A Brief History of Pyrometric Cones

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Part 1 of a multi-part series.

Follow along with Ceramic Engineer Dale Fronk as he describes the early beginnings of Pyrometric Cones and Edward Orton.

Time Lapse Cone Bending

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Actual video of Orton pyrometric cones deforming inside a kiln. (The Orton 3 Cone System is being used.) The kiln is being fired at a uniform rate of heating to show cone behavior during firings. At 1000°C and 1020°C, a template appears* to show the appropriate start (10°) and end point (90°) for the Firing Cone.

Note: as a cone deforms, it picks up speed. Also, as the Guide Cone reaches it's endpoint, the Firing Cone begins to deform (one cone is always in motion). The counter in the top left corner is displayed as minutes:seconds. Total elapsed time for the Firing Cone to fall is nearly 20 minutes.

* Typically this measurement is made once the cone is removed from the kiln, an overlay is shown here for demonstration purposes only.