Helllll on fri 28 nov 97
Hello ClayArt
Well, a prof'l potter friend of mine knew someone who had an old electric kiln
that they were wanting to get rid of for free....so i went & picked the beast
up....it was a square, top-loading "Dickson" kiln....w/built-on legs &
casters...i cut a hole in the side wall at the floor & a 4'' hole in the
top.....put in a kiln shelf on some bricks above the burner.....i made the
burner out of black pipe fittings based on the design in "Piepenburg" book... i
got a 50 gal. propane tank from my grandfather.....i then took a regulator &
hose from an old barbeque...i mixed up some test glazes using Soldner's 80%
Ghastly Borate 20% Nepheline Syenite with various oxides...
so, i fired the thing up.....i thought the flame was a little small but i'm
green and who am i to complain.....after 4 hrs of waiting, we decided to shut
it down... i couln't tell if the glazes looked wet - they just looked red hot
to me..... but i was gonna try anyways 'cause it was getting late...so my wife
got poised & ready...i lifted the lid (with a special tool i made) and grabbed
a pot (with homemade tongs) and threw it in the trash can with the rusted out
bottom and bent lid.....(all the pro's out there are laughing there behinds off
now!)....(did i mention that we live in a residential neighborhood on the
corner of a busy street & highway?)..... the smoke started billowing out & the
neighbors started coming to see if our house was on fire............
at this point i knew i had lost....i hosed everything down before the fire dept
was called & went to bed beaten & bruised......the next day i went to visit an
uncle who knows about gas and things of that nature... he said the regulator
off the barbeque wouldn't give enough volume.... i showed him my burner and in
his rough voice said "hell, if that's all it takes, i got a burner you can
have"....it turned out to be a roofing torch which is very similar to the weed
burners i've read about....it has an adjustable regulator, pilot, & burner - on
a two foot rod - & a four foot hose.....i tried it and i do believe i can fly
the space shuttle with the thing!....i then turned it down a bit & re-fired the
kiln...40 minutes later everything in the kiln was glowing & the glazes looked
wet...(now i understand!)...this time we used a brand new trash can with a wet
sheet of newspaper as a gasket...(on the advice of a friend) and - BANG - there
was just a little smoke and we had post-fire, reduced pots.....of various
colors & coppers & such.....the only thing is none of them crackled at
all...but they went straight from the fire to the can....just thought i would
share..
creating, exploring, making, experiencing
Hank in OKC Oklahellma
Helllll@aol.com
Emily Muench on sun 30 nov 97
For good crackles, swing the pots around a moment before placing in the
reduction trashcan. Good luck......raku is wonderful!!!!!!
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