Rice on thu 3 apr 97
Greetings:
It has been about two weeks since posting the results of my first fast
firing. I am now in a daily firing cycle and having Great results. The
firings are very predictable - approx. 2 hours - a friend -Alan Pace- gave
me some direction regarding reduction times. The kiln is only about 6-8
cubic feet but I will have 8 boards of wares fired in three days.
Last night was the first pm firing I've done with this little kiln. What a
buzz! I had orange flame shooting out of the exhaust ports for about 40
minutes and then when I opened up the air intake venturi the flame turned
to a luminescent glowing lime green. After firing to about 2250f and Mr. 6
was down I turned everything off and packed up the ports with thick chunks
of fiber. The kiln cools very slowly - much slower than my electric kiln at
that temp. I have the kiln on little rail-like tracks. After about an hour
of cooling - down to about 1800f - I push the kiln into an aluminum shed.
The next morning the temp is about 300-400f.
This morning I opened the kiln and found a temaku (sorry don't know the
spelling), and copper red to die for - as well as a blue celadon reduced
from black iron. There is some variation between shelves -about 1/2 a cone-
but overall the firing is in the 7 to 8 range. (The 6 cone is up high by
the exhaust burner).
I am working on getting a web site so I can post some pictures. What is
interesting about this procedure is the time factor. Not only is it
convenient and inexpensive it's a method of pottery that could open up gas
reduction firing for anyone - anywhere. Since a raku-like torch can be used
the potter must attend to the firing at all times - but so what - it's over
in 2 hours! And since the firing has to be modified a few times you would
want to be there anyway. I expect this cycle will require about 2- 3 beers
- similar to an afternoon of raku.
If anyone is interested don't hesitate to e-me. Last time I posted to this
list I was a bit burnt out and consequently didn't respond to most of the
mail. What I learned from many of you was that this is not new by any
means, and that testing should be done in order to ensure the wares are
durable and safe. I have completed several shock tests and fired everything
from a coffee mug to a 10 inch slab tray. Nothing has exploded or even
cracked. So everything is looking good.
Tomorrow I have a little show of raku and these new reduction - functional
wares - at a gallery near my studio.
Good Night
Fraser Forsythe
PS ...I have been working on a glaze program for about 2 years and it is
now getting tested. The program uses a lot of graphical information and has
a built in database similar to MS Access. I think the program is very cool
because it is VERY intuitive. Almost no numbers and almost all mouse
oriented. It calculates all the usual stuff like expansion, ratio, surface
tension, viscosity, but also uses limit tables to approx. the closest
melting range. Every adjustment during each session is tracked so that you
can go back any number of adjustments and see what you did. The program
also has a current project folder which allows the user to "bring in" a
bunch of recipes from the database and work on them together. Materials are
listed on the main screen in a scrollable list and by right clicking a
material you can see a 3-d colour coded graph of the oxides that make up
the material. etc etc.
I am very happy with the program and will probably make it available for
free download provided it is used as a beta. ie. no guarantees. I am
getting the testing and installation bugs out as fast as I can. This
program is fairly large and will only run in Windows95. If you are
interested in trying it please let me know . I am esp. interested in
getting responses.
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