Our Journey So Far

Perfect day for a firing

In August we completed our fifth firing.  Throughout the summer we have been experimenting with clays and glazes and decided to add soda to the last two firings with good results. Note Ron Deaver's stoking door which is made from a metal trash can lid with kaowool wired to the inside with nichrome wire. Over the open door you can see the waste vegetable oil reservoir. As soon as the kiln reaches red heat the step plate burners (see earlier post) can be placed in the two air intakes between the firebox and the ash pit. The kiln can be put in full reduction and the temp will still climb.  Just a note of caution here, you can easily climb too fast and over fire. In one of our first firings we melted cone 12 into a puddle almost before we realized it and ruined some nice pots. No doubt we were somewhere around c14.  Since then we have used WVO sparingly. We find that we can reach c12 in 24 hours on sawmill slabs alone. The first 8 hours are a gentle warm up and the next 16 hours we speed things up but the stoking is still pretty relaxed. When we add soda, we spray about 5 pounds, mixed with 2 gal. of  hot water sprayed in with a regular garden sprayer. The Bourry box is so efficient that we are thinking about another kiln to run completely on WVO.

Below is a storage jar by Philip Wiggs fired in this kiln.

 

This area has so many good potters. It has been great to get folks together for a community firing. Where else can you get together every six weeks or so and talk pots and life for two or three days.