Firing 14 - refiring most of firing 13

Another 5am start, pitch dark but starry. Gas burner on.
7am   100oC   gas up, weather is still, overcast and damp
9am   310oC   gas still on, damp wood, damp kiln, did not do a warm through yesterday, kiln steaming - low fat pots?
10am  480oC  gas off, hard work to keep this fire going. Am I tired? not really enjoying this
11am  616oC  south west breeze. Now the fire is more beguiling, it becomes a reason in itself to continue. The kiln has ceased steaming
noon   730oC
1pm    878oC   using large slab wood, strong s.w. breeze
1.30   1004oC  reducing for a good half hour
2pm   1024oC 
3pm   1088oC   first soda in. Cold s.w. wind blowing into fire mouth,
3.30pm              closed the big doors for shelter
4pm   1088oC    then at 4.05 up to 1126oC
5pm    1145oC
5.30    1165oC   Andrew stopped by, just to check that the flames were intentional
6pm    1166oC  
6.30    1200oC   cone 7 bending
7pm    1203oC   cone 8 bending, 7 down
7.30    1211oC
7.45    1187oC   cone 9 beginning, cone 8 down
8pm    1215oC
8.15    1220oC   cone 9 down, last big stoke, start clamming up the kiln, a few slivers of wood added during this.
9.15    1078oC

I didn't make a note of when I put the fire mouth door on, probably around 1000oC to assist the reduction. It made a big difference to the comfort of my knees which would be scalded without the door. It was along hard firing this one, the longest so far at 15 hours, damp wood, cold south westerly wind all having an effect. The rain held off. I thought that the wind in this direction would speed it up as it blows directly at the fire mouth, my perception is the opposite. Will have to try it again with drier wood.

happy kiln = happy potter,

  This was a much better firing, even though I could hardly walk the next day - 15 hours on concrete in the wrong shoes.
will post some results next.
I think this blog is getting repetitive, not enough crises with this kiln. By the look of the interior it will need a rebuild before the chimney wall slumps.
Meanwhile I have been planning an anagama firing at Higham Hall in Cumbria for November.

Firing 13 - lucky for some

But not for me!

Work to go in 

7am, 90oC after 2 hours, turn up the gas, cup of tea, breathe deep

Gorgeous day, Nice, easy and steady climb to 1200 then 15minutes of lost concentration and I never got it back above 1180. I knew the cones were telling me to keep going but after 13 hours the lure of fish and chips at the pub was too great (and there was a bit of applied pressure from R pushing me in that direction).

Lesson learned - instead of only another 2 hours to get to temperature I now have a whole 13 hour firing to do and on my own as R will be away. I think I'll go to 15 hours just to be sure. Have to say I'm hacked off. Not getting enough results to feed the passion. And to continue the misery, the kiln is showing distinct signs of ware, but that's another blog

Orton 7 8 9 & 10, obviously underfired, 9 should be well down

 However, I look at the photo of the sunrise and find there the consolation. 

Meanwhile - vote for me,

 if you've not much else to do!

click on this link below
craft & design selected AWARDS

And I'll be a very happy potter,
cheers!

Firing 13 in the planning

The frustration of not firing for a couple of months is getting to me. I find that I start to lose sight of what I am aiming for in my work. This time I am planning to fill the kiln with about 50% sell-able wares and fewer but more focused test pieces.

 We took delivery of the new iron framework (Caledonian Sheet Metal works in Inverness).  The kiln now has a detachable firemouth door and vertical supports at the corners. This should minimise some of the movement from firing and unbuilding for packing.  I suspect that a complete rebuild will be in order next year, at which point I might as well increase the size, it just isn't big enough.

 The door is a sandwich of fibre/kiln shelf/fibre, tin foil and weldmesh on the outer face. Two pieces of vermiculite board on the side which I dismantle for packing. We'll see how well that survives over time.
Isn't it smart? But......

Daylight between chimney hood and roof as the filler has burned out, letting the rain in of course.

www = wet wet wet

Wet weather
Wet wood
Wet work

Condensation on the outside of the workshop windows - yes the outside.
A forlorn damp kiln down in the garden.

On the bright side - a new iron framework for the kiln being welded together.
This will include a door for the fire mouth to protect the stoker's knees.

And another anagama firing in the planning to look forward to.

Not a bad start to the year.

Pots from the Martin Hadrava/Masakazu Kusakabe kiln in Klikov

Klikov clay after firing

Kiln floor looking towards firebox

Apologies for not being able to attribute the work to the makers. I arrived at the unpacking too late to see the first pots coming out but there were still a few on the kiln floor to give an idea of the ash deposits there. 

Chamber below chimney full of traditional  Klikov ware 

Wood firing in Bohemia

chimney end of kiln

tall chimney

I haven’t fired my kiln for a while because I spent 2 months of the summer in the lovely Czech Republic, southern Bohemia to be more precise. However it wasn’t an entirely wood fire free time. Just as we were leaving home the postie delivered the latest issue of the Log Book (www.thelogbook.net) with an article about wood fire kilns in the Czech Republic. Talk about good timing. 

Side view of chimney showing damper and 2nd ware chamber
With a little research I learned that one of the potters mentioned, Martin Hadrava, was only an hours’ drive away from where we were staying in ČR.  So with some help from a Czech friend I got in contact with him and he was very welcoming and invited me to visit the next kiln firing. This was to be the inaugural firing of a new ‘smokeless’ kiln designed by Masakazu Kusakabe (see the book Japanese Wood Fired Ceramics by Masakazu Kusakabe and Marc Lancet) who would be there to oversee the firing. All very exciting as I saw him demonstrating a small version of this kiln at Aberystwyth in 2009. This is the largest version of the kiln which Kusakabe has designed. I don’t have the dimensions but you’ll see the scale of it from the photos.

Door to ware chamber, side stoke hole and fire box
Martin is based in a village called Klikov, near Suchdol nad Lužnici in the east of Southern Bohemia. The village is a traditional pottery village and I saw at least 5 kiln chimneys as we drove around looking for the new kiln. (Martin still uses one of the old wood fired ‘Kessel’ kilns, after a German design from about 1850, which he renovated, see more at www.klikov.net and www.hadrava.net ). We followed smart new signs across fields to a pottery which turned out to be closed, but we got directions and eventually found some open ground just outside the village with a couple of sheds and a big chimney. No point looking for smoke, all that indicated the presence of a kiln firing in process was a heat haze at the chimney top. Amazing considering that when we arrived the kiln was already at 1260℃. 

fire box mouth

There was quite a crowd, some directly involved in the firing process, some like me just wanting to observe. My two non potting friends who came with me were quickly drawn into the underlying excitement and anticipation of the process. I don’t think they had understood before how elemental it can be, a glimpse into the fire box was enough! I was there to see the draw rings pulled but didn’t get close enough to hear the discussions . The decision was made to continue firing. And at this point I had to leave, reluctantly, but decided to return for the unpacking a few days later.