mel jacobson on wed 30 nov 11
we side stoke ours.
we have a small port on both sides of the
kiln in the back center. almost to the chimney.
we use long sticks that we get from a bowling
trophy company. they are like 10 feet long, and
kiln dried hardwoods like cherry and walnut.
they cut the rough edges from the boards and
leave this 1 inch by 1 inch stick.
they sort of save this wood for us. it is bundled
often, or just a huge pile. we fill like three trailer
loads. we drop off pots from time to time for the owner.
we made a jig from a large square beam log. have upright metal
re/rod spacers.
we will fill that log with sticks or slabs and cut at
the spacers with a chain saw. (often my job, you know
the old guy with the saw.) and the chain never touches the
ground...just the old log base.
the slabs we cut at two feet...the sticks are like
30 inches.
near the end of the firing a person goes from side
to side and stokes those sticks...one at a time, every
two minutes or so.
without doubt, it is the key to the firing and getting
that cone 12 to melt in the back.
we have three sources of wood. the trophy factory, butch
at the saw mill and his slabs, and 40 acres of woods that
has hundreds of fallen trees each winter. we have a john deere
all hydraulic tractor/four wheel drive that we can use to snake larger
dead trees out of the woods. wood firing is not for the faint of heart.
(and it helps to have shared expenses..no one carries the total burden.)
or, as we say at the farm...`who in the hell is going to pay for that now, =
hey?`
get mel or kurt, now it is just mel.)
zak cuts them up and he has purchased a high speed
electric log splitter. (delivered this coming spring.)
that will make quick work of the logs. when we get the
gang together we make quick work of splitting and stacking
the wood. we tarp most of it for winter.
zak is making the commitment to buy quality tools every time
he has a pottery sale. he sets aside money for tools...the best tools
he can buy. (i talked him out of buying a big venco/de-air pug mill
and told him his walker will carry him for years to come...the splitting
of wood with an ax will destroy him at some point...so...the wood splitter
will keep him young. zak worked with mark hewitt in north carolina
for three years. he is well trained...and a great young man.
tony c gave us great advice years back. `don't make a small wood
fired kiln, make it worth your time. wood firing is hard work, and you
will do just as much work with the small kiln as a big kiln....and you
will get more great work from the big one.` we took his advice and
have run with it.
our wood kiln is for others. i have limited interest in wood firing. at
my age...it is a non-factor. wood firing is for the young and strong
and committed. and truly, it should be a group effort with great
friends ready to make things happen in the right way. no drinking,
boozing, howling around. it is serious work.
we too have learned a great deal from cindy hoskinson from oregon.
she has been with us at the farm and did some quality teaching
about timing. (she has been kiln captain about 300 times at
the `east creek kiln` of nils lou.) that on the job site supervision
of wood firing is essential. and, if you don't listen you are a fool.
we don't abide fools. and vince sure is correct....`you can have
the best kiln in the world, and if fools screw with it...it will not work.`
we will build a new salt kiln this spring. and with kurt's studio coming
to the farm, we will have his kiln to re/build. his daughter who is
a professional medical illustrator at the mayo clinic will start to
work all of his bisque ware into finished pots in his style. it will
be her new lifetime hobby. her drawings, on pots that we make for
her, in kurt's unique style. legacy, what a concept.
my daughter has been taken up with clay this past two years.
we have an old electric kiln set up for her in the barn. she is
50 this month and has finally gotten into clay. she does slab work
and simple birds and animals from clay. she loves it.
she has her own house at the farm, and uses the barn as her
three season work shop. makes her dad smile. over half of my
firing last month was her pieces. about 60. she will spread
them out as gifts. she presses a huge rhubarb leaf into a big slab
of clay through the roller. dries it over a plaster form and whoooza,
a serving platter.
so, life is good when you are having fun.
mel
from: minnetonka, mn
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
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