Winter Solstice firing

Just one day away from loading the kiln for our Winter Solstice firing. We are loading on Sat. so I can watch the Packers on Sunday. I'm excited about the little crew I put together for this firing. Several MHCC students and workstudies that are getting the wood-fire bug and a new OPA member that I met at our Food Bank volunteer day. I'm going to test out a couple different Shinos and a few different stoneware bodies. Of course I'll be putting plenty of Dakota Yellow pieces in.

So today is about finishing up my glazing and making my Chicken Pot Pie cone packs. Better get crackin'.

Got to get in the studio

I don't even remember the last time I actually touched clay. Pretty sad, but it's the garden that is keeping me out of the studio so I don't feel as bad. The plans right now are to take a little vacation to Alaska and clear the mind coming back with a new found energy and inspirations. The fall will come fast and I better have some stuff to fill that kiln. Next on the list is the Gresham Art Walk July 18th. Sarah Chenoweth, Carla McHattie and myself will be representing MHCC and all that is good about our wonderful Visual Arts Depart.

Lessons Learned

One of the things I love about ceramics is that you can never stop learning. You could dedicate your life to the process and you will never master it all. This can also be frustrating at times. For the most part the ceramic community is loaded with people who are willing to share their knowledge, time, experience, triumphs and even failures. I guess I have a failure to share with you today, but I'm passing this information on so you don't make the same mistake.

REFRACTORY BRICK...it's not created equal. I purchased 600 hard brick on craigslist.com a few years ago. Good brick, but not for my application. It's brick for a glass kiln, which I didn't have a clue, nor did any of my friends, that it's made for very high temperatures, but not the changes in temps we potters put it through. We made my grate, posts and a couple walls out of this brick and during the first firing the grate started to break up. Of course I was as stressed as could be because the posts were cut from this brick that was falling apart. We thought maybe we didn't leave enough slop between bricks and the expansion destroyed them so we made the grate the same for the second firing, except we left lots of slop for the bricks to expand and move. Well, they fell apart again. The back wall of the fire box has a few cracks, but we think because they are under compression they are holding up. The posts didn't crack either, thankfully.

Since this second grate fell apart so bad I felt I needed to start asking around and see if anyone had some answers. Stephen Mickey didn't know, but suggested I try Jack Troy. Jack is brilliant and answered my call for help with a wonderful explanation. As I said earlier glass kilns are brought up VERY slow and held at a constant temp and their brick has a lot of silica. So now I have new garden brick. Of course I won't be using the posts we cut anymore and we'll have to figure out some sort of covering to protect the one wall that gets heat. Lesson learned.

Pictured are some of the wonderful results from firing #2. Bowls with wonderful shino glazes and soap dishes.

Firing Number Two

We had our second firing and it went smooth. We are still having issues with these weird bricks I got cheap and we used for the grate, but we will replace the gate again and we should be in good shape. Eric rigged up some hardy board with kao wool to insulate the kiln walls and part of the door and it really did the trick. We got come 12 flat on top and bottom in the front and 10 flat in the back. I wadded a few bottle forms across the fire entrance toward the back and I think it slowed things down a bit back there, but we still had good results. The kiln cooled much slower then last time, again Eric's insulating panels really worked. The kiln isn't as cool looking, but firing efficiency is far more important. We opened it yesterday and we had lots of happy results. I would have a few pictures of results, but our memory card decided to have problems so I'll have to retake a few shots of the results.
-happy firing

The pictures show very tired potters, stokers, and the different sides of the kiln with the new panels.

Empires and Hos

The first firing of the Chicken Pot Pie Phoenix style fast fire kiln has happened and in a few hours we will open it up and see the results. I loaded it on Tuesday the 30th and learned a few things right off the bat. First, I need to order more shelves. Bricking up the door went just fine. Eric imagined it taking hours. Eric was having a hard time handing his creation into the hands of a bunch of potters, but he was able to work through it and say goodbye, sort of, it's not like he won't be the number one maintenance man for the Pie from now on.

Sarah, Brian, Eric and I met at the kiln at noon on the 31st and I dedicated the firing to my cousin Teri. She is battling breast cancer and started radiation this past week. Although she is in the struggle of her life and enduring pain, stress and obstacles that would kill most people, she is fighting like a soldier and keeping her mural up like you would not believe. I hope she could feel the love and strength we were trying to send to her that night.

I threw some salt to purify the kiln and area, read some quotes about Salt, Gratitude, Nature and Fire. We blessed the kiln with home brew that Brian and Sarah made, toasted to a good firing and lit it up with an egg carton. About a half hour after we lit the fire UPS showed up with the pyrometer. Eric refit the peep holes to accommodate and away we went. Good timing, although we had expected to do it without.

From then on it was pretty easy, almost like a vacation. We sat around stoking the fire, playing with it, chatting, watching the embers build. Much more laid back then an anagama firing. I will admit I was so stressed the whole time, while still having fun. The emotions from having my dear cousin on my mind just added to my near tears also. I was not expecting the emotions that would run through me firing it for the first time. So many unknowns and it's mine, not another potter's who has fired it dozens of times and knows just what to expect.

