Orton Pyrometric Cones For Monitoring Ceramic Kiln Firings - Cone 06 (1 Pkg/50) Review (2026)

Who this cone pack fits

This is a box of 50 Orton Cone 06 pyrometric cones, sized for potters and hobby studios running electric or gas kilns on a low fire schedule. Cone 06 is one of the most common targets in home ceramics, used for bisque firing and for many low fire glazes sold for cone 06 to 04. If your clay body and glaze line both call out cone 06 on the label, this pack matches that number directly. Studios that also fire stoneware or porcelain at cone 5 or 6 will need a separate higher number cone, since this pack only covers the low fire end. Beginners who just bought their first kiln benefit most, because a witness cone is a simple, inexpensive way to confirm the kiln actually reached temperature rather than trusting a timer or a built in controller alone.

What cone 06 actually measures

Pyrometric cones do not just measure temperature, they measure heat work, which is the combined effect of how hot the kiln gets and how long it stays there. As a cone nears its rated maturing point it softens and the tip bends over under its own weight, and a fully matured cone droops until the tip nearly touches the shelf. Cone 06 sits toward the cooler end of the low fire range, below cone 05 and 04 and well below the cone 5 and 6 stoneware range. Orton is the company that set the modern standard for cone charts used across US ceramics, so a cone 06 reading from this pack lines up with the same number printed on commercial glaze buckets and clay bags from most major suppliers.

Placing and reading cones in a firing

Large Orton cones like these are typically set on the kiln shelf, often angled slightly and supported in a small pad of clay or a cone holder near a peephole so you can watch them through the firing. Many potters place a set of three cones together, one that should just bend, one at the target number that should fully droop, and one a step hotter as backup, rather than relying on a single cone. A 50 count box covers a lot of individual firings this way, especially if you are only checking your own kiln and not running multiple test locations per load. Keep the box somewhere dry, since cones are unfired ceramic material and can absorb moisture that changes how consistently they respond to heat over time.

How it compares with the rest of the cone lineup

Within Potterynest's pyrometric cone guide this Cone 06 pack sits just behind the equivalent Cone 6 pack, which serves the stoneware and mid fire crowd rather than low fire potters. It is closely matched with Orton's Small Cones for Kiln Sitter in 06, which is the better pick if your kiln uses a mechanical kiln sitter shutoff instead of a digital controller, since those small cones are shaped to trigger the sitter bar rather than sit freestanding on a shelf. Potters who fire a wider glaze range sometimes buy this alongside the 05 and 04 packs so they have witness cones bracketing their whole low fire schedule instead of just one number.

Verdict and who should look elsewhere

Buy this pack if you fire bisque or low fire glaze at cone 06 on a digital kiln and want a reliable, brand standard way to confirm the firing actually got there, matching our score of 8.8 out of 10 for fit and value. Skip it if your kiln uses a mechanical kiln sitter, since you want the small kiln sitter cones instead, or if you mainly fire stoneware at cone 5 or 6, where a higher number cone pack is the correct match. Mixed studios firing both ranges should plan on stocking more than one cone number rather than expecting this single pack to cover everything.

Frequently asked questions