mel jacobson on tue 9 nov 99
old time potters seemed to have found ways of keeping clay in great shape
without plastic. caves, holes in the ground, fabric covers and water
it....big piles.
and they did not worry so much if a bug got in there, or a worm or two.
things grow in clay, and you cannot stop it...it just does.
so learn to love it.
for years i would shove corn seeds into the re/cycle buckets at school.
`hey, mel, something is growing in this bucket, what is it?`
`well, dorko, it is soil, the real stuff...it isn't playdough.`
`hey, man, this is really cool, growing in our bucket`....never told them
how it got there.`.
kids are really funny...don't know how people can be frightened of teenagers...
they are so dumb. even the smart ones. (esp. when they are trying to be cool.)
shelves and stacking.
big question, with tons of mis/ information...sorta like pounding clay on
tables
to get air out. imagine, taking de aired, new clay, and beating the crap out
of it on a table....teachers still teach that. `ok kids, it will blow up
if we do
not pound that crap out of it..` (god, and the noise)
anyway....shelves.
i have a few rules: (fuel kiln, reduction)
no shelf should ever be at the same height as another one.
i keep my shelves staggered at all times...all shelves.
my first shelf sits on a dog bone...(one inch support) second stack is on
a two inch support, third stack is on a brick support..and that leaves the
flu open.
leave good space around shelves..when planning a kiln...keep room.
stagger your shelves as you go up the kiln...leave about, maybe an inch
always between the next stack.
you really want a clean flow of air going through the kiln...no dams.
i feel the same about bag walls...most do nothing except make dams for
the heat.
i love splash bricks, tuning bricks (see nils lou book)....and a slanted brick
that kicks the flame up the back wall.
if you want good reduction throughout the kiln...don't pack your shelves
together.
leave room.
when in doubt, leave out pots, don't pack every g.d. pot you have in the kiln.
leave spaces for the heat and smoke to move about the kiln.
just makes sense.
don't make dams.
don't box in the heat.
leave room.
don't box your flu.
if you have a hot or cold spot in the kiln..
add bricks to that spot, not pots.
`hey wally, see all the pots i got in that firing...course 20 of them
are crapo's, have to be thrown out.`
can't tell you how many people's kilns i see....and they complain like
beggars......but, they never change how they stack or fire.
just do the same dumb things, over and over.
silly.
now i am half nuts, worried sick.
tony is doing a workshop...and i am not going
to be there to counter all the things he says and does.
ron, get over there and help him....liz, for crying out loud...help him.
guide him...macho pots indeed.
geeez, i hope he lets sheila demo, she knows what she is doing.
mel/mn
redandshino....afro d z ack.
http://www.pclink.com/melpots
from minnetonka, minnesota, u.s.a.
Dale A. Neese on wed 10 nov 99
Mel said
>..."sorta like pounding clay on
tables
to get air out. imagine, taking de aired, new clay, and beating the crap
out
of it on a table....teachers still teach that. `ok kids, it will blow up
if we do
not pound that crap out of it..`" (god, and the noise)
When I had a class slap clay into ball shapes to start on the wheel, one
teacher remarked that it sounded "like a naked pigeons trying to take off".
Dale Tex
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