mel jacobson on thu 23 aug 07
i like to think that one can use gas as
emergency fuel.
if the wood firing is going well, everything is
perfect... weather, timing, wind, joyful potters working in
harmony...go for wood.
but, when things go bad, like rain or storm,
or more important, when folks get exhausted.
turn on the gas. then you can take a nap/regroup
and go back to wood when things are calm.
the other big plus for gas is that it tends to
clear out the kiln. all that loaded wood that
is piled up gets burned. then you can start fresh
with wood.
some wood firing potters think that gas is `cheating`.
well, i think that is silly. heat is heat. and if you need
a boost along the way, use gas. hell, i use wood in
my gas kiln. i love doing that.
i like to think that any fuel kiln can be a multi fuel
kiln. burn whatever you can...keep the flame clean,
make sure things are well oxygenated, and away it goes.
hell with all the corn being used for gas, we should be able
to burn corn cobs in our kilns.
the converse is often a ruined firing.
30 hours of work, fighting, pain...and the firing
gets ruined. an hour of gas could have saved it.
what is that worth? 300 racer pots, or 300 pots
going into a landfill. but, then, how many of us
have heard...` i fire with wood, i fire with wood, wood, wood,
i fire with wood, i am amazing.`
the potters i most admire say.
`i fire with heat.`
from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
Clayart page link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
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