So, Finally, I got my kiln rewired!! And it wasn't really all that hard. (Remember how bad it used to be? Elements looping down along the inside wall, totally out of their grooves? It was still reaching temperature, until that fateful firing during Art-O-Matic in Toledo this spring......) So I finally ordered the replacement parts to do the entire set of 6 elements (but not the switches--they were fine) I also ordered a replacement kiln sitter ceramic sleeve. They came from Runyan Ceramics in Clio, Michigan. When they came, I set aside a day to work on the kiln. It all went very well (and thanks to Paul at Runyan's for the technical advice!) I just wasn't able to cut off the end of the loops on each end of each element, nor crimp the sleeve that goes over the element wiring and the wiring to the switch, connecting the two. So, I got Bruce to do that for me (though I understand, from my friend Robert Rueger, who roasts coffee and sells it at the Toledo Symphony, that there are $150 ratcheting crimpers which would do the job very nicely, without the bone-crunching effort.) Now the kiln not only looks good; it fires like greased lightening.
