Kelly Savino on tue 8 sep 09
Last weekend I helped Diana with her soda kiln at EMU... this weekend I was=
at mom and dad's lake property in the Irish Hills with my family, and buil=
t a good bit of my own soda kiln in a spot near the cottage.
I bought the bricks on ebay last summer for just over $100 (big thanks to N=
ancy Guido for the heads up on that listing!) It was a 30 cubic foot catena=
ry arch, new and used brick, never fired. The minimum bid was $99 and I was=
apparently the only bidder; the listing specified that the buyer had less =
than a week to completely remove the kiln (from a back yard in a gulley wit=
h a long flight of stairs to the road.) I built a quick kiln form to dissas=
semble it. My mom, hubby and kids helped me haul cinderblocks, firebrick an=
d IFB one box at a time up to a borrowed truck, and the whole works spent t=
he winter under a tarp at my parents' cottage. Frogs and mice made themselv=
es at home among the boxes of bricks.
So this summer I came up with some burners, in exchange for yard work and r=
epairs at Edith Franklin's place, and Labor Day weekend looked like the tim=
e to start. It was my grandma's 94th birthday and some cousins came to visi=
t. Yeah, I rushed the slab (it's full of rebar, anyway) but I went from a n=
ice clearing to a completed arch in one weekend. I'll take another weekend =
for front and back walls and plumbing the gas. It's an 18 cubic foot versio=
n of a cat, so I could make a three layer floor and avoid using some of the=
crappier bricks from the old kiln.
Here are some pix: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3D116837&id=3D1129=
456742&l=3Da25322a861
I look really exhausted in the final pic. I need to replace it when I am re=
sted up!
Some pix at my blog. I'm a happy but tired potter right now with big plans =
for the future.
Yours
Kelly in Ohio (sure that somebody out there is going to point out that I sh=
oulda this and shouldn't have that... I'm open to suggestions and willing t=
o start over if there are big problems, but it's my learning experience and=
I'm doing what I can with the materials/time/experience I've got...)
http://www.primalpotter.com (website)
http://primalmommy.wordpress.com (blog)
http://www.primalpotter.etsy.com (store)
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