3/19/10
Load the Kiln:
T minus 12 hours and counting: gather up all the little parts needed to
finish kiln assembly
Before loading I start up the fire to make sure there were no spiders
making webs and nest in the tubing to prevent ignition:
Yellow flames are not a good sign - should be blue - currently
under investigation
The controls - from the top:
Factory thermocouple, control box, Axner oxyprobe, gas pressure controls
The other side of the above scene showing the factory probe above and
the oxyprobe below shielded by kiln stilts:
Bill Schran advises to put larger pots on the bottom so as not to
obstruct the flame exit
Halfway there
Lightly loaded with cones in place
I use the flashlight to look through the peepholes (it's dark in
there with no fire)
To make sure the cones are visible
Get the record straight:
Say a prayer to the kiln god
Update the web page
Get a good night's sleep for a 6AM ignition on 3/20/10
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Klin Log
3/20/10
2PM
I'm into reduction:
Next: the results on Monday March 22, 2010
With the patience of Job, he waits until the pots aren't even hot
Before documenting this step - adjust the white balance with
a gray card:
The results
You'll notice cone 11 is down on top, not on bottom
I've removed the saggars that I had over three of the two tone pots
shown below
If you want to spook yourself out: figure out how this image of my kiln
gods got on film - it was not intentional
The glaze disaster referred to above.
Thanks to
Vince I'll be
ready for
"...my fair share of abuse" as Mick Jagger put it
Curiously the glaze shown on the carafe above left is a cone 6 Nutmeg
glaze - it didn't run at all
And the kiln's side of the argument:
I saw it coming, therefore I placed old kiln shelf pieces under these
potss
The glaze contained 1/3 unwashed ash which did fine in an electric kiln
at cone 9
Just grind, rinse and repeat
Being a potter involves the wearing of many hats:
Quality Control Executioner:
You may choose the eliminate pots that you do not want to appear
in your oeuvre.
And by doing so, can gain some more knowledge, such as :
1. Every pots is not precious as you might think
2. Most are considered too precious - the art is in the making - not
in the artifact
3. You get to see what the inside looks like:
Above you can see what I mistook as "Black Coring" - a firing
error supposed to come from over reduction too early in the firing
cycle.
As it turns out, by comparing the clay with other potter's results, it
seems
that with a clay body saturated in iron - dark gray is the appropriate
color after a rduction firing.
One theory for the above dark body color was early reduction, caused by
a yellow flame.
This theory is still under investigation by examination of the burner
orifice:
So I put the plumber and gas
fitter hat on:
The burner in place with fireclay sleeve removed:
Removed:
The gas orifice in question is the hole in the brass nut at the bottom
there where the propane gas comes out:
Currently in the hands of the kiln manufacturer
Should the hole be smaller to force the gas out at a higher pressure?
Since I am not qualified to teach photographic techniques I'll
just let you judge the finals:
I use a Nikon D70s, on a tripod, white balanced on gray
card, manual exposure mode, 10 second timer delay
I'd like to get more depth of field
Also currently under investigation
This is the basic setup
Spotslights above diffuser, graduated background
The 4th and 5th from the left above were in saggers painted inside
with CuCO3
to protect a red glaze at some time in the past
It flashed back onto the wood ash and made it red
Crystals formed by the wood ash on Shino:
Click here for the rest of the pots from this kiln load:
http://www.ricks-bricks.com/recent.htm
Thus concludes the series on
The Process of Making Pottery
Part I - The Clay
Part II - The
Glaze
