sdpotter@GTE.NET on tue 19 dec 00
Captain Mark,
If you wanted the wood/salt, the hard brick would be the best choice. Even
for a straight wood/gas kiln too. I would suggest either laying an outer
skin
of IFB's or a 'light weight' castable...for better insulation.
The hard brick would handle the salt and even the effects of wood better.
You could even go with all 3 choices...fire with propane to warm the kiln
up. Switch with wood, and dump in the salt. If the firing gets too bad, ie
weather or fatigue, switch back to propane for a little help.
Steve Dalton
sdpotter@gte.net
Clear Creek Pottery
Snohomish, Wa
----------
> From: ASHPOTS@AOL.COM
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Re: Lots of hard brick
> Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 22:04:13 EST
>
David Hendley on tue 19 dec 00
Dear Capt.,
Save your hard bricks for a wood-fired bread oven,
kiln floors, and fireboxes. Build your kiln-proper out of
insulating fire bricks.
Heck, even IFBs are really obsolete technology these days;
using hard bricks takes you back to circa 1940.
You'll recoup the extra cost of buying IFBs in almost no
time, either in $$, if firing with gas, or in time and effort
if firing with wood.
With the ceramic coatings now available (such as ITC), an
IFB kiln is even a possibility for salt firing.
Of course, every serious potter also needs a few stacks
of bricks sitting around, just for atmosphere, so keep
some hardbricks around for that purpose.
You'll probably find, like I have, that you'll become known
in your area as the guy to go see if you need a few firebricks
to repair a fireplace or reline a forge, so you'll eventually
get your money out of those #@~&* bricks you've already
moved 3 or 4 times.
--
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
hendley@tyler.net
http://www.farmpots.com/
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2000 9:04 PM
Subject: Re: Lots of hard brick
| Well i have a problem. i have hundreds of hard fire brick and i wanted
them
| to build a salt kiln. I was going to build a wood /salt kiln but the more
i
| think about it i would like to fire with propane and wood. I guess if the
| price of propane goes down. I think it is $1.40 a gal here now.
| Any way the question is should i use the hard brick for a kiln or a
walkway.
| i also want to use some of it for a wood fired oven.
| I wonder if it would be a waste of energy and time building a kiln with
this
| hard brick. I was thinking about a 40 to 50 cubic foot kiln.
| I would really like to get some input from the group. I had to move 800 of
| them today. i had them on a porch and now i need to build a spray booth on
| the porch because i cant spray my glazes out side any more because of the
| snow and cold. Sure is different set of problems living on a mountain
verses
| Miami Fla.
|
| Capt Mark
..
ASHPOTS@AOL.COM on tue 19 dec 00
Well i have a problem. i have hundreds of hard fire brick and i wanted them
to build a salt kiln. I was going to build a wood /salt kiln but the more i
think about it i would like to fire with propane and wood. I guess if the
price of propane goes down. I think it is $1.40 a gal here now.
Any way the question is should i use the hard brick for a kiln or a walkway.
i also want to use some of it for a wood fired oven.
I wonder if it would be a waste of energy and time building a kiln with this
hard brick. I was thinking about a 40 to 50 cubic foot kiln.
I would really like to get some input from the group. I had to move 800 of
them today. i had them on a porch and now i need to build a spray booth on
the porch because i cant spray my glazes out side any more because of the
snow and cold. Sure is different set of problems living on a mountain verses
Miami Fla.
Capt Mark
Mark & Sylvia Mondloch on wed 20 dec 00
I'd vote for using the hard brick.
Durability-I've got a Phoenix design(cross-draft, firebox underneath)
that's about that size. It's been outside in WI weather for over 20 yrs and
over 200 firings. I don't think a soft brick or fiber one would still be
standing under those conditions.
You have the brick- The plans for my kiln called for it being lined with
insulating brick but we had used hard brick at the time so that's what we
used. I did line it with 1" fiber at first. This was replaced a couple
times over the years until I started to salt a few years ago. Of course the
fiber deteriorated immediately then so I took it out and left it out. This
added about 2 hrs unto a 12 hr firing which I don't think is bad. The
biggest factor I think in an efficient wood firing is the condition(
dryness) of your wood.
