Olympic 1818HE

Hello! I’m a local ceramic artist in Silver Lake, operating in a compact, private studio workspace.

I operate a digitally controlled Olympic Kiln 1818HE (Interior: 17.5" W x 18" D, ~2.5 cu ft). I fire my own professional work right alongside yours. I take great precautions with my own pieces to ensure flawless, beautiful results, and I promise to handle and respect your work with that exact same level of care. I look after all the loading, programming, and unloading myself so we get a perfect fire.

Kiln Capacity & Dimensions:
Interior: 17.5" W x 18" D (~2.5 cu ft)
Can fit up to one full shelf and 4-6 half shelves total
Full shelf size: 15.5" x 16.5" Octagon
Half shelf size: 15.5" x 8-3/8"

Firing Schedules & Turnaround
My standard studio rhythm is one bisque load (Cone 04) and one glaze load (Cone 5) per week. Full exclusive kiln rentals can also be customized for low-fire specialty schedules (Cone 018–015 for decals and lusters).

Standard Turnaround: 7–10 days for shared loads depending on current studio volume. Full exclusive loads are typically ready in 5 days.
*Optional Rush Firing: If you need a guaranteed turnaround under 5 days, a $30 rush fee applies to cover custom scheduling and individual kiln management. (All greenware must be thoroughly bone-dry to qualify for a rush bisque).

Pricing Structure & Payment Options

Full Kiln Rental (Exclusive Load)
Best for large production runs, oversized items, specific custom firing schedules, or delicate specialty finishes.

Exclusive Rental Perk — Real-Time Monitoring: For all full kiln rentals, I provide peace-of-mind text updates with live screenshots straight from my controller app at every critical stage of your burn:

Note: Full kiln rental prices include custom controller programming, dedicated ventilation management, real-time app updates, and my professional labor for carefully loading and unloading your work.

By-the-Shelf Rental (Shared Load)

Perfect for test tiles, small-batch projects, or a handful of pieces.

Note: Shared loads will fire as soon as the kiln is completely filled within our weekly rhythm.

Accepted Payments
Payment is due at the time of drop-off. I accept Zelle, Venmo, and PayPal. For your convenience, I can also accept credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay directly at the studio via tap-to-pay.

Studio Rules & Safety Guidelines
Because our work shares the same space, keeping the kiln and furniture safe protects all of our projects! All renters must strictly adhere to the following guidelines before dropping off:

Clay & Glaze Verification: You must provide proof of your clay body and glaze temperature ratings. Please bring the original clay bags/glaze bottles, or clear photos of the manufacturer labels showing the firing cone range. Absolutely no unlabeled or unknown materials will be accepted.
Specialty Glazes & High-Movement Combos: Highly fluid commercial glazes (e.g., heavy layering, flux combinations) or custom firing schedules require separate approval.
Vitrified Re-Fires: Re-glazing and re-firing previously vitrified work carries an extremely high risk of heavy glaze runoff due to a lack of surface porosity. Because of this volatility, re-fires cannot be mixed into standard shared loads and are subject to separate space restrictions or full-kiln rates.
Mandatory Glaze Cookies (Every Piece): To completely eliminate the risk of shelf damage, every single piece submitted for a glaze firing—especially high-movement glazes and re-fires—must sit on its own tester "cookie" (a flat, bisqued slab of mid-fire clay made by the renter that is wider than the base of the piece). Loose pieces will not be loaded under any circumstances.
The 1/4-Inch Dry Foot & Wax Policy: Even with a mandatory cookie, all work submitted for a glaze firing must have the bottom wiped entirely clean of glaze, leaving at least a 1/4-inch dry foot from the bottom edge. All bottoms must be waxed prior to drop-off to guarantee a clean repel. Unwaxed or poorly wiped pieces will not be loaded.

Strict Moisture Policies:
Bisque Firing: All greenware must be 100% bone-dry. If a piece feels cold to the touch, it still holds residual moisture and will be rejected to prevent steam explosions.
Glaze Firing: All glazed pieces must be completely dry to the touch upon drop-off.
Thickness Restrictions: Pieces with walls thicker than 1 inch will be rejected for bisque firing to eliminate the risk of trapped steam causing a kiln explosion.
Oversized Pieces: Because this is a compact kiln, items exceeding 8 inches wide that cannot safely balance on a single half-shelf will be billed at the full-shelf rate, regardless of height.

Collaborative Drop-Off Safety Check: When you arrive, we will do a quick 5-minute check-in together at the table to look over your work, verify your materials, and ensure everything is secure and ready for a successful firing.

Damaged Equipment & Liability Fees
Accidents happen, but renters assume financial responsibility for any damage their work causes to the kiln furniture or the interior structure:

Minor Glaze Drips: $10 cleanup fee for grinding down minor running glaze and re-applying kiln wash to a shelf.

Ruined Shelves: If a piece melts completely, a decal/luster blisters or runs off, or structural failure fuses it to the shelf, the renter is responsible for the exact replacement cost: $65 per half-shelf or $90 per full shelf.

Element Damage: If a piece explodes due to trapped air/moisture or an aggressive glaze melt damages an interior heating element, the renter is responsible for the cost of the replacement element plus a $50 installation fee.

Damaged Interior Bricks: Soft insulating firebrick is fragile and critical for heat retention. If a piece explodes or if a glaze melt eats into the kiln wall, the renter is responsible for a $40 to $150 repair fee depending on the severity and depth of the brick gouge (to cover refractory cement or brick section replacement).

Drop-off, Pick-up, & Contact
Because the studio is a small private facility with a limited physical footprint, all drop-offs and pick-ups are strictly by appointment only to manage space constraints.

Please reach out via email at [email protected] to book your slot!

I will always be present at check-in to walk through your work with you so we can get our projects safely loaded. Thank you for reading through this. Let's get creative!