David Hendley on mon 30 aug 99
It is the "Fastfire kiln" as described in Fred Olsen's
"Kiln Book".
It's basically a small downdraft kiln set on top of
wood fireboxes. Easy to build, easy to fire. Although
it's a dream to think you will fire it in 2 hours mentioned
in the book, 5-6 hour cone 10 firings (with bisqueware)
are reasonable. Of course you won't get a lot of ash
build-up in 5 hours, but you can stretch it out if you want
to.
The plans show it built with 4 1/2" thick walls. Unless
you are in dire financial straits, it will be a much better
kiln with 9" thick walls - more insulation and more
structural integrity.
Unsure that you will really want to fire with wood?
Just build in burner ports and block them up with bricks.
To change over to gas fired, remove the blocks and seal off
the fireboxes and you have a downdraft gas kiln.
Make no mistake though, Corinne, firing with wood is
lots of hard work. You need to really, really want to,
or forget the idea.
--
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
hendley@tyler.net
http://www.farmpots.com/
----- Original Message -----
From: Corinne P. Null
To:
Sent: Sunday, August 29, 1999 12:32 PM
Subject: Re: Fear of kilns
| ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
| All this talk of just easily building a kiln - oh, how I want to believe
| you! But I'm so worried that at 54 yrs. I'm a'gettin'a bit creaky to be
| undertaking it by myself. See, my hubby isn't for getting his hands
dirty,
| so it would be my baby. (Well, maybe some potter friends would help me
| out!) And, like Steve Dalton and Tony, I love woodfired, but want to be
able
| to do gas too, (for when I'm really too old to do woodfire) so I'd like to
| build a woodfiring kiln that could have the firebox be bricked off and
fired
| with gas. Anybody know of such a critter? How about a car woodfire/gas
| kiln? Am I dreaming too hard?
|
| Tell me it's possible....
|
| Corinne Null
| Bedford, New Hampshire
| null@mediaone.net
|
clennell on tue 31 aug 99
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
David Hendley wrote
>It is the "Fastfire kiln" as described in Fred Olsen's
>"Kiln Book".
>It's basically a small downdraft kiln set on top of
>wood fireboxes. Easy to build, easy to fire. Although
>it's a dream to think you will fire it in 2 hours mentioned
>in the book, 5-6 hour cone 10 firings (with bisqueware)
>are reasonable. Of course you won't get a lot of ash
>build-up in 5 hours, but you can stretch it out if you want
>to.
>Make no mistake though, Corinne, firing with wood is
>lots of hard work. You need to really, really want to,
>or forget the idea.
Dear Corinne: I agree with David that any wood kiln is alot of hard work
and I agree with him that this kiln can be set up for gas burners. Where we
part company is the idea that these are easy kilns for old people to fire.
the fast
Freddy is a kiln for people under 40. Bent over for the firings duration,
looking into a red hot bed of coals and suffering from heat exhaustion is
for the young at heart. The bourry box or "boring box" is the woodkiln for
us nearing 50 year olds. Sit in a lawn chair, when the smoke stops, load up
another charge of wood (big hardwood logs, not split very small) sit back
in the armchair read a book,have a cocktail, when the smoke stops in 5 or
10 minutes load it up again and sit down and have another cocktail. As the
firing progresses you will load the bourry box more often and will therfore
have to stop having a cocktail with every stoke.
Firing a bourry box woodkiln has made woodfiring a hellava lot easier on
this ole bod.
Cheers,
Tony
P>S If your husband won't help trade him in on a strong back and a weak
mind. Sorry David and I are spoken for.
Tony and Sheila Clennell
Sour Cherry Pottery
4545 King St.
Beamsville, On. L0R 1B1
June Perry on tue 31 aug 99
I would go with a small cross draft with a single bourry box. If your 54 year
old back is in the same shape as my 59 year old back, you might find the ease
of loading the bourry box a blessing. You don't have to split wood like you
do for those fast fire jobs, no metals grates to replace, and very little
bending. :-)
You can design the kiln with a big bourry box and get it to cone ten in ten
hours --- maybe less. With the bourry box you can use logs up to 6 inches in
diameter. Load a log every 15 minutes and go back to reading. :-)
Another good thing is that the bourry box, downdraft principle gives you
almost total combustion and you don't get a lot of smoke from this kiln. I
designed and built a double bourry box kiln in a suburban neighborhood and no
one knew I was firing a wood kiln. If I built another wood kiln, it would be
a nice small, single bourry box that I could fire often, by myself. I would
design it with burners, as I did my last one, so I could fire all gas or all
wood or use the burners to preheat and finish the wood.