All in all it went really well. We reached reduction after dark like we had hoped so the neighbors would not be freaked out by the black smoke. I left it in the hands of Eric and Skye, one nonpotter and one that hasn't fired much, to take a nap at 3 am. I came back after a few hours and it was still standing, but the door was moving. Eric fixed that and we moved on, with me very tired and and emotion bag of whim. Sarah joined us again at 6 and Eric went for his own nap a little while later. We stoked and worked out different strategies to keep the flame in the stack, again so the people waking in the valley below us don't freak and call about a chimney fire. We played around with dampers and blocking the embers in the grate to build them up and figured out stoking patterns to control the temp a little more. The floor is cooler and we'll learn how to adjust that, but we got 12 soft on one pack and 11 and 10 soft on two others. Early in the firing the grate bricks started to split and I was really worried since I used the same bricks as kiln posts. After many hours of stressing over why Eric realized what was happening. We didn't leave enough slop in between the grate bricks for expansion. They were falling apart the whole time, but actually stayed upright. We will replace them and try it again, with slop of course. We shut down at 23 hours. This seems long, but we didn't candle it and it was 40 degrees when we started and went really slow at the beginning so that added to the length.

I'll let you know what the results are after today's opening.
-B

P.S. the door was built with Empire S and IdaHO bricks.

It still could happen in 2008

So the snow is melting and the posts are no longer frozen together so I made wadding today and started wadding the pots...I know I could have been doing this while the weather was bad, but I'm so lazy...tomorrow I'm going to start loading and I hope I have enough pots and maybe Tuesday we can start tossing wood at this baby!! Cross your fingers for us.

Hope you are all well, happy and healthy
Namaste, Brenda

Postponed

Well, here we sit and wait, but at this point we still have electricity, plenty of food and beer. We scheduled the first firing for the 20th, but mother nature thought we should wait...so we wait. I think I might get into the studio and make pots since I can't fire them.

Namaste...Brenda and Eric

Within a Fortnight

We are finished with the kiln and busy making pots and gathering wood. I'm a flurry of excitement. Our goal now is to load the 19th and firing the 20th. Cross your fingers for us that the kiln Gods are happy and supportive that day. We will take lots of pictures and notes so we know what to do next time and maybe what not to do. Eric and I are nervous, but good nervous. He worked so hard and it's just as much his baby as mine. Our shelves should be in on Monday and we'll cut post between now an the firing and if we can fit it in toss together a pizza kiln with left over brick. See you soon! P.S. This is Eric's very specialized custom made glove drier. He is looking into a patent. He is a man of many talents.

Great Grate

Well, we hope. I guess we will see very soon when we test it out in December. Yes, you are hearing right the Chicken POT Pie fast-fire kiln is finished. We have a few little things around the kiln barn to do to get ready like wrapping kao-wool around exposed wood beams near the kiln, but as far as the kiln itself goes it is ready to fire. I can hardly contain myself and Eric is hard to hold back too. If it was up to him he would have a fire in it right now. We just have to get through Thanksgiving and a Holiday Sale at MHCC and we'll be ready to go!!!!

I hope everyone has a Fantastic Thanksgiving filled with love, laughs, and of course grand food.
Cheers!

As it stands

So here we are. As you can see Eric built himself a cat walk in front of the chimney so he could go through the roof and away he went. Up, up, up and now we are only about 3 ft. short of being finished with the chimney. So what's left is insulating the arch and side walls and putting in the grate for the firebox. We may fire the first time with the hearth open like the original plans, but ultimately I think we will manufacture a door for the firebox and not have to deal with all that heat and air. My goal is still to fire it for the first time during the winter break in December. The final picture is one of our staff members, William. In this picture he is doing his impersonation of Superman.

Two steps forward, One step back

Eric did another great day of work and got the second, ware chamber, arch in. We took the form out and within an hour we were putting it back because the arch started pushing out the wall. He thought he would have to rebuild the arch, but he just made adjustments and put a rubber mallet to work. It was saved. So now we know before we take the form out we make sure we have the metal frame in position. No problem, Eric is already on it.

I have to say sitting inside the ware chamber was pretty cozy. I may be arachnophobic and acrophobic, but I'm not claustrophobic.

So much progress

I've been neglecting my little blog and I do apologize. Eric has been working so hard on the kiln and it's going pretty well. We of course make time for socializing and other events. Life isn't just work, work, work ya know.

So the pictures here show what has happened in the last month. We got the refractory granola stuffed in tight around the firebox arch and then the ware chamber floor all nice and laid out. Then there is the flu shot, or it is flue shot? And of course the dampers. Things are moving along nicely and at a fairly stress free pace. Eric gets a little frustrated and loses sleep a bit, but that is normal for him and not just that his mind is on the kiln 23/7...somedays he takes an hour for Perry Mason.

Diamonds ARE a girls best friend!

I didn't realize I loved diamonds until now. Sure, most ladies like diamonds hanging off their ears...just ask Cindy McCain, but the diamonds I like are embedded into a 14'' circular blade and can cut through brick like butter. Eric has been cutting the channels off of some of the brick to make flats. This is a picture of the little brick crosses we end up with. Get thee behind me Satan.

Romans would be proud

Well, maybe they would laugh at us. We built an arch. We had NO idea what we were doing, but it stayed up when we pulled the form out so I think we did a good job. My arms are killing me this morning from lugging the brick around, but no pain no gain, right? It was around 100° yesterday, but with the shade of the kiln barn it only felt like 95°. We are going to have another hot day today, they say even hotter, but we are going to stay in the shade, cook out with Eric's family visiting from Rockford, and take it easy. It's 8:30 am and I have a ton of things to do, but I'll be honest I want to go back to bed.

Namaste, B