mel jacobson on tue 24 jul 12
there are many reasons that kurt and i designed
the small minnesota flat top kiln.
first and foremost, we had nils as a `best friend` and we had
his original book in kinko homemade foremat. we had his information
and ours, all blended together. it has always been a team effort.
and, we do not fight or bicker.
second, we had lots of brick, tools and a place at the farm
for several new kilns. so, we decided the best route
was to make a small, backyard design that we could
fire quickly and learn a great deal from. it was all about
looking, seeing and research. we would give that information
away. it was three mature teachers, looking for answers.
often the `normal advice` was wrong. how to do this, how to
do that was written in stone from some college program with folks
that could not find their butts with two hands. it became law.
and we said. `not so fast dorkos`.
we felt at the start that under 15 cubic feet was the way to go.
a kiln like this could be fired quickly, and we could make changes
fast, and if the pots were lost...who cares? we have always fired
the farm kilns with the theory that they can all go into the dump
if need be. nothing is precious. learning is the key, the number
one key, and the only key. DO IT THE WAY IT WORKS BEST.
and, we found many new ways of doing things.
for example..air craft cable and turnbuckles can be purchased at any hardwa=
re
store..wrapped around a kiln and tightend and no welded frame is necessary.
yes, welding is the best...of course. we all know that, but, if you do not=
weld
and need to tighten a kiln...use aircraft cable, clamps and a strong turnbu=
ckle.
you can add some pieces of a bed frame on the corners. it works. in fact
you can drill holes in the frame and add bolts to use as tighteners. it wor=
ks too.
no welding.
this small kiln can be built in one day with two people working.
start building at 7 a.m. fire at 4 pm. and have the pots out the next morn=
ing.
who wants to work that fast? no one, but, it is that easy.
it is beyond me how many ego centered folks think this is stupid and not
the right way. well, as we say, the family motto, screw you.
1930's kiln technolgy and advice is what is stupid. many cling to it.
modern industry left those ideas in the dust in 1950, and still change and =
upgrade
every few years.
we have fired these kiln fast, slow, very slow, reduce on the way up, reduc=
e on the
way down. reduce a great deal, no reduction at all. fire with gas and woo=
d, gas alone.
high pressure, low pressure. we try it all. we observe as a group, discus=
s what
works with the 35 pots in front of us. we fire shino, red, black, white ma=
ny different
glazes. in most cases they fire perfectly. i have fired to cone 13 in thi=
s kiln with
effort at all. under 6 hours.
we also have had feriz delkic as a great friend and adviser. he has given =
us
gobs of information on what is going on in industry. he is a valued asset.
and, he has given us lots of itc product to test and work with. we love it.
the book that our group has written is the total of what we have learned. w=
e added
great potters with open minds and used their writing to add credibility to =
the book.
we added their bylines. the way it should be done. park the ego at the doo=
r.
many think that confidence of ideas means ego...no, ego is never bending.
sort of `i have to be right`. we don't work that way. we use the advice a=
nd ideas
of anyone that wants to particiapate. no gender, no age, no color. just g=
reat ideas
and learning from them.
mel
from: minnetonka, mn
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
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