Cone 5 vs. Cone 6 — Spinning Pots

If you are new to using a pottery kiln, it will take you some time to grasp the fact that firing your artwork would require the use of a cone. Simply put, kilns aren’t fired to a given temperature but rather to a certain cone level. Understanding the cone level helps determine the right temperature and time required to fire a piece properly. It is more of a heat absorption technique as compared to increasing or decreasing the temperature.

Cones are available in a range of numbers. Now, each of these cones corresponds to the temperature and heating rate combination that might cause the deformation of the cone. When the firing process starts, the cone stands at an angle of 8 degrees. When fired perfectly, the cone will achieve an angle of 90 degrees. Check whether the cone has less bending. If it does, the pottery piece is under-fired. If the angle surpasses the 90-degree mark, it states that the pottery work is over-fired.

Now, take a look at the numbers in these cones. The hottest cone is numbered 10 while it gets cooler, with 1 being the lowest temperature. However, 1 isn’t the coolest. It continues with 01, 02, and so on.

Technically speaking, there isn’t much difference between cone 5 and cone 6. Even the temperature difference between them isn’t a major one. While cone 5 fires at 2118 degrees Fahrenheit, cone 6 tends to fire at 2165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Now, you might wonder, what about cone 06 and cone 05? Well, they fall well below the single-numbered cone category. Cone 06 fires at a much lower temperature compared to cone 6, and the same applies to cone 05 as well. For cone 05, the firing temperature is 1870 degrees Fahrenheit, while the firing temperature for cone 06 is 1798 degrees Fahrenheit.

In the pottery world, the placement of “0” ahead of a number represents “minus.” This means any firing cone with 0 placed ahead will have a lower firing temperature as opposed to single numbers.

Cone 5 is also termed a middle-temperature cone. It is the lower temperature range required to fire most pottery stonewares, porcelains, and hobby art. Several potters are now moving from the use of cone 6 down to the cone 5 levels. This helps with a considerable amount of energy saving which is about 40 degrees less.