ken sadler on tue 19 jan 99
I had the priviledge to be in Japan recently and although it was not a
pottery centered visit, I did get to see a lot of wonderful work and best
of all see it being used daily in homes and at tea ceremonies. Fine craft
is truly appreciated. I have had very little experience with wood kilns(
two weeks at Penland) but really like the process and the result.
Query-- do you have experience with and/or plans or information about a
truly small(20 to 30 cubic feet) wood fired kiln. I am also concerned about
emmissions and regulations, I have a studio in an industrial section of
Easton, MD but I live in the county without close neighbors which is where
I would probably build the kiln. Thanks in advance for your replies. Ken
Sadler
Ken Sadler ksadler@shore.intercom.net
phone 410.820.7460
fax 410.820.8120
Lee Love on thu 21 jan 99
>Query-- do you have experience with and/or plans or information about a
>truly small(20 to 30 cubic feet) wood fired kiln. I am also concerned
about
>emmissions and regulations, I have a studio in an industrial section of
>Easton, MD but I live in the county without close neighbors which is
Ken, Check out Jack Troy's book on _Wood-firedStoneware and Porcelain_.
Peg Udall has a design in the book for a small cantenary arch wood-fired
kiln that she fires in the backyard of her suburban home. Is Peg out
there? Anybody have her email address? She once told me she has
updated plans for this design.
Lee
See ice sculpture of the Titanic:
http://homepages.infoseek.com/~akitajin/titantic.html
/(o\' Lee In Saint Paul, Minnesota USA 0
\o)/' mailto:Ikiru@Kami.com ICQ# 20586182
' http://www.millcomm.com/~leelove/taiko.html
June Perry on thu 21 jan 99
Dear Ken:
With neighbors and county to worry about you might want to consider a bourry
box design. These fire cleaner than many other wood kilns because of the
almost total combustion you get with this particular design. I had one of
these kilns and fired it on a suburban lot without any problems. It's also a
little easier on the back since you only load one log per bourry box about
every fifteen minutes. You can use logs up to about 6 or 7" thick; but you do
need to have wood for the hobs that is within about a half inch of the length
of the hobs, for greatest efficiency.
There are plans for a single bourry box, cross draft kiln in a little booklet
by Steve Harris or Harrison. I got mine through either Pottery in Australia
(they have a bunch of booklets for sale) or New Zealand Potter. Pottery in
Australia has a web site. You may want to check it out. The booklet was only a
couple of dollars and gives a lot of information on firing this type of kiln
as well as a good plan. I think the plan he has at the back of the booklet is
for a kiln in the size range you want.
I just moved and everything studio related is still in boxes, otherwise I'd be
able to be a bit more sure of his name. I did send this information to several
clayarters so maybe one of them can post the information.
Good luck
June
Donn Buchfinck on thu 21 jan 99
The problem you are going to run into is what kind of woodfired work do you
want to make.
with a small kiln you can fire quickly but that leaves out the wonderful
effect that come with a wood firing that lasts over 24 hours.
you can salt the kiln or you can use soda
but you will burn quite a bit of wood firing either a small kiln or a large
one
so the effort that goes into firing a wood kiln is a lot, so people like to
make the kiln larger so they can get more stuff out at a time.
also if you build the kiln too small it will have a hard time getting to
temperature.
the wood fired flame is the longest of the kilns and the tip is where the heat
is, so when you are firing a wood kiln and the flame tip is coming out of the
kiln stack, it looks great but that is where you fuel is going.
there are some great kilns out there in the world, ruggles and rankin have
their kiln down to a science and a potter named Mackenzie Smith builds a great
kiln
both are catenary types.
you cat build a great kiln, just remember to get as much information as you
can and then make your decitions without a lot of input from other potters,
choose one person to help you. It can be a too many cooks spoil the soup
endeavor.
good luck
if you want me to help you write me off list
Donn Buchfinck
David Hendley on fri 22 jan 99
I think you can't beat Fred Olsen's Fast Fire kiln.
It's just the size you are looking for.
The plans are in his book, "Kilns".
His plans also show the kilns walls as 4 1/2" thick,
but I would recommend that they be 9" thick.
In the book, he talks about 2 hour firings, but you
can slow it down as much as you like, if you want
more wood-firing effects.
Since the pots act as the bag wall, any pots put right
next to the flame entrances will get lots of flashing,
while pots right in the middle of the stack won't
show many wood-fire effects.
