mel jacobson on wed 5 jan 11
i agree with lee, you are a sage...with gobs of experience.
and, make damn fine pots from your kiln.
like so many things, a stall in a wood kiln can
happen. we feel at our kiln we have to sort of open
it up, let air in..get rid of ash, and kick it again.
small wood has always been our key. dry, small wood,
and almost constant stoking....`no smoke, stoke`.
three sticks at a time...quick, keep it moving.
that is when you need at least two people.
one to open the door, one to throw sticks.
it just jumps up. of course we have a couple of folks
sitting on a long bench giving advice, watching the pyrometer
and smoke. we try to ignore them...and, i have a mantra.
`mel and kurt, shut your combined mouths`.
as a sidebar, cindy hosskison from oregon has been to our
\farm and has been very good about sharing her knowledge
of wood firing. she has fired nils' big wood kiln about 300 times.
she is a real expert. and, she has been the one to insist on
a clear kiln, air moving and small sticks quickly stoked. she feels
that big wood, over stoked will always slow the kiln down.
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
alternate: melpots7575@gmail.com
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