Try it, you'll love it!
Warm regards,
June
Sherry Lee on thu 2 sep 99
June, I'm also interested in the bourry box kiln idea, are plans available
somewhere, any suggestions where I might look. I like the option of being
able to do either wood or gas. Thanks for the output! Even though I'm new
to Clayart, but not pottery, all the information is so amazing, now I don't
feel so isolated. Sherry
>From: June Perry
>Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
>To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
>Subject: Re: The ideal wood-fired kiln for older, unsure, or
>solitary potters
>Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 13:12:26 EDT
>
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I would go with a small cross draft with a single bourry box. If your 54
>year
>old back is in the same shape as my 59 year old back, you might find the
>ease
>of loading the bourry box a blessing. You don't have to split wood like you
>do for those fast fire jobs, no metals grates to replace, and very little
>bending. :-)
>You can design the kiln with a big bourry box and get it to cone ten in ten
>hours --- maybe less. With the bourry box you can use logs up to 6 inches
>in
>diameter. Load a log every 15 minutes and go back to reading. :-)
>Another good thing is that the bourry box, downdraft principle gives you
>almost total combustion and you don't get a lot of smoke from this kiln. I
>designed and built a double bourry box kiln in a suburban neighborhood and
>no
>one knew I was firing a wood kiln. If I built another wood kiln, it would
>be
>a nice small, single bourry box that I could fire often, by myself. I would
>design it with burners, as I did my last one, so I could fire all gas or
>all
>wood or use the burners to preheat and finish the wood.
>Try it, you'll love it!
>
>Warm regards,
>June
______________________________________________________
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gambaru on thu 2 sep 99
Tony and David: Do you think it is possible to successfully (firing) to
build a bourry box firing/stoking chamber on to a Fast Fire design therefore
somewhat easier for firing for those of us over the 50 line? Marj.
-----Original Message-----
From: clennell
To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Date: Tuesday, August 31, 1999 1:06 PM
Subject: Re: The ideal wood-fired kiln for older, unsure, or solitary
potters
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
David Hendley wrote
>It is the "Fastfire kiln" as described in Fred Olsen's
>"Kiln Book".
>It's basically a small downdraft kiln set on top of
>wood fireboxes. Easy to build, easy to fire. Although
>it's a dream to think you will fire it in 2 hours mentioned
>in the book, 5-6 hour cone 10 firings (with bisqueware)
>are reasonable. Of course you won't get a lot of ash
>build-up in 5 hours, but you can stretch it out if you want
>to.
>Make no mistake though, Corinne, firing with wood is
>lots of hard work. You need to really, really want to,
>or forget the idea.
Dear Corinne: I agree with David that any wood kiln is alot of hard work
and I agree with him that this kiln can be set up for gas burners. Where we
part company is the idea that these are easy kilns for old people to fire.
the fast
Freddy is a kiln for people under 40. Bent over for the firings duration,
looking into a red hot bed of coals and suffering from heat exhaustion is
for the young at heart. The bourry box or "boring box" is the woodkiln for
us nearing 50 year olds. Sit in a lawn chair, when the smoke stops, load up
another charge of wood (big hardwood logs, not split very small) sit back
in the armchair read a book,have a cocktail, when the smoke stops in 5 or
10 minutes load it up again and sit down and have another cocktail. As the
firing progresses you will load the bourry box more often and will therfore
have to stop having a cocktail with every stoke.
Firing a bourry box woodkiln has made woodfiring a hellava lot easier on
this ole bod.
Cheers,
Tony
P>S If your husband won't help trade him in on a strong back and a weak
mind. Sorry David and I are spoken for.
Tony and Sheila Clennell
Sour Cherry Pottery
4545 King St.
Beamsville, On. L0R 1B1
| |
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