These kilns are very economical as far as wood consumed.
Several wheelbarrows-full will do a cone 10 firing.
All wood-fired kilns will produce some smoke and are not
suitable in a city where you have neighbors.
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
hendley@tyler.net
http://www.farmpots.com
At 05:14 PM 1/19/99 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I had the priviledge to be in Japan recently and although it was not a
>pottery centered visit, I did get to see a lot of wonderful work and best
>of all see it being used daily in homes and at tea ceremonies. Fine craft
>is truly appreciated. I have had very little experience with wood kilns(
>two weeks at Penland) but really like the process and the result.
>
>Query-- do you have experience with and/or plans or information about a
>truly small(20 to 30 cubic feet) wood fired kiln. I am also concerned about
>emmissions and regulations, I have a studio in an industrial section of
>Easton, MD but I live in the county without close neighbors which is where
>I would probably build the kiln. Thanks in advance for your replies. Ken
>Sadler
4>
>Ken Sadler ksadler@shore.intercom.net
>phone 410.820.7460
>fax 410.820.8120
>
Elizabeth Priddy on mon 11 apr 05
The roof design requires welding and I want it to be lower
tech as well. The idea of simply shrinking it may not work well considering
the flue dimensions and port size. mel or nils might be kind enough to
offer their opinion of your mods. Would the firebox and flue remain the same
if the dimensions shrink? It seems intuitive to just shrink it all, but my reading indicates
that this would not work.
My dream is one that would be even smaller than you describe and no
welding, perhaps some kind of arch or even a kiln shelf spanning the top and
brick on top of that. I have seen some plans that indicate that the smaller and larger
kilns actually require the same size firebox. It makes sense, but I am interested
in incorporating a propane burner for initial heating and then a shift to wood towards the
end. So perhaps the huge firebox could be avoided.
I think fiberfax might be a good way to decrease the need for thick brick walls while
retaining insulative strength. The propane preheat with basic raku size burners might
decrease the initial labor as I understand that the initial heating provides no significant ash.
If the flat top could use a gravity bolt instead of welding....
So....smaller, fiber is an ok material, raku size pre burner(s), shelf span size roof, no arch,
regular brick if possible(because of fiber), no special welding machinery needed, low tech but with modern materials...I think I am talking about a real hybrid one potter size kiln.
My experience with wood fire is with a really really large anagama. All the local folk here near the beach who use fuel rather than electric are gas people (understandable, since trees are not
usually considered expendable and hurricane waste is usually so mixed with other very badly contaminated debris that it is not of much use) so I don't have much access to smaller wood kilns to research first hand.
Thanks for your suggestions, with the resource of clayart thinking about this problem to solve, I think something very exciting is going to come of it.
Maybe a personal intimate size wood kiln is not so crazy after all.
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com/2003tiles.html
At the bottom of this page is a pot that I really like but have no love for.
It is too big to cuddle. It is large and impressive, but the smaller composite forms that I
made aout 10 inches high really lit my imagination. A two by two by two kiln chamber could
hold two dozen of the kinds of pots that excite me. They were virtually lost in the anagama,
and I would like to fire without the need of two dozen potters.
I am enjoying working independently, but I know enough to know when I am outside my pay grade and figuring this project out alone qualifies.
Thanks for the help to anyone with more ideas. I am a strong advocate of going ahead and
trying it instead of tawling for info forever, but I also see re-inventing the wheel as a true waste of time. And anyone who has ever managed the daily care and maintenance of a baby can understand the weird increments of time I have these days. No time for welding class for instance...want to get the kiln in and ready for fun by the time he is old enought o gather kindling and make test pots. One year to plan and build...seems like a long time, but I know how the time will fly.
URL Krueger wrote:
On Monday 11 April 2005 05:39 am, Elizabeth Priddy wrote:
> I have read the flat top design specs and it is really
> much too big.
Elizabeth,
I still classify myself as being in the puttering hobby
category so I think the kiln, as presented in the PMI
plans, is a little too big for me; both in space and $$$.
My thought is to remove one row of bricks from around the
outside of the base and three rows from the height. This
would reduce the inside dimensions to 27 X 27 X 27. That's
just about right for me.
Another option I have considered is to take two rows off
from around the outside of the base and build the walls
only one brick thick. This would result in the same inside
dimensions but would require quite a few less brick.