When I first started salting ( 50/50 salt/baking soda). I used about 8 lbs.
Now I'm down to about 2 lbs for the same effect because of residual fuming
from the build-up on the hard-brick. My understanding is that you don't have
any build-up on soft-brick or fiber with or without ITC (someone correct me
if I'm wrong here please). So if I'm not wrong about that, you'll should
have to use less soda in a hard-brick kiln in the long run.
I stick a kerosene torpedo heater in the mouth overnight to warm it up.
Costs about $5. Most of the load is single fired and knowing that everything
is good and dry takes the stress out of lighting. I find a 14 hr firing
after that to be fine for me to handle by myself. If you are really looking
for a 4-5 hr firing though then I suppose you would need to go with soft
brick or fiber.
At the very least I would think that you'll want the hard brick for the ash
pit and firebox area.
Good luck,
Sylvia
Mark & Sylvia Mondloch
Silver Creek Pottery & Forge
W6725 Hwy 144
Random Lake, WI 53075
silvercreek@execpc.com
http://www.execpc.com/silvercreek
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2000 9:04 PM
Subject: Re: Lots of hard brick
> Well i have a problem. i have hundreds of hard fire brick and i wanted
them
> to build a salt kiln. I was going to build a wood /salt kiln but the more
i
> think about it i would like to fire with propane and wood. I guess if the
> price of propane goes down. I think it is $1.40 a gal here now.
> Any way the question is should i use the hard brick for a kiln or a
walkway.
> i also want to use some of it for a wood fired oven.
> I wonder if it would be a waste of energy and time building a kiln with
this
> hard brick. I was thinking about a 40 to 50 cubic foot kiln.
> I would really like to get some input from the group. I had to move 800 of
> them today. i had them on a porch and now i need to build a spray booth on
> the porch because i cant spray my glazes out side any more because of the
> snow and cold. Sure is different set of problems living on a mountain
verses
> Miami Fla.
>
> Capt Mark
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
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>
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melpots@pclink.com.
>
Craig Martell on wed 20 dec 00
Hey Cap'n Mark:
I have two kilns. One is a 66 cu ft IFB kiln and the other is a 58 cu ft
hard brick salt kiln. It takes about 50 gallons of propane to fire the IFB
kiln and it takes about 100 gallons to fire the hard brick salt kiln. I
built the salt kiln before ITC was on the market and hards were really the
only game in town. You can see the difference in cost of firing. It's
big! But I actually like what I get from the hard brick kiln in terms of
heat release on cooling. It's very slow and I get some nice results from
that. I think the jury will be out on ITC for a bit yet. I've been
putting k-23 and k-26's coated with ITC in my salt firings (forgot last
time) and so far they are OK but I'm still hanging on to some skepticism.
regards, Craig Martell in Oregon
Maid O'Mud Pottery on wed 20 dec 00
I'd still build that wood kiln - just use the hard brick under the floor (for
insulation) and as a 2nd wall to the soft-bricks (again for added insulation).
Walkway? No-way!!
ASHPOTS@AOL.COM wrote:
> Well i have a problem. i have hundreds of hard fire brick and i wanted them
> to build a salt kiln. I was going to build a wood /salt kiln but the more i
> think about it i would like to fire with propane and wood. I guess if the
> price of propane goes down. I think it is $1.40 a gal here now.
> Any way the question is should i use the hard brick for a kiln or a walkway.
> i also want to use some of it for a wood fired oven.
> I wonder if it would be a waste of energy and time building a kiln with this
> hard brick. I was thinking about a 40 to 50 cubic foot kiln.
> I would really like to get some input from the group. I had to move 800 of
> them today. i had them on a porch and now i need to build a spray booth on
> the porch because i cant spray my glazes out side any more because of the
> snow and cold. Sure is different set of problems living on a mountain verses
> Miami Fla.
>
> Capt Mark
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> 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.
--
Sam, Maid O'Mud Pottery
SW Ontario CANADA
http://www.geocities.com/paris/3110
scuttell@odyssey.on.ca
"First, the clay told me what to do
Then, I told the clay what to do
Now; we co-operate"
sam, 1994
"Effort does not always equal output"
sam, 1999
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