Richard Gralnik on tue 12 jan 99
When last we heard from our hero he was about to take time off from
work to finish the kiln, to ready the dragon for fire and to be on the
verge of sitting at the wheel once again. Whither now the potter?
Close, so close Horatio. True the main work is now done. The door
bricked, the fiber blanket over the arch sealed under a layer of
greenpatch421, the new gas meter installed and plumbed to the kiln
gas line,the burner ports cut through the floor, the manifold assembled
and pressure tested awaiting connection to the gas line.
What remains? Major expenditures long delayed at last must be
realized. Alas, faced with unforeseen home and car repairs the money
set aside for shelves, posts, thermocouple and pyrometer, even the
lowly cones, is gone, gone I tell you.
We are left to ponder, chin resting on fist, the ultimate question of
life, the universe, and everything ---
To K or not to K, that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the kiln to
suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous margins for error or to
take R or S against a sea of intense heat and by measuring more
accurately, comprehend them. To measure heat, to measure oxygen,
no more, and by an oxygen probe to say we end the heartache and
the thousand natural questions the potter is heir to. 'Tis a
consummation devoutly to be wished. To measure heat, to measure
oxygen, to measure oxygen perchance to measure carbon dioxide.
Ay, there's the rub!
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