Marcia Selsor on mon 16 dec 02
Gail,
While at the Bray this summer we melded a few ideas:
Josh uses ash from anagama mixed with some clay and sand. I added some celulose
from a big bail I had from the Hardward store. (I had another at home and wasn't
planning to take this home with me). I think it helped with the insulation. I
also chinked the inner layer of the poor fitting bricks. Then chinked the
arch/top of the door. It was very well insulated and really seem to shorten the
firing schedule by insulating the door so well.
Marcia in Montana
(off clay art since Sat. and in SF helping inlaws m
Joseph Herbert on tue 17 dec 02
I was once startled at a wood firing when the instructor who was conducting
the firing sealed the bricked-up door with newspaper and clay slurry. This
firing was at the ceramics studio in yellow springs PA. the kiln is pretty
much a walk-in with a door opening that seemed six feet tall and about 3
bricks wide. When the bricks were in place sheets of news print were
smeared with slurry and placed against the door area. enough slurry to
stick the sheets together and to the bricks was applied. The print on the
paper was still easily read through the clay, though. Perhaps the paper was
the clay loaded colored slick inserts from the Sunday paper. Anyway, the
firing went to cone 11 and the paper seemed relatively unchanged during the
process. I was not there when the door was opened, so I don't know what the
state of the paper was other than by looks.
Seemed to work really well.
Joseph Herbert
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