it would have reached more like 1500-1600 and the glass would be a lot more puddly.

[Aymie]

The very first time I ever had a batch I was proud of , I left the kiln on. Found it while smoking a cig hours later at 1700. I had little pipe puddles that took big chunks out of the bottom of my kiln.

[richsantaclaus]

It'd make a killer huge marble!

[LunacyMountain]

I used to arrange everything so it wasn't touching. Then I saw people like Milon or Wonka who would just pile stuff in their kiln until it reached the ceiling... so I'm not too concerned anymore. If you anneal slowly it should work out fine.

What...? are you being serious...? I've made piles of pendants in the back corners to make room for nicer stuff, but never stacked pipes up or anything...never thought about it really just always took extra precautions not to ruin a whole days worth of work...

[TlkQ]

I used to make sure nothing was touching then, like Julian, I saw a bunch of long time glassblowers stacking shit up in there kiln. I stack shit now, but only if I don't run the strike cycle at the end of the day. I think my temp gauge is slightly off because anything that is touching ends up slightly tagged after the strike cycle that only goes up to 1150