So, what would happen if instead of using gas burners you
built wood burning fireboxes at the inlet ports? What
other modifications would you need to make?
--
Earl K...
Bothell WA, USA
Elizabeth Priddy
252-504-2622
1273 Hwy 101
Beaufort, NC 28516
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Make Yahoo! your home page
Les on mon 11 apr 05
Elizabeth -
Look for a copy of CM June/July/August 1996. Graham Sheehan came from
Gabriola Island to my place in Lantzville on Vancouver Island and built this
kiln for me. It is absolutely fabulous, a breeze to fire and will reach ^10
down in 12 - 14 hours. It uses about 13 - 12 cord of cedar off-cuts during
the firing.
We usually load about 8:00am, pre-heat with a propne burner, go for
breakfast, come back and the kiln is plenty warm to light the fire. From
there on it is clear sailing. It is very efficient! It probably would be
OK on 57th Ave in N.Y. 10101 as no one would see a lot of smoke. (maybe not
quite that efficient).
Let me know if you cant find the article and I will ttry to scan it and send
it off. I think you will find the article worth reading.
Les Crimp on VAncouver Island.
lcrimp@shaw.ca
----- Original Message -----
From: "Elizabeth Priddy"
To:
Sent: Monday, April 11, 2005 9:19 AM
Subject: small wood kiln
> The roof design requires welding and I want it to be lower
> tech as well. The idea of simply shrinking it may not work well
> considering
> the flue dimensions and port size. mel or nils might be kind enough to
> offer their opinion of your mods. Would the firebox and flue remain the
> same
> if the dimensions shrink? It seems intuitive to just shrink it all, but
> my reading indicates
> that this would not work.
>
> My dream is one that would be even smaller than you describe and no
> welding, perhaps some kind of arch or even a kiln shelf spanning the top
> and
> brick on top of that. I have seen some plans that indicate that the
> smaller and larger
> kilns actually require the same size firebox. It makes sense, but I am
> interested
> in incorporating a propane burner for initial heating and then a shift to
> wood towards the
> end. So perhaps the huge firebox could be avoided.
>
> I think fiberfax might be a good way to decrease the need for thick brick
> walls while
> retaining insulative strength. The propane preheat with basic raku size
> burners might
> decrease the initial labor as I understand that the initial heating
> provides no significant ash.
>
> If the flat top could use a gravity bolt instead of welding....
>
> So....smaller, fiber is an ok material, raku size pre burner(s), shelf
> span size roof, no arch,
> regular brick if possible(because of fiber), no special welding machinery
> needed, low tech but with modern materials...I think I am talking about a
> real hybrid one potter size kiln.
>
> My experience with wood fire is with a really really large anagama. All
> the local folk here near the beach who use fuel rather than electric are
> gas people (understandable, since trees are not
> usually considered expendable and hurricane waste is usually so mixed with
> other very badly contaminated debris that it is not of much use) so I
> don't have much access to smaller wood kilns to research first hand.
>
> Thanks for your suggestions, with the resource of clayart thinking about
> this problem to solve, I think something very exciting is going to come of
> it.
>
> Maybe a personal intimate size wood kiln is not so crazy after all.
>
> http://www.elizabethpriddy.com/2003tiles.html
>
> At the bottom of this page is a pot that I really like but have no love
> for.
> It is too big to cuddle. It is large and impressive, but the smaller
> composite forms that I
> made aout 10 inches high really lit my imagination. A two by two by two
> kiln chamber could
> hold two dozen of the kinds of pots that excite me. They were virtually
> lost in the anagama,
> and I would like to fire without the need of two dozen potters.
>
> I am enjoying working independently, but I know enough to know when I am
> outside my pay grade and figuring this project out alone qualifies.
>
> Thanks for the help to anyone with more ideas. I am a strong advocate of
> going ahead and
> trying it instead of tawling for info forever, but I also see re-inventing
> the wheel as a true waste of time. And anyone who has ever managed the
> daily care and maintenance of a baby can understand the weird increments
> of time I have these days. No time for welding class for instance...want
> to get the kiln in and ready for fun by the time he is old enought o
> gather kindling and make test pots. One year to plan and build...seems
> like a long time, but I know how the time will fly.
>
>
> URL Krueger wrote:
> On Monday 11 April 2005 05:39 am, Elizabeth Priddy wrote:
>> I have read the flat top design specs and it is really
>> much too big.
