Les Crimp on sun 3 nov 02
Up here in the Great Pacific Northwest Rainforest (British Columbia) I use
red & yellow cedar to fire my kiln. It costs me the cartage only for huge
loads of slabs and off cuts.
I find that the yellow cedar burns hotter that the red cedar.
The reason for using this wood is that it has great, big, lon flames that go
all the way through the kiln and kiss every single pot. It may take a
little longer than some to fire (approx. 10 hours) but I like the results.
Les Crimp on that Island in the Pacific (Vancouver Island)
lcrimp@shaw.ca
www.arrowsmithpottersguild.bc.ca
mel jacobson on sun 3 nov 02
we have switched woods in our
little train, wood fired kiln...
by accident, kurt and i found a supply
of cherry and walnut strips...scrap from
making trophies. all we want. one by one inch
and ten feet long.
and, best of all, it is on the road to the farm.
(just a few miles of detour.)
it fires like a dream.
historically, pine was selected because it
bursts and releases more btu, faster.
in most places, like japan, it is the favored wood.
red pine was the selection for japanese wood firing.
very expensive.
we still get a great deal of smoke.
mel....and, a foot of flame.
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
John Rodgers on sun 3 nov 02
Mel, as the flames crackle, and the smoke goes up the chiminey, just
think of all those fine writing pen stocks that the wood turners could
make from all that 1"x1" cherry and walnut scrap. -[;<)>
John Rodgers
Birmingham, AL
mel jacobson wrote:
> we have switched woods in our
> little train, wood fired kiln...
> by accident, kurt and i found a supply
> of cherry and walnut strips...scrap from
> making trophies. all we want. one by one inch
> and ten feet long.
>
> and, best of all, it is on the road to the farm.
> (just a few miles of detour.)
>
> it fires like a dream.
>
> historically, pine was selected because it
> bursts and releases more btu, faster.
>
> in most places, like japan, it is the favored wood.
> red pine was the selection for japanese wood firing.
> very expensive.
>
> we still get a great deal of smoke.
> mel....and, a foot of flame.
> From:
> Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
> web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
> or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
>
> 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.
>
terry sullivan on sun 3 nov 02
Hmmm Mel,
I could be wrong on this but my wood working instructor pointed out the
Japanese red pine is much harder than what we american folks think of as
soft "pine".
When I started this woodworking class, I had little real knowledge about
woods. Boy, have I learned.
On thing is that the designations "hard wood" and "soft wood" do not
indicate if the wood is really "hard" or "soft". These have to do with
whether the tree is broad leaf or narrow ( like pine/ conifers). There
are hardwood designated species that are actually quite soft and soft
wood spieces that are quite hard (dense). For instance: Poplar is a
broad leaf "hardwood" but is fairly soft compared to oak, cherry, and
the like. White Oak is a large leaf that is, by wood workers
designation, a soft wood that is very hard and dense. As I understand
it; the denser the wood, the more the btus per pound versus volume. A
pound of oak is much smaller in volume than a pound of white pine. The
pine will burn quite rapidly while the oak will burn slower.
One only has to look at the relative density of Douglas Fir and White
Pine to see the great difference with two close species in the "soft
wood" catagories.
My two cents worth, and it is only two cents, ok.
Terry Sullivan
Eric Suchman on sun 3 nov 02
There is a local, and historical,(to San Diego residents anyways) example,
too, of how wood density and other properties vary region to region where
they are being grown. In Rancho Santa fe, California, the Rail Road
initially planted the Eucalyptus trees to provide the ties needed for the
train tracks. In Australia it is a very hard and long lasting wood. Here
in southern California there is not enough boron? (I think?) in the soil and
the wood is of a substantially inferior quality to warrant their use as ties
for R.R. track. They rot fairly quickly. On the other hand I think that it
is probably a very good firing wood as it is quite dense.
Just another 2 cents.
Eric in Oceanside
'Clay is the Way'
> From: terry sullivan
> Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
> Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2002 18:29:29 -0800
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Re: firing with hardwood
>
> Hmmm Mel,
>
> I could be wrong on this but my wood working instructor pointed out the
> Japanese red pine is much harder than what we american folks think of as
> soft "pine".
> When I started this woodworking class, I had little real knowledge about
> woods. Boy, have I learned.
>
> On thing is that the designations "hard wood" and "soft wood" do not
> indicate if the wood is really "hard" or "soft". These have to do with
> whether the tree is broad leaf or narrow ( like pine/ conifers). There
> are hardwood designated species that are actually quite soft and soft
> wood spieces that are quite hard (dense). For instance: Poplar is a
> broad leaf "hardwood" but is fairly soft compared to oak, cherry, and
> the like. White Oak is a large leaf that is, by wood workers
> designation, a soft wood that is very hard and dense. As I understand
> it; the denser the wood, the more the btus per pound versus volume. A
> pound of oak is much smaller in volume than a pound of white pine. The
> pine will burn quite rapidly while the oak will burn slower.
>
> One only has to look at the relative density of Douglas Fir and White
> Pine to see the great difference with two close species in the "soft
> wood" catagories.
>
> My two cents worth, and it is only two cents, ok.
>
> Terry Sullivan
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> 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.
Andi Bauer on tue 5 nov 02
We are getting ready to go to the desert the weekend of Nov 16/17 for a
"desert burn" camping trip with the CASD group. We will be taking a fairly
large amount of wood from our eucalyptus. And, in the next several weeks
we are planning to take the tree out of our front yard, so we will be set
for firewood for the rest of our lives!
>It is however a terrific firewood when completely dry and with
>the number of trees in San Diego that need to come down because of the
>thrip infestation the availability is up and the price is down. Too bad
>there's no freakin way to wood fire in crowded So Cal. We probably have
>some (whats left anyway) of the best heat value wood on the planet
>between eucalyptus and live oak and all the strange imports. I am
>looking to experiment a little with some selective fireplace ash
>experiments.
>
>
>Don Hunt
Andi Bauer
619-543-3758
email: mailto:acody@ucsd.edu
don hunt on tue 5 nov 02
Actually Eric, I believe the eucalyptus and railroad track issue had to
do with drying the wood. Euc checks badly and is difficult to dry
evenly. It is however a terrific firewood when completely dry and with
the number of trees in San Diego that need to come down because of the
thrip infestation the availability is up and the price is down. Too bad
there's no freakin way to wood fire in crowded So Cal. We probably have
some (whats left anyway) of the best heat value wood on the planet
between eucalyptus and live oak and all the strange imports. I am
looking to experiment a little with some selective fireplace ash
experiments.
Don Hunt
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