terry sullivan on thu 14 nov 02
Gosh, I guess we aren't quite up to the "ideal kiln" level yet. Got the
electrics, got the gas kilns (5), got the salt kiln, got the giant pit,
but darn; we don't have the wood fire kiln. Guess we have to get busy on
that :-)
Just have to work on the smoke thing. There's got to be an afterburner
in the stack solution to handle that darned smoke.
Terry Sullivan
Nottingham Center for the Arts
www.nottinghamarts.org
mel jacobson on thu 14 nov 02
have one of each.
be a complete potter.
in order:
large and small electric
two gas kilns..one large, one small.
raku kiln.
wood fired kiln.
salt glazing kiln.
pit.
gas/electric kiln.
big pile of used brick to surround any pot
you want to fire. (on the spot kiln.)
now you can just pick and choose what you want to do.
hell, be bold.
or, as i told a woman in grad school when she did not
want to buy canvas...`god almighty, sell your hundred dollar
shoes, and the diamonds on your body, sell your bmw..this is art!`
she said i was a `smart ass`. well, yes, but i painted on quality
canvas. she never did. and her worked showed that she did not
really care, or belong in grad school.
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
Snail Scott on fri 15 nov 02
At 07:40 PM 11/14/02 -0800, you wrote:
>Gosh, I guess we aren't quite up to the "ideal kiln" level yet. Got the
>electrics, got the gas kilns (5), got the salt kiln, got the giant pit,
>but darn; we don't have the wood fire kiln. Guess we have to get busy on
>that :-)
Make sure you build an anagama, an Olsen Fast-
Fire, a noborigama, and a groundhog, too, or
you won't ever be a Real Potter! (That's just
the bare minimum, of course.) ;)
-Snail
Russel Fouts on sat 16 nov 02
Pat,
>> O.k you guys, Here we go with the doh factor, what's a groundhog kiln? Does it fire real fast , or keep going out, so you never get any further???? <<
It's a wood kiln type that was popular in the US, mostly the south, I
think. Brought to the states by early emmigrant potters from Britain.
It's based on the Newcastle kiln.
It has one large single chamber built 1/2 into the ground for insulation
(bermed) with the firemouth at the front (where pots are loaded as well)
and a short wide chimney at the back. The floor will be flat or could be
stepped. The walls are straight back and straigt up and usually pretty
low. The roof is a shallow arch. Ones I've seen have had the floors
covered with hard sharp flint.
It's used today by american studio potters as a kind of American Anagama
(Merrie Boerner on this list). You can still see traditional ones in the
south at Jugtown and at the North Carolina Pottery Center as well as
other places.
I find it interesting how western potters have gone to the Japanese
anagama looking for a kiln that would give a lot of flame effects when
there are several types right in our own back yard that can give similar
results (ask Merrie); The Ground Hog kiln in the states, the La Bourne
kiln in France, etc.
Russel
-----------------------------
--
Russel Fouts
Mes Potes & Mes Pots
Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 223 02 75
Mobile: +32 476 55 38 75
Mailto: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
vince pitelka on sat 16 nov 02
> It has one large single chamber built 1/2 into the ground for insulation
> (bermed) with the firemouth at the front (where pots are loaded as well)
> and a short wide chimney at the back. The floor will be flat or could be
> stepped. The walls are straight back and straigt up and usually pretty
> low. The roof is a shallow arch. Ones I've seen have had the floors
> covered with hard sharp flint.
Russel -
That's all correct except that it was half underground in order to buttress
the outwards thrust of the arch, not for insulation. They did not have
access to welding/fabricating resources to build a steel frame, so the earth
buttressing served the purpose.
I just added a woodfiring page to my website, and it has pictures of our
"hoggama," which is a cross between an anagama and a groundhog. You can see
it at http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/studio/wood_firing.htm - it's ironic
that this subject should come up today, because we just finished a three-day
firing. This kiln fires like a dream, and we had cone 11 down front and
back this morning, and then soaked for eight hours before clamping it down.
Like a groundhog, this kiln has a shallow arch which is level front to back,
and like an anagama, the floor steps up in several levels, and there is a
taller chimney. Some anagama are steeply sloped and don't need much
chimney, but the ones that are more level usually have a good chimney. The
classic Piedmont groundhog, with its very low arch and short wide chimney,
has some serious shortcomings, and normally fires very cold at the lower
back. Generally they reserved that area for earthenware. For stoneware
firing, the anagama is generally a big improvement over the traditional
groundhog, and most of the contemporary groundhogs which fire well are
adaptations, combining design features from other kilns.
There is absolutely no reason anyone should feel inclined to use the Bourne
kiln or the groundhog just because they are more indigenous. Use the kiln
that works best, or invent your own, as we did.
We started our firing on Wednesday afternoon, and clamped it up at 5:30 this
afternoon. We'll open it up on Wednesday. I'll post a message about the
results.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
Pat Southwood on sat 16 nov 02
O.k you guys,
Here we go with the doh factor, what's a groundhog kiln?
Does it fire real fast , or keep going out, so you never get any further????
Pat.
pat@southwood4.fsnet.co.uk
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