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I'm at that point in my life where lifting the Scutt gm1414 kiln lid is a pain. Its to heavy and I seem to be tweeking the lid a bit when I lift it to the point where the brick has started to break at the hinge area and I'm afraid it's going to break completly apart. So, I'm looking at the Scutt lid lifter $$$$$ vs. the DIY pully system. Any thoughts which way to go? Pros - Cons. Ideas?

Thanks for your help!!

Replace the crumbled brick, put a counter weight on it and save $ . . .

When I talked to Scutt they said I couldn't replace the brick, which I thought, why not? So, all I need to do is to cut out bad brick and replace it. Sounds easy, is it?

no

Why not?

You can rig a lid lifter with very little engineering knowhow. It just takes a couple of pulleys, called snatch blocks, attached to the ceiling, and a cable with a counterweight. A good tip is to use a bucket for the counterweight. You can put something heavy in it, but the final adjustment of how heavy the bucket is can be made with sand. This way you can micro-manage how much force it takes to lift the lid. You want it to take a bit of effort, otherwise it could tend to lift on it's own.

the lid (and the rest of the bricks) is heald together with a stainless band. the band is kept tight with 2 worm gear screws. if the band is not tight enough the screws holding the hinge can move. also the bricks need that compression. tighten the worm gear screws . also on some kilns (one of mine) the tac welds holding the worm gear screw bands in place break. i have had to have my lid and bottom bands re welded. ....... if the hinge area is really frigged up you can take the lid loose and rotate it. then remove the band and hinge and prop and re attach so the screws are in new places in the brick. rosanna

Thanks, now I got to find someone who doesn't have a problem with heights, my studio's ceiling is about 20+ feet.

attach to the wall about 7-10 feet up.

yep like he sais. you want the pully to be behind the hinge. orat least half way back from the handle if you do the ceiling route. pulling straight up is no bueno. rosanna

Bert Weiss wrote:You can rig a lid lifter with very little engineering knowhow. It just takes a couple of pulleys, called snatch blocks, attached to the ceiling, and a cable with a counterweight. A good tip is to use a bucket for the counterweight. You can put something heavy in it, but the final adjustment of how heavy the bucket is can be made with sand. This way you can micro-manage how much force it takes to lift the lid. You want it to take a bit of effort, otherwise it could tend to lift on it's own.

Bert may be a silly question ut why do you need 2 snatch blocks wouldn't the cable go from the handle through the block to the bucket? Or is it set up in some other way. Is there a chance you could do a drawing and post it as I too am interested in setting up something like this for my kiln. Since having cancer surgeries it has left me a bit on the weak side so a pulley system would be great!

You need two pulleys because there is one above the kiln where the cable attaches to the kiln handle. The other pulley is near the wall so the counterweight can rise and fall vertically.

Jim

Canadian Tire rope pulley
http://www.canadiantire.ca/search/searc ... 4396672077

The Hobbyist wrote:You need two pulleys because there is one above the kiln where the cable attaches to the kiln handle. The other pulley is near the wall so the counterweight can rise and fall vertically.

Jim

I never tried it, but maybe Marty is right? One snatch block (pulley) placed 10' high, might just do it. this would make a triangle. As long as the counterweight goes up and down, I think it works. Kevin's rope hoist will work fine, but I don't think you need any more mechanical advantage, than the counterweight. I'd google counterweight but I am working on somebody else's iPad and it is a hassle.

I found a picture at theglasshive.com. I don't really know how to cut and paste on this device.

If you go straight up to the ceiling you need 2 pulleys. If you go directly to the wall you need one. If the lid is large you may want to spread the strain by using 2 pulleys. I set up something for my (accursed) Evenheat oval -the same size as the Skutt- and used 2 points of attachment because Evenheat makes the (accursed) thing so flimsily. The wall pulleys were only 6 ft off the ground; the kiln lid was 2' off the ground and the kiln was about 10" from the wall. A little higher on the wall might have been better but it worked fine. Bert's right about the sand in METAL pails or cans, it's a lot easier to adjust.

Thanks again and Bert I checked out that site and found the picture, it's just what I needed to see what to do, well to direct hubby what to do I should say
I'm sure Robin who started this topic will appreciate seeing the picture as well. This is the page I found it on. Just need to scroll down a little on the page.
http://theglasshive.com/catalog7.html

Those other lid lifter systems make you lift the lid exposing your hand and arm to all the heat that is bailing out of the kiln. The pulley system I showed earlier enables you to open a hot kiln without fried body parts. Make your own choice but I would not go for counterweights unless the lid weighed a huge amount.

I will have to do some searching to see how the pulley system works then. Does it attach to the ceiling?

On wall behind kiln but with additional guide pulleys mounted on ceilings could be used.
there are issues getting any of them set up, weights or pulleys.
One is where are you tying the rope when the lid is open?
Think however about how heavy a lid feels when it is closed. It gets lighter feeling as it is more open. Some system is needed.
If you have a counterweight system too heavy at the back of the kiln then the lid will not want to stay closed but if it is too light the lid will want to bang shut.
Were there reports in the past on this board of an incorrectly balanced counterweighted kiln wanting to open just a little when at high temperature?
With the rope system it is possible to gently close a lid.... or bang it closed if you are careless. Nothing is perfect.

This picture shows the setup, but doesn't show the pulley. Put a big lag eye bolt in to a stud, and attach the snatch block to that.