Taylor Hendrix on wed 15 oct 08
Hey Vince:
I'm wondering how the new soda kiln is doing there at school. I really
have no idea how "new" it is now as I've forgotten when it was you
replaced the old one. I was looking for Nil's flattop plans and ran
across your little write up with pics of the old kiln (your clayart
page).
I'm still looking for the online plans for the flattop (I've got a
copy at home) to see brick cost, but I'm interested in soda so I'm
curious how things are going with the newest kiln.
I'm hoping to get hooked up with some shelves soon and am making vague
and nebulous plans for my potting future.
--
Taylor, in Rockport TX
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Vince Pitelka on thu 16 oct 08
Taylor Hendrix wrote:
"I'm wondering how the new soda kiln is doing there at school. I really
have no idea how "new" it is now as I've forgotten when it was you
replaced the old one. I was looking for Nil's flattop plans and ran
across your little write up with pics of the old kiln (your clayart
page)."
Taylor -=20
Those are old photos of our previous kiln from when we were still trying =
to use IFB soda kilns, and I apologize for not putting up some =
more-recent photos. We use our soda kiln so heavily that we have =
switched to an all-hardbrick interior with an IFB exterior except where =
hardbrick come through both layers (header courses and the brick =
surrounding ports, flue, and door sill). The current kiln was built in =
2004 and has several hundred firings on it. If you are going to fire =
your soda kiln very frequently, then I recommend a hardbrick hotface =
painted with a cone 10 shino glaze (except for the floor, of course). =
If you are going to soda-fire once a month or so, then I recommend an =
IFB hotface except in the high-stress areas, with all the IFB sprayed =
with a thin, saturating coat of ITC-100. If you can hold out a little =
longer, Mel will publish his kiln/firing book, which includes complete =
plans for our soda kiln, including a construction narrative and =
comprehensive firing instructions. =20
Several years ago on Clayart there was a discussion about hardbrick =
versus IFB for a soda kiln hotface. Someone reported a well-known =
potter (I cannot remember who it was) who had gotten ten years out of =
her soda kiln. We did a little more investigation, and figured out that =
in those ten years the kiln had only been fired a little over 100 times. =
That's not very good longevity in my book, but as I said if you only =
fire your kiln once a month or so, then you might consider that =
excellent longevity. =20
One more consideration. If you soda-fire lightly like I do and most of =
my students do (about a pound and a half of soda per firing in a =
21-cubic-foot kiln), then you will get much greater longevity. If you =
want surfaces more like traditional salt-firing, then you will seriously =
shorten the kiln life. =20
Nils Lou's flat-top kiln was a revolutionary design when it came out in =
the 1970s, and remains an excellent and viable choice for oxidation and =
reduction studio kilns. Personally, I like sprung arches, and for a =
salt or soda kiln I would always recommended an arched kiln. In its =
first incarnation about ten years ago, our little soda kiln had an IFB =
flat-top, built and maintained as per Nils Lou's plans, sprayed with =
ITC-100. The flat top did not hold up well, and in relatively short =
order we replaced it with a sprung arch. A hardbrick flat-top might =
have shown far better longevity, but I get nervous about the idea of =
hanging that much hardbrick in a flat roof. Maybe there are others on =
this list using the flat-top design in salt or soda kilns. I'd love to =
hear from them.=20
I hope that in some way this contributes positively to the vague and =
nebulous plans for your potting future.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka@dtccom.net; wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka
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