primalmommy@IVILLAGE.COM on fri 27 jul 01
This morning I dug a pit for bonfiring/ smothered bonfiring in my back yard. I used plain old (very wet) brick salvaged from an old building to line the hole, and cinderblocks as kind of an impromptu "chimney". While I assume the materials will survive the relatively low temps of a bonfire, i am starting to worry that they will explode when wet, like kiln shelves. Any idea?
Also, I am using as a firing cage the grilles from some abandoned gas BBQ grills. I believe the black coating is porcelain, but I'm not sure. AM I likely to have trouble from the coating, or can I put my pots directly against the cage?
Thanks in advance to anyone who has worked with these materials...
also:
Joyce, the weather in my part of the country this week is a dream: after a very hot/humid spell, it's now sunny and 70's, cool breeze, high cirrus clouds. The view from my studio door (the top of which is draped with wild grapevines hanging from the eaves) frames my garden gate, the arch-trellis lush with flowering pole bean vines; tall green popcorn, tomato plants groaning with red 'maters, sunflowers a mile high, blossoming okra and eggplant, thick green snakes of hubbard squash vine overrunning the picket fence, sporting mustard colored blossoms so big you could wear them for a hat.
This is the best of the year in Ohio, that turning point just before harvest; from your airplane window you'll see a vast quilt, squares of golden wheat, soybeans, corn, fields of cucumbers and alfalfa hay, pastures and farm lots stitched together at the edges by dirt roads, highways, wooded strips of stream... sequinned by the sparkle of farm ponds. (OK, and the occasional glitter of auto scrapyards... it's a rustbelt thing.)
Enjoy Columbus. I spent five years there getting a four year degree; it's a bit too city for me, and way too many college kids living in one area, but I could give you a tour of the best trees to sit in if you want to skip class and peoplewatch instead. (Not advising that you skip out on the potter's council! she said, waving her membership card.)
Yours with high hopes for the future,
Kelly in Ohio (whose cup runneth over with raspberries, blueberries, bouquets of basil...)
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Iveragh Ceramics on sat 28 jul 01
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: 28 July 2001 04:02
Subject: brick pit question and ohio weather
> This morning I dug a pit for bonfiring/ smothered bonfiring in my back
yard. I used plain old (very wet) brick salvaged from an old building to
line the hole, and cinderblocks as kind of an impromptu "chimney". While I
assume the materials will survive the relatively low temps of a bonfire, i
am starting to worry that they will explode when wet, like kiln shelves. Any
idea?
>
> Thanks in advance to anyone who has worked with these materials...
Kelly,
A plain ordinary hole will do, you don't have to line it with
anything and if cinder blocks are what I think they are!!! These will BURN.
If you are worried about dampness of the hole, put a fire in it before you
use it and let it burn out. When ready to use lay sawdust or grass or
anything soft in the bottom, place your pots in this and cover them with
sawdust, now I suggest you place old bits of broken pots,doesn't matter if
they are glazed, over your pots. On top of this put a layer of wood quite
close together, it will look like a loose floor, this prevents the flames
from hitting the highest part of your pots whilst the lower parts are still
relatively cool. Just keep piling on the wood and light. you will have to
add wood as the fire burns down. When you reach the stage where no more fuel
is needed you can shovel the earth you removed back over the pit or cover it
with a piece of roof iron and seal the edges with this earth, if you want a
lot of black on the pots then throw on lots of green stuff, grass cuttings
,weeds, hay, anything, before covering your pit. Do not be in a hurry to
open it, more pots are broken in this type of firing by impatience than
anything else.
Regards,
Bob Hollis
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