Mel Jacobson on thu 4 dec 97
had wonderful friends that we built a nice 35 cubic foot flat top for...
had nice nils burners, propane.....1,000 gallon tank.
she fired it...and it would not make temp...she called nils, many
times...thought the burners were bad, changed orifices several times.
lots of back pressure...changed burners. bad, lots of rancor, unhappy.
family fights over the kiln.....mad at nils....ick.
so i said to her, `load the kiln and let me fire it.`.....so i did.
as soon as i turned on the burners i said.....`wow, too much
pressure`...she said.. `no, 15 pounds`...i said...`no, this is about 50
pounds`....she said...`look at the gauge....15 pounds`.......i said` listen
to the damn thing...it is a rocket ship`.
so, i put tape over all the pressure gauges....could not see them...fired
the kiln with my ears and eyes....8 hours to cone 10...perfect firing.
the gauge at the burners was broken, worn out...was reading the wrong
pressure.....when i took the tape off the gauge it read 1 pound.
she was firing the kiln with a notebook full of instructions...it said 15
pounds, and damn it ......she fired with the gauge at 15 pounds...never
changed it. never once did she listen to the kiln....i believe that she
was firing the kiln with about a 15 inch flame from the spy holes. she is
a great potter, wonderful friend and still is. she is a good person...but
she was listening to notes, books, instructions...and never to her kiln.
i told her to burn her notes and use them as fuel....better purpose for
them. then just fire her kiln, learn all about it, become confident.
she has done that...and her kiln is a dream....makes great pots that
she starts. now she is a `fire woman`.
p.s. this is an extension of the vince mans post yesterday.
listen to him.
we even watched kurt wild throw all of his firing notes...about 50 pages
into the salt kiln last summer at the farm.....great firing too. he just
smiled.
mel/mn
http://www.pclink.com/melpots
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