A Good Day

Its been about a month with little done on the kiln. Its the holidays and everyone is maxed out. The weather was beautiful. We had some great food, thanks to Vick and Granny. Reinvigorated we finished the arch and removed the form. No matter how often you see those bricks standing by themselves, defying gravity it always seems like a bit of magic.

Building the Arch Form

This Friday morning we had a visit from Anthony Wolking, Cincinnati potter and instructor  most recently at Xavier University. Anthony made several good suggestions, especially on firebox and chimney design.

This is the arch form for the #2 hard brick arch. I drew a baseline on a large piece of paper, measured the length of the firebox when facing the loading door. I then found the center of that line knowing that that would be the high point of the arch. I then arranged my bricks in an arch and drew a line underneath with a marker.
Remember to allow for the thickness of material covering the form. This form will still need a center support.

With the arch form in place its time to start tacking the steel in place. That old Lincoln buzz box is an antique like me.

Compact oil fired kiln plan

H.Norsker "Refractories and Kilns"

This is a nice compact design for an oil fired kiln that has approximately one cubic meter of interior space.  Norsker observed this kiln while on a trip to Africa. He called it a good kiln for 1 or 2 potters. A simple kiln, needing little or no bracing. Tall chimney probably indicates step plate or some other unpowered burners were used. Fireboxes could be easily extended as needed. Note that the entire kiln is on one level.

Graham Sheehan Bourry Box Kiln

This super neat clean kiln designed by potter and kiln designer Graham Sheehan is a real beauty. Even the steel work is inspiring.

Damper slots done and the body of the kiln finished. Ready for the ironwork and then the arch.

What a beautiful day. When the lintel is set I will lay the last 50 or so bricks that finish out the damper area. Then its time to get the welder out and build the steel bracing.

Top of the Firebox

New Bricks Arrived

The new bricks came and we finally got back to kiln building. It was a beautiful day and that didn't hurt a thing. We cast a lintel for the kiln throat using a mix of 4 lb stainless steel pins to the 100 lb. of US castable. It took about 125 lb castable for this lintel.

WVO Power Burner

The burner body is made of 3" black iron pipe fittings. The yellow line is air, the white one is oil. The burner has been working well at a oil temp of 80 to 90 deg. F. At anything above 100 deg. F or installed in a hot kiln I would switch to a flexible copper oil line.

The manifold has pressure regulators controlling pressure to burner and oil tank.

WVO does not burn well or even flow well in cold temps. A used hot water heater makes a good heated storage tank, with some modifications. A long firing would probably take two tanks.

Below: Though not a great picture, this is the burner in action.

Yesterday we went out and looked at the same pile of bricks we left last Wed. Yep, still short of hot face hard brick . So we made a pot of java and started counting arch bricks. Hmm short there too. Well no new kiln pics today. I'll use this opportunity to slip in a few of the wvo burner setup.

The last two Wednesdays have been kiln building day. This is the view from the chimney end.

An example of the great wood/salt fired work by Karin Solberg.

The Crew and the Kiln Slab

Getting Started

Philip Wiggs provides materials and Kiln building expertise that makes this project possible. Here is our form for the slab.

Beginning The Bourry Box Kiln

in 1911 Emille Bourry wrote "A Treatise on Ceramic Industries" in which he described the type of upside down firebox used in the Sevres kilns. By 1942 "Pioneer Potter" Michael Cardew began using this fuel saving innovation in Africa and later at his own studio in England. A very influential design by Robert Sanderson as described in Jack Troy's "Wood-Fired Stoneware and Porcelain" is the inspiration for the wood kiln at Bobtown.

Pottery at Bobtown

Here's a view of the pottery at Bobtown near Berea Kentucky. The building was once a tobacco barn.