>
> Elizabeth,
>
> I still classify myself as being in the puttering hobby
> category so I think the kiln, as presented in the PMI
> plans, is a little too big for me; both in space and $$$.
> My thought is to remove one row of bricks from around the
> outside of the base and three rows from the height. This
> would reduce the inside dimensions to 27 X 27 X 27. That's
> just about right for me.
>
> Another option I have considered is to take two rows off
> from around the outside of the base and build the walls
> only one brick thick. This would result in the same inside
> dimensions but would require quite a few less brick.
>
>
> So, what would happen if instead of using gas burners you
> built wood burning fireboxes at the inlet ports? What
> other modifications would you need to make?
>
> --
> Earl K...
> Bothell WA, USA
>
>
>
>
> Elizabeth Priddy
>
> 252-504-2622
> 1273 Hwy 101
> Beaufort, NC 28516
> http://www.elizabethpriddy.com
>
> ---------------------------------
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Make Yahoo! your home page
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
brian on thu 14 apr 05
On 13/4/05 Kurt wrote ....
>Check out Steve Mills web page titled "Playing with Fire"for the "60
>minute kiln".
>This might be just what Elizabeth or others might be interested in.
Another basic kiln that can be built in less than an hour is sketched out at
http://www.gartside.info/woodkilnintro.htm
This one is smaller and holds less but needs no shelves or
sophisticated ceramic gear of any kind - just a pile of old bricks, a
heap of dry wood, an axe, and a box of matches.
There is a point about 1100oC when the heat loss is almost equal to
the input but extra bricks on the outside enables the higher
temperatures to be reached.
Improvements can be easily invented and the efficiency increased as
stoking skills are developed.
It is also easily adapted to a wood and diesel burning system.
--
Brian Gartside
http://www.gartside.info
Pukekohe, New Zealand
Claudia MacPhee on mon 11 dec 06
I built a small wood kiln this fall, 24 cu ft. The best books were of course Steve Harrison's 'Laid Back Wood-firing" and the newer 'Japanese Wood-fired Ceramics". Both available from the Potter's Shop-extra fast and helpful service.
Also cruise the internet and try all kind of things in Google. You get some good photos and stories about kiln building, I know because I wasted about 100 hrs 'researching' there. Kiln building is a great adventure! If you start getting all neurotic just read the archives about kiln building and you won't feel so bad. Seems like thats what happens to lots of first time builders.
Also there are some great people on Clayart who very freely will give you priceless advice. Once again a big THANK YOU to them (they know who they are).
Good luck ,
Claudia MacPhee Tagish, Yukon
Off to school, going on a trip, or moving? Windows Live (MSN) Messenger lets you stay in touch with friends and family wherever you go. Click here to find out how to sign up!
June Perry on mon 11 dec 06
Steve Harrison in his booklet "Laid Back Wood Firing" hasplans for a small,
crossdraft, single bourry box kiln (25 Cu ft with 16 cu ft setting place). He
stated that it could be fired in 10 hours.
I don't know if that booklet is still available; but he does have a more
recently published book, with the same plan.
I purchased my booklet around 1980 from the magazine "Pottery in Australia".
They may still have it. It's worth checking. At that time it was around $3.
I used his information from another article in that magazine to design my own
larger, double bourry box kiln around that time. It was an article about the
St. George Kiln (mentioning that in case you'd want to see if you wanted to
see if you could get a copy of the article).
The St. George kiln wasn't working and he re-did the proportions of the
firebox, throat, flus, etc to get it to function properly and that article had a
chart with the old and new measurements. It's from that chart that I got the raw
data to design my kiln.
Steve is very knowledgeable about these bourry box kilns and the critical
relational measurements of the various parts of the kiln to guarantee successfull
firings. They're a dream to fire -- easy on the body and they don't freak out
the neighbors. Because of the downdraft principle of the firebox, you get
close to 100% combustion so there is almost no smoke.
Doubt if at my age I'd build another wood kiln, but if I did, it would be
that little cross draft in his booklet.
