Peter Willis on tue 7 may 96
Hello Fellow ceramic lovers,
I have recently acquired a job at a state park as their potter. It is
great since i don't have the cash or property to build my own studio. The
situation is that I am the only one who remotely knows what is going on at
this park and my predisessors knew almost as much as the people I work with
now, which isn't much. So, the history of my rather nice gas blowing,
double chambered propane Kiln is a little spotty and I am having to play
detective to figure out its personality.
At any rate, my delema is that I work for a STATE park and am not
allowed overtime pay(believe me I would go elsewhere but I hate the
opportunity to work with this kiln) and I only have a roof over the top of
the kiln. I can fire the kiln in about 16 hours and get real nice glaze
and bisque at the same time, but I have to take an extra day off during the
week in order to avoid overtime.
I would like to give it a preheat overnight, but my burners are easily
blown out. The burners are rather large and so are their ports. And
because of this, my supervisor won't let me pre-heat overnight. She
doesn't know anything about the dynamics of a kiln so she doesn't realize
that it can be done if I build a shelter around the ports.
What I really want to know here is, if my alternative is the best
alternative there is. Here it is...to fire the kiln as from the time I
come in until the time I have to leave at night(9am-5:30pm) and turn off
the kiln and then come in the next day and refire it until I get ^10 redux.
If you have any alternatives that would work better, please respond.
I know the best alternative but I am working in a very limited situation.
Thanks for your time.
Anxiously Awaiting a Response
Becky Lowery
Fort Boonesboro, KY State Park
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