mel jacobson on tue 7 oct 08
there is no reason ever...ever to have smoke or
flame coming from a gas kiln.
wood fired, yes.
you can control reduction with your damper.
i have not used an oxyprobe for three years.
just don't need it.
to fire the cleanest, at most efficient for fuel use...
keep your flue open in the kiln...do not block it with
pots or kiln shelves. let it do its job.
when you reduce, just push your damper in slowly until
you get about two inches of back pressure from your middle
peep hole. keep your burners blue and equal...you can either
increase the pressure a bit, or leave it. use your damper.
do not fire with a dirty flame...it is not necessary. that old
saw about dirty flame is a 50's bs idea.
that back pressure flame can be measured with a piece of metal.
(like an old screw driver. mark on the metal the length of the flame.
write it down. it may take 5 or 6 firings to establish the exact
back pressure flame length...once you understand it...you will
be able to repeat firings...most always. black smoke and carbon
just tells us you are wasting gobs of fuel. it is gas and heat that
is seeking oxygen. or, firing on the outside of your kiln.
(of course you can use small sticks of wood at the end of the
firing to get a good solid final reduction. close the kiln, add sticks.
of course you will have atmospheric change.
wind, weather to consider. but, that becomes
understandable too. or, as we say...fire your kiln about
a thousand times, and you will get to know it like a human
partner.
old temmoku glaze is wonderful on flowers. turn those pinks to blue.
where did all those chemicals come from...? the ground.
put them back...dig a hole...bury it. if you are using chemicals that
cannot buried, you should be knowledgeable enough to dispose of them.
(if you are using things you do not understand, you are stupid.)
remember, you are not a commercial paint company dumping in a
river...at best, you cannot be using more than 5 lbs of cobalt in
twenty years. do the math...most of it is on pots.
i have used 5 lbs of cobalt oxide in 50 years. just ran out...bought
that five pounds in 1959.
if you dumped all your old glaze on your lawn...it would take
about 80 years for it to get into your well.
remember, the huge spring at bath, england was rain during the roman
empire.
know what is in your glaze, then you know what you can
just give back to nature.
mel
from minnetonka:
website http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart site:
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
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