John Baymore on fri 28 may 99
------------------
(snip)
My offlist discussions have been very interesting in this regard. Several
folk have put forward the Leach-Hamada thesis, but these Elder Gods really
didn't do much work exclusively at =5E10. In fact, in Leach's =5FA Potter's
Book=5F the glazes he gives run from Seger =5E6 to 11. And in Leach's book
about Hamada, he reproduces a letter in which Hamada lists a number of his
favorite glazes, which were, Hamada says, formulated to fire at Seger =
=5E8.=3C
(clip)
Possibly one of the reasons that this range existed in Leach's book is that
a large (5-6ft h x 6-7ft w x 18-20ft d) wood-fired climbing kiln crossdraft
chamber typically fires pretty uneven. Hot on the firebox side and cold at
the bottom flue side. Many potters used/use specific glazes in specific
places. Leach learned his craft where this type of kiln was pretty common.
Totally a guess =3Cg=3E.
A factor in the =22cone 10=22 dominance might be that as you get to about =
2350
or so........ it seems to get pretty hard to get the average studio type
kiln (of the past) any hotter. Many tend to =22ceiling out=22 right about
cone 10-11. Well designed kilns certainly will go hotter easily, but most
of the studio kiln designs circulating in the 40's and 50' and 60's were
not all that great.
May have been seen as a =22natural limit=22 of convenience, particularly in
America where the =22bigger is better=22 philosophy probably drove a =
=22hotter is
better=22 one too =3Cg=3E.
What do I mean =22drove=22.......... =22drives=22 is more appropriate, since=
that
is the point of this discussion isn't it =3Cbg=3E?
Again....just a guess.
I am sure it is not really one BIG thing that made cone 10 the =22holy
grail=22......but a series of smaller factors.
Best,
................john
=22My kiln gets hotter than your kiln..........nah nah nah=21 =3Cg=3E=22
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752
JBaymore=40compuserve.com
John.Baymore=40GSD-CO.COM
=22Earth, Water, and Fire climbing kiln firing workshop Aug. 20-29,1999=22
Ray Aldridge on sun 30 may 99
At 08:48 AM 5/28/99 EDT, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>------------------
>(snip)
>My offlist discussions have been very interesting in this regard. Several
>folk have put forward the Leach-Hamada thesis, but these Elder Gods really
>didn't do much work exclusively at ^10. In fact, in Leach's _A Potter's
>Book_ the glazes he gives run from Seger ^6 to 11.
>
>Possibly one of the reasons that this range existed in Leach's book is that
>a large (5-6ft h x 6-7ft w x 18-20ft d) wood-fired climbing kiln crossdraft
>chamber typically fires pretty uneven. Hot on the firebox side and cold at
>the bottom flue side. Many potters used/use specific glazes in specific
>places. Leach learned his craft where this type of kiln was pretty common.
>
>Totally a guess .
You're right, of course. In fact, Leach explicitly details the troubles he
has in getting the kiln to fire evenly. It's an interesting insight into
human nature to observe the manner in which he rationalizes these
difficulties, telling himself that different types of glazes look better at
different cones, and so the unevenness of his kiln wasn't a bug, it was a
feature. Times and machines change, but not human nature.
>
>A factor in the "cone 10" dominance might be that as you get to about 2350
>or so........ it seems to get pretty hard to get the average studio type
>kiln (of the past) any hotter. Many tend to "ceiling out" right about
>cone 10-11. Well designed kilns certainly will go hotter easily, but most
>of the studio kiln designs circulating in the 40's and 50' and 60's were
>not all that great.
>
>May have been seen as a "natural limit" of convenience, particularly in
>America where the "bigger is better" philosophy probably drove a "hotter is
>better" one too .
You might be right, though Olsen claims that most fuel-burning kilns are
vastly overpowered. I do know that the hardbrick kiln I built from Rhodes'
plans in the early 70's had no trouble at all hitting ^12, and I'm sure it
could have gone a good bit higher, if I hadn't chickened out.
>
>I am sure it is not really one BIG thing that made cone 10 the "holy
>grail"......but a series of smaller factors.
>
I've about decided it was all Daniel Rhodes' fault. When I became
interested in clay, 30 years ago, there weren't a lot of how-to books
available, but his was about the earliest that took ^10 for granted. Even
books that came out a lot later, like Nelson's, still carried a range of
recipes, for ^6 and ^8.
By the way, I think I've discovered why English potters were inclined to
fire their electric kilns hotter than their American counterparts did--
very often to ^8. I recently came across _Electric Kilns_ by Fraser.
Looking at the sample pictures, English kilns are much better insulated
than most American kilns. He says that brickwork is "usually 4-5 inches
thick." And that more than this is not necessary.
Goodness.
Ray
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