Regards,
June Perry
http://www.angelfire.com/art2/shambhalapottery
http://shambhalapottery.blogspot.com/
Lee Love on tue 12 dec 06
June,
Try this:
http://ian.currie.to/sh/Steve_Harrisons_books.html
If that doesn't work look at archives (I had trouble accessing above link):
http://web.archive.org/web/20060820152923/http://ian.currie.to/sh/Steve_Harrisons_books.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/yyubzr
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
http://potters.blogspot.com/
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
"When we all do better. We ALL do better." -Paul Wellstone
John Dellow on wed 13 dec 06
Lee Love wrote:
> On 12/13/06, John Dellow wrote:
>
>> ash I am going to seal off the top with an arch and have a horonztal
>> exit below the start of this arch and add a small gas burner as an after
>> burner.
>
>
> I have a kiln shelve placed on 4 bricks on top of the
> chimney. Keeps the flame short & out of the trees. In my Euan Craig
> design kiln, there is no fly ash coming out of the chimney.
>
> Lee,
the arch over the chimney, according to a Japanese kiln building book
I have, helps to drop fly ash out of the flue gases .The chimney will
have its exit above a roof and because of the horizontal exit I will be
able to construct a hood with water jets which can wash any expected
flay ash out of the flue gases. I want to attempt to prove that the wood
kiln will not cause bush fires,a big problem here in Australia.
John
John Dellow "the flower pot man"
From the land down under
Home Page http://www.welcome.to/jkdellow
John Dellow on wed 13 dec 06
I am about to build a Phonex fast fire kiln. I found plans on the net
buy searching "phonex fast fire kiln".Like the olsen fast fire design it
can be altered within reason to match the kiln bats you have on hand. I
have 3 dozen 15inch x 15inch bats ,so mine will be about 27 cu ft.I will
split the firebox and use shelves over as in the original olsen fast
fire, but with both fireboxes facing in the same direction.Having the
chimney on the same side as the stoker seems to me to be a good idea.
The design I sourced from the net has a chimney which is 1/2 a brick
deep and the full width of the ware chamber.I am going to make mine
1&1/2 bricks deep and full width to about 12 ft tall.To help reduce fly
ash I am going to seal off the top with an arch and have a horonztal
exit below the start of this arch and add a small gas burner as an after
burner. If you decide to build a bourrey box I would arch over the fire
box and use fire bars instead of hobs.it would then be side stoked.In
Australia there are two schools on bourrey box design ,I have seen both
and now prefer the side stoke version.
John
John Dellow "the flower pot man"
From the land down under
Home Page http://www.welcome.to/jkdellow
Lee Love on wed 13 dec 06
On 12/13/06, John Dellow wrote:
> ash I am going to seal off the top with an arch and have a horonztal
> exit below the start of this arch and add a small gas burner as an after
> burner.
I have a kiln shelve placed on 4 bricks on top of the
chimney. Keeps the flame short & out of the trees. In my Euan Craig
design kiln, there is no fly ash coming out of the chimney.
Because I will be building a kiln in Minneapolis, I have
thought about a small chamber between the main chamber and the
chimney, where gas burners could be introduced. That way, you are
using the heat from the burners to fire ware in the small chamber
(maybe sodaware), while burning up carbon.
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
http://potters.blogspot.com/
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
"When we all do better. We ALL do better." -Paul Wellstone
Gary Navarre on fri 15 dec 06
On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 08:54:52 +1000, John Dellow
wrote:
>If you decide to build a bourrey box I would arch over the fire
>box and use fire bars instead of hobs.it would then be side stoked.In
>Australia there are two schools on bourrey box design ,I have seen both
>and now prefer the side stoke version.
>John
>
>
> John Dellow "the flower pot man"
> From the land down under
>Home Page http://www.welcome.to/jkdellow
Hay Crew, John,
When I thought of putting together wood kiln features the hobbed Bourrey
made sense to me but I didn't want to lift the lid or fiddle with grate bars
so I made it side stoking with the stick ends resting on the side bricks. On
one side was a main hole for up to 4-5" sticks and the other side a hole for
up to 2". I am thinking of an arch of sorts over the firebox in the next
version because it will be large enough for a door on the side and I won't
have to climb through the front. I'm also raising the stoke hole a bit off
the ground so I'm not bending like in this old couple shots (and next)...
http://public.fotki.com/GindaUP/ca/kpap/hobagama_1986-90/sms.html
With a proper mouse hole the coals are easy to control. I have a feeling
I'll end up with less smoke in the next one because it will have a larger
main chamber. We will have to wait till next summer to find out, eh? Stay in
there!
G in da U.P.
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