A professional who controls preheating chamber and tunnel kiln to preheat and bake clay products, such as brick, sewer pipe, mosaic tile, and ceramic and quarry tile. Respnsibilities include:

• Observes color of fires and reactions of pyrometric cones to increases in temperatures in kiln and reads gauges and automatic recording instruments to verify specified temperatures in kiln.
• Turns fuel and air valves and opens or closes dampers to adjust temperatures.
• Pulls loaded kiln car from drier, opens preheater doors, and pushes kiln car into preheater, using car puller or transfer car.
• Closes preheater doors and starts mechanism that pushes car through preheater.
• Pulls loaded kiln cars from preheating chamber, opens tunnel kiln doors, and starts mechanism that pushes string of cars through kiln.
• Removes cars from tunnel kiln and moves them to sorting area, using transfer car.
• May control kiln equipped with automatic loading and drawing equipment.
• May control drying tunnel.
• May control tunnel kiln equipped with preheating chamber to bake clay products.
• May be designated according to type of tile burned as bisque-tile burner; glost-tile burner.