John Baymore on fri 16 apr 99
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Way....way....way back when I went to school at Umass Amherst, the State in
it's great and infinite wisdom, decided to change over from propane to
natural gas on the ceramic kilns and the glass shop. Fine....... there
were leaks all over in the pipes....a real safety hazard =3Cg=3E.
However...... they decided to shut off the propane in September.... and
install the natural gas the NEXT SUMMER=21=21=21=21=21=21=21
So we spent a whole year transporting all of our production about 15 miles
out to Professor Jim Wozniak's house in Sunderland where we had built a gas
fired kiln (with the school's money..... not a bad deal for Woz =3Cg=3E.)
Exploring LOTS of options to accomplish this feat through trial and error
(lots of error =3Cg=3E), I came up with one solution that worked well for =
me.
Get some large cardboard boxes. Place the glazed pots in the boxes with 3
to 5 inches of space around them. Now fill up the boxes with loose, dry
sawdust. Don't worry about the pots filling up on the interiors. When
unpacking don't worry if a little sawdust is stuck to the surface of the
glazes........ it all just burns off in the kiln. Pour out any that gets
inside a piece.
This technique will not be suitable for any pots that have glazes REALLY
suceptible to slight reduction conditions at an early stage in the
firing.... cause the tiny bit of sawdust will combust. Not much
reduction.....but I haven't tried this with every type of glaze at every
firing range. Caveat Emptor. =3Cg=3E
Give it a try.
Best,
.......................john
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752
JBaymore=40Compuserve.com
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