gary navarre on thu 11 aug 11
In the replies t=3D
Hey Folks, Guess this got lost or something ...=3D0A=3D0A=3D0A=3DA0In the r=
eplies t=3D
o my query about using mixed woods for kiln fuel someone =3D0Amentioned the=
w=3D
ay the kiln is loaded as another factor in getting the =3D0Athing hotter. I=
'v=3D
e always tried to load pots pretty closely to make a =3D0Afull load and did=
j=3D
ust that for my first firing when I got the front to =3D0Acone 13 or so and=
t=3D
he tail to ^4. With some new pieces to replace some =3D0Aof those broken in=
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he first fire I loaded the second only slightly =3D0Alooser. However, in th=
e =3D
third firing, after increasing the volume of the Bourry box and fixing the =
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mousehole, I loaded the shelves with a bit =3D0Amore space between the top =
of=3D
the pots and the underside of the shelf =3D0Aabove... =3D0A=3D0A=3D0Ahttp:=
//public=3D
.fotki.com/GindaUP/ca/kpap/upwdfk011-3/tail-setting-3-jpg.html ( firing 1 &=
=3D
2 had=3DA0 4 shelves ) =3D0A=3D0A=3D0A...and taller pieces along the back =
of a set=3D
ting and medium through the middle to smaller along the front edge. This, I=
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thought , would cause a sort =3D0Aof wave effect to the flame across the l=
oa=3D
d. I also made a bag wall of =3D0Asorts along the front bottom to push the =
fl=3D
ame up to the crown. During =3D0Athe beginning of firing I tried to keep th=
e =3D
active damper open somewhat =3D0Alonger than before and started with the ch=
im=3D
ney cap 3/4 open at about 2000F in front=3D0Ainstead. ( I just checked my n=
ot=3D
es and I see it stayed above 1900F for about 5 hours and the tail increased=
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some but after two days I think I was getting tired. Got distracted by vis=
=3D
itors too.)=3DA0 The secondary stoke hole grate bars made of a couple soaps=
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=3D0Aworked well and held the sticks up in the top of the load for a while =
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=3D0Abefore landing in coals on the floor. There was one point when Peter w=
as=3D
helping stoke the Bourry and I stuck some Tamarack in the door hole and no=
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ticed the rise in temperature in the mid-tail. That made me think more abou=
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t which wood =3D0Ahas more BTU's. It seems the heat still managed to escape=
t=3D
he chamber =3D0Awithout hanging around and do some work.=3D0A=3D0A=3D0A=3DA=
0As we now=3D
know all I managed to attain was about 2000F, not even ^04 in =3D0Athe tai=
l.=3D
I had put more space between and above the pieces thinking I =3D0Amight ha=
ve=3D
been making heat dams with to tight a load but now I think I =3D0Amight ha=
ve=3D
inadvertently removed some the heat sink of a closer packing. I need to re=
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think what to make and how to load more clay that will soak up the heat ins=
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tead of spaces for the flames to fly out of the stack.. =3D0A=3D0A=3D0A=3DA=
0This ki=3D
ln can put out a lot of ash...=3D0A=3D0Ahttp://public.fotki.com/GindaUP/ca/=
kpap=3D
/upwdfk011-3/ash-on-front-shelves-jpg.html=3D0A...and one annoying thing is=
i=3D
f I might have gotten a cup or inside of a bowl up =3D0Afront glazed smooth=
b=3D
ut needed to continue stoking to bring the rest of =3D0Athe chamber up to m=
el=3D
t, fresh ash will land inside and end up not =3D0Amelting enough so they ar=
e =3D
rough when cool. I noticed in some closed =3D0Aforms like those little bott=
le=3D
s glazes were nice and smooth and probably were smooth on the outside befor=
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e more ash hit. So what I'm thinking is I can make a sort of salable saggar=
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out of a larger unglazed planter =3D0Abowl with a glazed cup wadded up ins=
id=3D
e and a glazed salad bowl wadded =3D0Aupside down on the planter rim to rim=
o=3D
ver the cup. This way I could put more clay up front and through out the lo=
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ad so the heat will soak into =3D0Athe pots and stay with fewer shelves in =
th=3D
e way. I think this would make neat outsides of bowls with a minimum of ash=
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messing up function on the inside and help maintain temperature from radia=
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nt heating through =3D0Akeeping a more massive heat sink. Has anyone else g=
ot=3D
ten a more even firing with a denser more massive load or a smaller =3D0Abu=
nc=3D
h of pots with more spaces in between? It seems an open load would =3D0Areq=
ui=3D
re pretty much constant stoking just to keep up with heat loss up =3D0Athe =
st=3D
ack and I don't have any regular stokers who could give a hand =3D0Ayet. We=
'l=3D
l see what happens for the next firing because some guys around here seem a=
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little more interested. Thanks for sharing any experiences =3D0Ayou had an=
d =3D
stay in there eh.=3D0A=3DA0=3D0A=3D0AGary Navarre=3D0ANavarre Pottery=3D0AN=
avarre Enter=3D
prises=3D0ANorway, Michigan, USA=3D0Ahttp://www.NavarrePottery.etsy.com=3D0=
Ahttp:=3D
//www.youtube.com/GindaUP=3D0Ahttp://public.fotki.com/GindaUP/
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