KarateHiro on sat 14 mar 98
I just finished reading a marvelous post by Gavin Stairs entitled Insulation
(LONG) (was Re; Fiber Compression. Posted 3/13/98 to Clayart
(stairs@stairs.on.ca).
My insulated common sense tells me that this "a litttle elementary talk" is a
gem.
Yes. To me it is a definitive answer to most questions which potters may have
on the subject of insulation. Highly recommended for careful study. Just
wonderful. We should thank him for his generosity to share the knowledge with
us. We are getting all this for free. What a deal!
Just one nagging question on it. I would not mind doing experiments on ITC as
he suggests. But it looks like such small gains for all the fuss. Besides we
are not scientists. Why should we do any research on such nebulous subjects?
Fluid dynamics is a difficult area in physics (physics by its nature can be
less precise than chemistry for measurement) as I have been told. Air is but a
gaseous fluid, and behaves in like manners, isn't it? But the air is the most
readily available, easy insulator around. Anyway, it sounds like a complicated
affair. If the promulgators or the sellers of the ITC are potters, it is easy
to see our altruistic motives and contributions. What we do shall come back to
us, eventually, as things get reciprocated for all to see.
I also noted an equally precious Clayart post on Re: Kiln Manufacturers by
David Hendley (hendley@ns.sosis.com) on 13/3/98. My experiences heartily
endorse all of the comments made there. Believe me, I have observed all those
manufacturers' nonsenses, probably ten times more. On an international scale.
You see I had the money to burn, or spend foolishly. The truth is that I was
gullible. Easily duped and cheated.
Despite the subject line that reads Re: Kiln Manufacturers, it is the electric
kilns that he talks about. I would have done the same insulation cover-ups
even without this post, although I did not exactly know why. I would have put
down a few hundred dollars a la Hendley for the energy savings and avoid
mental agonies, before plunking down the chips on ITC, and turn the roulette
table, if I am serious about the fuel savings and easy way to get the results
I seek. That's my "insulated" common sense. No questions asked. As simple as
that.
Both gentlemen talk in humble tones. I would have been a little more blunt,
but you have to read between the lines to get the true message. Real gems, I
say.
I have nothing personal for or against individuals associated with the subject
of this post, ITC, that I have come across since I signed on this list on and
off for more than a year now. I do not doubt the good intentions. But the road
to hell (or purgatory was it?) are paved with all those seriously good
intentions. Here, still down to earth (not even close to heaven) I try to sort
things out in my own way. Some may like it hot. Others not, pretty cool or
cold. We as potters tend to like things hot. Hotter the better. So I just
follow the trend. Sort of mundane, but sane.
Now, wait a minute, I am not finished yet. I am on to the next post of mine
entitled ITC and Common Sense (Potters') in a day or two. Then off I go onto
other things. Today I quote a couple of small things with which I have had
some experience before closing off.
More than thirty years ago, I believe, a German firm developed a special
cement mixing process. Basically it entrained tiny air bubbles into finished
concrete. This increased the insulating characteristics without sacrificing
the strength (actually increased it, really, hard to believe, itn's it?). The
process demanded far less cement to generate the same amount of finished
concrete, to boot, naturally, hence tremendous cost savings all around for the
building trade.
Well, no one managed to adopt it in North America, apparently, then. Why? It
would have ruined the existing or established businesses long accustomed to
the wasteful, but politically correct method. Things were made worse when
local entrepreneurs wanted to get a large cut, or a chunk, of the process by
mixing up the scene. The supposed benefits became less and less, as more
players got into the picture, while the resistance stayed forcefully adamant.
The construction industry is conservative, would keep the profits to be
garnered at all costs, and protects what due where it's due, so the project
floundered.
Bricks are not concrete. But the above analogy holds more or less when we talk
about better products and insulating values. We are small flies. Not
industrial users who worry about penny savings in fuel. The volume they deal
with leaves them without much alternatives to explore. In contrast, we are
ingenious, find alternatives in most anything we do. We are flexible, but we
could be insulated suckers, as I have implied. I honestly don't have a black
and white answer on ITC.
Speaking on alternatives for potters, the following personal eperiences may
help some aspiring kiln builders and others to follow.
The more air any material contains, more fragile it gets, as a general rule.
The insulating fire brick (IFB) is soft enough to be cut by a handsaw (not
recommended to DIYers unless qualified). It takes a special, mechanized saw to
cut hard bricks. Mind you there are so many varieties of them that what I say
is just an approximation. The pliable ceramic fiber can be plucked like a duck
feather (probably not like goose feather). Some hard bricks are so cheap that
it could crumble just as easy. They could be cut by a hacksaw. Hey, even
regular soft angle irons could be cut by the hacksaw just as easy. You did not
know that, did you? I did not either, till I saw someone do it, and tried it
myself. No welding nonsense, then.
In this connection I took a five week course from one of the top instructors
in one of the few top welding schools in North America, so I should have known
better. The matter was as serious as the Wheel of Fortune. Ha! I was lucky,
too. But again, the learning experience was not needed if I wanted to build a
buttressing structure for kilns. The angle irons could be simply put together
by nuts and bolts. In some situations they are superior to the welded
construction, since they can give, as bricks expands and contracts. For that
matter, brick kilns are better constructed without any reinforcing, since they
look more elegant, last longer, and simply takes less work. Ah, but that is
life. We want to complicate things, don't we?
The next post should be entitled ITC and Common Sense (Potters'). To follow in
a day or two.
Best regards. :-)
Hiro Matsusaki
| |
|
