LOWELL BAKER on wed 26 jun 96
We had our first sawdust firing of the summer yesterday. It wasn't
too hot for Alabama this time of year and the firing made cone ten
from striking the match to finish in ten hours. I have revised my
stoking system and many of the old bugs are working their way out.
With the exception of one equipment failure there were no hitches.
Once the fire was going all we had to do was to load the stoker every
fifteen minutes. Wood burned in the pre heat: about 12 cubic feet;
sawdust burned: about 80 cubic feet. Kiln style: Olsen updraft, hard
brick 30 cubic feet. Cone 10 in 10 hours. Near the end we were
dropping a cone every 20 minutes. We soaked the kiln for an
additional hour in an attempt to add more ash we even talked about
adding ash to the sawdust and blowing it in the kiln, but alas we did
not. I am taking a lot of photos of the new design and hope to share
it with you soon.
This summer term is drawing to an end. I am madly trying to get work
ready for two shows; one here and one in Singapore (thanks Brian and
John, will be shaking your hands in about three weeks). I am also
looking forward to meeting the clay people at the University of Hawaii
in a few weeks.
We will be reloading the wood kiln for a firing on Friday and then
again for a firing on next Wednesday.
Lowell
The University of Alabama
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