mel jacobson on tue 8 dec 98
it was a pleasure to read dannon's post about firing during a storm.
it has reminded me of all the students and friends that have asked
advice about firing.........(and include about 100 nils stories)....
my constant advice is..........`if you have problems, stalls, weather
problems............always, always, DO SOMETHING............DO NOT
JUST SIT THERE`.
firing is a constantly changing activity.........therefore, you must be
able to change your strategy.
i have stated often on this venue, that many potters fire with too much
gas..........they should save some of that power for later, or when problems
occur.
when using a high pressure system, such as dannon's, i was convinced
that one could fire that kiln with one burner.......sort of like flying a big
jet plane with one engine............a bit slower, but you will get there.
and she did it.
it is the mark of a fire person, (and dannon is one) that you
understand that the kiln
is like a wild beast, you have to have a whip and a gun........a good
chair in front of you, and have respect, but not fear.
damper in, damper out, gas on high, gas on low, one burner, two burners..
whatever.........high pressure, low pressure.........but do something.
change, and keep track of what you are doing.....memorize what happens.
i just got back from firing a dear friends kiln..........a flat top
car........right
out of the book.........wonderful. perfect kiln......
it was taking 15 hours to fire......stalling. a great deal of hand wringing,
and sweat.
i fired the kiln in 5 hours to cone 6.
nothing to it.
i put a bag over the pressure gauge, turned on the gas, listened to the
sound, balanced the kiln, got the damper in the right place....he had not
turned out the needle valves on the burners...i turned them full open.
he was getting a great deal of pressure, no volume.
it fired like a rocket............we had the oxyprobe in.........set to lite
reduction, the temp read out just kept going up........85, 86, 87, 88.
we went for breakfast.........took our time.....ate eggs, bacon, hash browns.
about 10 cups of coffee...........i held him there, talking.....he was very
nervous.........but, when we got back......it was almost done.
he is very happy now.......loves his kiln.
the firing was perfect.........reds where red, not liver.........blues where
bright...........and we fired the kiln the entire way on two pounds of
pressure.
he was using 6.
he followed the book, what people had told him.........but it was not correct
for that kiln.
now he knows how to fire it.
cone 10 in a week or so.
he will be a great fire person soon.
smart guy.........just no experience with that kiln.
he will have, soon.
just like dannon, good friends, real people, doing their job as
potter.
complete potters.
mel/mn
clayart is a revival of the written word, that is why we like it so
much, it makes us write, the dead art is coming back.
just don't have a pen, that is all.....................oscar wilde would have
loved a computer.........and would have used it. hamada would have
loved itc 100 hd, and an oxyprobe...........would have used it to make
better pots, more efficiently.
http://www.pclink.com/melpots
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