Donald Beckerman on sun 15 sep 96
13 September 1996
This will serve as a hello and goodbye at the same time . If that sounds
strange to you, allow me to explain. I am an American (New York City and
Tampa Florida) retired Sociologist/restauranteur living in Thabo, Nongkhai,
Thailand. Thabo is a farm community on the Mehkong River almost directly
across from Vientiane, Laos. There are very few people working as potters in
Thailand, although there are many large companies producing a variety of
commercial goods for sale. I am building a studio attached to my Thai
family's guest lodge in the hope of turning out stoneware and raku pieces
that will reflect Thai and Western culture as they meet, mesh and clash.
While I have studied some three or four semesters basic throwing and building
at the University of Florida in Tampa and had the great privilege of working
with M. C. Richards when she was in St. Petersburg around ten years ago, I
know nothing at all about firing. I thought I would try some simple sawdust
firing with unbisqued pieces just to get my feet warm but then I have a
dilemma. I have to get down to bisqueing at some point and am planning on
building a raku kiln that will bisque, and go to stoneware temperatures, as
well as do raku. I am more than a little concerned about safety. During the
short time I have been receiving Clayart I have read all the messages about
safety and am wondering about flameouts and gas explosions. The kiln will be
outdoors with a protective covering against the rain (of which we have plenty
during the monsoons) so there is not the problem of using a kiln indoors. I
also do not understand very much about oxidation and reduction firing and how
to go about making a chimney in what will basically be a cylinder type kiln
with five layers of ceramic fiber.
To make things really complicated, I am receiving Clayart through a BBS from
Bangkok via an offline downloader and my BBS wants me to discontinue
receiving Clayart immediately because listservers make a lot of extra work
for them. I don't blame them as they are under a lot of pressure but it does
leave me hanging in mid-air no longer being able to look forward to the help
I was hoping to get as well as the pleasantries of communicating with someone
in English. So there, you are, I am really needing a service like Clayart but
am forced to say hello/goodbye simultaneously.
What I am wondering is if any of you who know more about firing (that's just
about all of you) might want to help me figure out how to get through some of
the difficult times ahead. I am especially concerned about avoiding the bad
luck of the person who recently wrote that he had suffered second degree
burns on his hands and face when his kiln exploded due to the buildup of
unburnt gas.
I am presently building a kickwheel with the help of plans which a few people
were good enough to share with me and am having an exciting time of it
because making things like this in 3rd World countries is a challenge
requiring the talents of a graduate engineer and a first rate detective. The
only real problem I encountered was in reading in the plans that the
kickwheel should be around 31 inches off the floor. I thought that sounded
low so I planned on having it 36 inches off the ground instead. By the time I
had to add a little bit more for the seat and for the bearing on the floor,
it came to 39 inches and I almost had an attack of vertigo the first time I
climbed onto the thing. The solution was simple, though, as I just lowered
the seat and the wheel and now I sit in the wheel, and am just about 31
inches off the ground. The 4 X 4's are thus all around and above me and I am
going to use the upper parts for shelving. The wood available here is called
"monkey" wood and is very hard and very heavy so that, with a 120 lb steel
wheel and a 1.6 inch hardened steel shaft I figure the entire contraption to
be somewhere in the vicinity of 300 pounds plus. It should be steady as a
rock and smooth as glass when it is finally operable.
If there are some of you who would be interested in corresponding
individually via e-mail to exchange information and keep my aging bod in one
piece, you can reach me at the following address.
donald_beckerman@sala.icn.net
Of course, any of you out there who are interested in traveling Thailand,
Laos and Vietnam, you are invited to make our place part of your journey. We
are the
Isan Orchid Guest Lodge
87/9 Gaowarawud Road
Thabo 43110
Thailand (At The Gateway
To Indochina)
and would gladly supply you with any information you need about this area.
- sent via an evaluation copy of BulkRate (unregistered).
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