Bill Hall on tue 9 nov 10
I have posted some pictures of a salt kiln rebuild we did at Cedar
Valley College in Lancaster, TX. This is the school where Randy Brodnax
was the head of ceramics until he retired a couple of years ago. The
instructor is Mark Epstein.
The kiln was made from soft brick, which as you know, deteriorates
pretty quickly with the salt, but it's easier to get up to temperature
than hard brick. What we did was to disassemble the whole thing,
salvaging most of the bricks, and then reassemble it inside out. That
is, bricks that were on the outside before were used on the inside, and
vice versa.
Here's the link to the pictures: http://billhall.net/SaltKiln
Bill Hall on tue 9 nov 10
I love the look of the outside of the kiln, too.
Well, as you know, schools sometimes have to make do with what they
have, so that affected some of the things that were done. Being able
build the arch from straights was totally due to the skills of Mark
Epstein, the instructor, (in the "do" rag) and Doug Joachim, the other
guy you see stuffing clay in the arch. Doug is also a pottery
instructor, and is a member of our class. Randy Brodnax set up a survey
class so that we can take it over and over each semester. It's almost
like a group studio with an instructor. My wife and I have been taking
the class for about 15 years now, and as a matter of fact, we met in
that class.
Yes, those large bricks in the first two courses are hard bricks. We
used those to simplify the construction of the two burner ports, which
are on the right wall, and the exit port, which is on the left, as you
can see.
The salt is put on a length of angle iron, and then it's inserted
through a port and then dumped.
Yes, we're in Texas. We do have temperatures in August of 100 or 105,
but I don't think that makes much difference in the firing time.
Soft brick does limit the life of the kiln. We only got about 20 firings
before we had to rebuild.
On 11/9/2010 8:48 PM, Paul Herman wrote:
> Hi Bill,
>
> I've always had a special place in my heart for people who are brave
> and confident enough to build an arch totally from straights, stuff
> clay in the outer gaps and damn the consequences. I love it!
>
> Looks like a good way to get a double lick in there on the soft brick,
> by turning them around and salting the other side for a while. And it
> gives a nice toasty color to the outside of the kiln now, I like that.
> One question that comes to mind is what are those large bricks you
> laid on the first couple of courses? They look like hard firebrick.
> How do you introduce the salt, by spraying or pitching?
>
> My gut feeling is that salt kilns should be built of hard firebrick,
> so as to last a long time. I know soft brick saves gas, but you are in
> Texas, right? How many firings did you do before rebuilding?
>
> Good salty firings,
>
> Paul Herman
>
> Great Basin Pottery
> Doyle, California US
> www.greatbasinpottery.com/
>
>
>
>
> On Nov 9, 2010, at 1:03 PM, Bill Hall wrote:
>
>> I have posted some pictures of a salt kiln rebuild we did at Cedar
>> Valley College in Lancaster, TX. This is the school where Randy Brodnax
>> was the head of ceramics until he retired a couple of years ago. The
>> instructor is Mark Epstein.
>>
>> The kiln was made from soft brick, which as you know, deteriorates
>> pretty quickly with the salt, but it's easier to get up to temperature
>> than hard brick. What we did was to disassemble the whole thing,
>> salvaging most of the bricks, and then reassemble it inside out. That
>> is, bricks that were on the outside before were used on the inside, and
>> vice versa.
>>
>> Here's the link to the pictures: http://billhall.net/SaltKiln
>
>
Paul Herman on tue 9 nov 10
Hi Bill,
I've always had a special place in my heart for people who are brave
and confident enough to build an arch totally from straights, stuff
clay in the outer gaps and damn the consequences. I love it!
Looks like a good way to get a double lick in there on the soft brick,
by turning them around and salting the other side for a while. And it
gives a nice toasty color to the outside of the kiln now, I like that.
One question that comes to mind is what are those large bricks you
laid on the first couple of courses? They look like hard firebrick.
How do you introduce the salt, by spraying or pitching?
My gut feeling is that salt kilns should be built of hard firebrick,
so as to last a long time. I know soft brick saves gas, but you are in
Texas, right? How many firings did you do before rebuilding?
Good salty firings,
Paul Herman
Great Basin Pottery
Doyle, California US
www.greatbasinpottery.com/
On Nov 9, 2010, at 1:03 PM, Bill Hall wrote:
> I have posted some pictures of a salt kiln rebuild we did at Cedar
> Valley College in Lancaster, TX. This is the school where Randy
> Brodnax
> was the head of ceramics until he retired a couple of years ago. The
> instructor is Mark Epstein.
>
> The kiln was made from soft brick, which as you know, deteriorates
> pretty quickly with the salt, but it's easier to get up to temperature
> than hard brick. What we did was to disassemble the whole thing,
> salvaging most of the bricks, and then reassemble it inside out. That
> is, bricks that were on the outside before were used on the inside,
> and
> vice versa.
>
> Here's the link to the pictures: http://billhall.net/SaltKiln
David Hendley on wed 10 nov 10
I also took down my IFB woodfired kiln and rebuilt it inside out.
I "re-purposed" any broken bricks and was left with about
half of the exterior bricks with that great coating of 8 years worth
of flame and ashes.
The original kiln lasted from 1990 to 1998. The rebuild, modified
to incorporate improvements learned from the first incarnation,
is still in service. There is some wear, but we are going on 12
years. Both kilns were coated with ITC before being fired.
Rebuilding like this is a good use of bricks!
David Hendley
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
http://www.thewahooligans.com
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