Mudcat Pottery on sun 17 feb 02
This post is a bit off topic, but you will find my brick questions and
the technology of clay both under the same Dewey Decimal code. ( Richard
Zakin's "Mastering the Craft" book got filed under 666.3 Zak at our
library)
This May the most beautiful rivertown in America (Madison, Indiana if
there was any doubt) is holding a weekend of historic reenactments at
the J.F.D. Lanier Mansion (http://www.in.gov/ism/sites/lanier/) centered
around the 1840-1880 time period which was our town's heyday.
A group of us has decided to have a brick making demonstration (to go
along with the Civil War encampments, trade demonstrations and period
food vending). Soon we'll go to fourth grade classes across the county
(they're now studying Indiana history) to let them play with the clay
and make bricks. Then during the Lanier Days Celebration we have the big
firing to toast the puppies.
Originally we were hoping to reproduce a locally famous sidewalk paver
known as the "star brick." Our research, however, found the time period
and technology both beyond what we were attempting to do (a coke firing
to cone 18 circa 1910). So now we're starting over again (but running
out of time).
Thus come the many questions.
---We don't have manpower to dig and process local clay for this
project. Does anyone have a clay recipe for a brick that would give us
the right consistency for a traditional mid-19th century red brick? Use
would most likely be interior brick as our tech chief on the project
says the firing would probably end up in the 1600-2000F range.
--Similarly, does anyone have knowledge or sources for how green brick
kilns were constructed, stacking procedures or firing procedures. Based
on what we've read so far we'll probably build a bottleneck kiln with
open chambers on three sides.
We're still pursuing these questions in other places as well. We know
Williamsburg does an annual brick firing (though on a much larger
scale), but I figured somebody out in Clayart land might have some ideas.
Thanks
Jerry Yarnetsky
The Potter's Husband (and now tilemaker)
Mudcat Pottery
http://www.mudcatpottery.com
darlene@mudcatpottery.com
Russel Fouts on thu 21 feb 02
Jerry,
One method is called a "clamp". There is some good information in
Cardew's "Pioneer Pottery".
BTW, my collegue at work, who's had about as varied a life as mine, made
the bricks this way that he built his family's farm house out of back in
Zimbabwe. His parents still live in it.
Russel
-----------------------------
Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 10:45:07 -0500
From: Mudcat Pottery
Subject: construction brick making project
This post is a bit off topic, but you will find my brick questions and
the technology of clay both under the same Dewey Decimal code. ( Richard
Zakin's "Mastering the Craft" book got filed under 666.3 Zak at our
library)
This May the most beautiful rivertown in America (Madison, Indiana if
there was any doubt) is holding a weekend of historic reenactments at
the J.F.D. Lanier Mansion (http://www.in.gov/ism/sites/lanier/) centered
around the 1840-1880 time period which was our town's heyday.
A group of us has decided to have a brick making demonstration (to go
along with the Civil War encampments, trade demonstrations and period
food vending). Soon we'll go to fourth grade classes across the county
(they're now studying Indiana history) to let them play with the clay
and make bricks. Then during the Lanier Days Celebration we have the big
firing to toast the puppies.
Originally we were hoping to reproduce a locally famous sidewalk paver
known as the "star brick." Our research, however, found the time period
and technology both beyond what we were attempting to do (a coke firing
to cone 18 circa 1910). So now we're starting over again (but running
out of time).
Thus come the many questions.
---We don't have manpower to dig and process local clay for this
project. Does anyone have a clay recipe for a brick that would give us
the right consistency for a traditional mid-19th century red brick? Use
would most likely be interior brick as our tech chief on the project
says the firing would probably end up in the 1600-2000F range.
--Similarly, does anyone have knowledge or sources for how green brick
kilns were constructed, stacking procedures or firing procedures. Based
on what we've read so far we'll probably build a bottleneck kiln with
open chambers on three sides.
We're still pursuing these questions in other places as well. We know
Williamsburg does an annual brick firing (though on a much larger
scale), but I figured somebody out in Clayart land might have some
ideas.
Thanks
Jerry Yarnetsky
The Potter's Husband (and now tilemaker)
Mudcat Pottery
http://www.mudcatpottery.com
darlene@mudcatpottery.com
-----------------------------
--
Russel Fouts
Mes Potes & Mes Pots
Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 223 02 75
Mobile: +32 476 55 38 75
Email: Russel.Fouts@Skynet.be
Http://www.mypots.com
http://www.Japan-Net.ne.jp/~iwcat
"There is a theory which states that
if ever anyone discovers exactly what
the universe is for and why it's here,
it will instantly disappear and be
replaced by something even more bizzarly
inexplicable."
"There is another theory which states
that this has already happened!"
Douglas Adams' The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
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