mel jacobson on thu 29 oct 09
just a side bar:
at hay creek we have a fabulous wood fired kiln.
the reason we have it is:
donovan palmquist ( master kiln builder, married to colleen riley
an almost daughter of mine. and long time hay creek member )
asked if he could use our land, our
farm to create an idea for a wood fired kiln that he
had tossed around for a few years.
he did not want to build the kiln `for sale` until he found
out if it actually works. it did, and does.
he worked these ideas out with jack troy. donovan and colleen
have been firing with jack. learning from jack.
we had brick, we had the land, the concrete pad
and about 15 professional potters to lend a hand.
would anyone say ...`hell no donovan, you can't build
that kiln on our land`.
again, we have been blessed with great potters, great
friends that know how to do things, and get jobs done.
we had to kick in some bucks, and one of the big
supply companies had about a hundred bags of castable
that was outdated...they gave it to us.
it worked just fine.
donovan directed the work, made his plan, we gathered
the wood, brought the pots for the maiden voyage and fired
it with our group. it has been a great success. we are learning
the steps to get great pots.
we fire it, because we have it.
tim frederich got so excited about the kiln he went to the
saw mill, got the wood and built the shelter. i purchased the
metal roof.
the small train kiln worked fine, but did not meet our needs.
tony was right...it was too small.
now kevin and zac are using the kiln professionally until their
new kiln can be built. a big help for them, as we do share things
between us all. as it should be.
we do not fire the kiln with propane...as i have said, we have
about 700 glns of propane and burners ready. zac likes to warm
the kiln with propane as he fires alone. it is a big job, and to
get it ready with gas, saves him gobs of pre/loading for hours
with wood. it is his system.
i do not put my pots in the wood kiln very often. it is for others
to use. it is not my aesthetic...and i don't make work to
have the `wood look`. i am a glazer. that is what i do.
perhaps one day i will look into wood firing in a professional way,
but, my age is against me....it is far too much work, and it needs
a young body, or a group of young bodies.
mel
from: minnetonka, mn
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
new book: http://www.21stcenturykilns.com
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