Eric B on fri 8 aug 03
your question about which side of the hole should be bigger reminds me of
meadieval (i can never spell that right!) castles that had angled holes and slots
in their sides with the narrow end toward the viewer (or shooter of arrows)
so they had a wider field of vision out toward the bad guys.
what do we draw from this analogy? perhaps nothing, but your question sort of
reminded me of it and maybe someone can think of a way that it makes it
better one way or the other for an angled hole in a kiln. or, if not, at least a
bit of history!
eric
SpunMud
Bob Hamm on fri 8 aug 03
Vince,
What do you do for plugs Vince?
I make my spyholes the opposite of what you described. I make a round hole
about 1 1/4 inch inside and about 2 1/2 inch wide on the outside. This gives
me the same wide field of view, although I suppose you can see more from one
eye position. Cone shaped spyholes plugs fit snugly in the holes. I wonder
if there is a benefit to which end of the hole is smaller?
Bob
Bob Hamm
Robert Hamm Studio Gallery
6750 Highway 33 East, Kelowna, BC V1P 1H9
Phone 250 765-8876 Fax 250 765-0497 email bobhamm@look.ca
To visit my web site http://www.bobhamm-art.com
Kelowna Clay Festival web page http://www.bobhamm-art.com/clayfest
> For spyholes, I like to abrade the hole to a 1" round hole on the outside
> surface of the kiln, and a 2" by 2" square opening on the inside. This
> gives you a maximum field of view, with minimal opening on the outside.
It
> is easy to "carve" the interior shape using the allthread like a file.
> Good luck -
> - Vince
pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on sat 9 aug 03
Hi Earl,
From the Archery days...as Hank had below mentioned...
The widest end of the 'wedge' shaped aperture..is 'in'...the
narrowest faces 'out'..
No 'funneling that way...
Same was true for Gun Emplacements...let's who is 'in' have
a radius or sweep of what is 'out' to aim at...and has the
smallest possible target for whoever is 'out' to strike.
Yours!
Phil
Las Vegas
----- Original Message -----
From: "Earl Brunner"
> I always understood that, but I've been wondering,
wouldn't the slot
> funnel the arrow into the face of the defender?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf
Of Hank Murrow
> Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2003 6:31 AM
>
> Dear Eric;
>
> Those tapered apertures were built so the wider end faced
the castle
> archer, allowing him wide latitude in aim, while making a
very narrow
> slot for the enemy to shoot their arrows through, thus
protecting the
> castle shooter. I have a friend in southern france who has
one in her
> house near the entry. 12th century high tech!
>
> Cheers, Hank in Eugene
Hank Murrow on sat 9 aug 03
On Friday, August 8, 2003, at 07:57 PM, Eric B wrote:
> your question about which side of the hole should be bigger reminds me
> of
> meadieval (i can never spell that right!) castles that had angled
> holes and slots
> in their sides with the narrow end toward the viewer (or shooter of
> arrows)
> so they had a wider field of vision out toward the bad guys.
>
Dear Eric;
Those tapered apertures were built so the wider end faced the castle
archer, allowing him wide latitude in aim, while making a very narrow
slot for the enemy to shoot their arrows through, thus protecting the
castle shooter. I have a friend in southern france who has one in her
house near the entry. 12th century high tech!
Cheers, Hank in Eugene
Snail Scott on sat 9 aug 03
At 10:57 PM 8/8/03 EDT, you wrote:
>...castles that had angled holes and slots
>in their sides with the narrow end toward the viewer...maybe someone can
think of a way that it makes it
>better one way or the other for an angled hole in a kiln.
Whether the angle is inside or outside matters little,
solely in terms of viewing. However, there are added
considerations.
Medieval archers designed their shooting ports with the
added consideration that other archers outside might be
shooting back. An arrow slit that opened outward would
create a 'funnel' effect, guiding even less-than-
perfectly-aimed arrows right into the user's eye. A
definite design flaw!
Kiln peeps are designed with the added consideration
that they might need to be plugged to retain heat
inside the kiln. If tapered to widen toward the interior,
any plug inserted from outside would contact the hole
only on its outer periphery, causing increased wear
at the small contact surface and a loss of insulating
value due to the unfilled gap inside. So, I suspect
that the peephole which widens to the outside (and thus
may be filled with an equally-tapered plug) will
continue to be the standard. I once wondered why the
holes could not be made with a wider angle, to allow
better viewing if the kiln interior, but quickly
realized that a widely-tapered round hole will not
hold the plug as effectively. Now, a hole which has
the conventional taper at the top and bottom but
flares wider at the sides might be worth investigating.
Harder to manufacture, but easy with a hand file.
You'd have to make plugs to match, but an intrepid
ceramist with an eye toward the Future of Better Kiln
Peepholes should find that no difficulty at all!
-Snail
Earl Brunner on sat 9 aug 03
A wedge is easier to plug???
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Eric B
Sent: Friday, August 08, 2003 7:58 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: spyholes - was drilling in softbrick
your question about which side of the hole should be bigger reminds me
of
meadieval (i can never spell that right!) castles that had angled holes
and slots
in their sides with the narrow end toward the viewer (or shooter of
arrows)
so they had a wider field of vision out toward the bad guys.
what do we draw from this analogy? perhaps nothing, but your question
sort of
reminded me of it and maybe someone can think of a way that it makes it
better one way or the other for an angled hole in a kiln. or, if not,
at least a
bit of history!
eric
SpunMud
psci_kw on sat 9 aug 03
Hoo boy.
Heat behaves (in this case,) a lot like light.
The smaller hole should probably be toward the heat source e.g. the inside
of the kiln.
Helps hold in the heat. It would seem that having the wider side of the
hole toward the heat
would allow the heat to "focus" or concentrate itself onto the hole and
blast through.
(visions of my mother's "You could put an eye out with that thing!":>)
With a small diameter hole, would this really make a difference? Who
knows.
But heat is energy, and energy is money.
Nuff said,
Wayne in KW
who has heat to spare this time of year
> I make my spyholes the opposite of what you described. I make a round
hole
> about 1 1/4 inch inside and about 2 1/2 inch wide on the outside. This
gives
> me the same wide field of view, although I suppose you can see more from
one
> eye position. Cone shaped spyholes plugs fit snugly in the holes. I wonder
> if there is a benefit to which end of the hole is smaller?
>
Eric B on sat 9 aug 03
thank you hank. i KNEW someone might make some sense (better sense) of what
i was thinking.
eric
Tony Olsen on sat 9 aug 03
eric,
If the wider end was in the kiln, how would you put the plug in? =20
On the castle thingy, I think the wide end was on the inside next to the =
shooter, otherwise it would make a very nice funnel for incoming arrows =
:-O. Just my intuit on it. =20
On the kiln, the wider end being outboard gives the same viewability (is =
that a word?) as if the same angle/size hole was reversed. You do have =
to move your head though. My Gare electric has a small hole near the =
viewer and a little wider on the inside, and relies on a metal flap =
'door' for closing.
BTW, Hope everyone knows to wear some shaded eye protection when doing =
this, don't need scorched retinas. I use a pair of goggles that people =
use for gas welding (Brazing).
Take care, stay muddy
Tony Olsen
Galveston TX=20
neslot@houston.rr.com
http://tonyolsen.com/up/
Earl Brunner on sat 9 aug 03
I always understood that, but I've been wondering, wouldn't the slot
funnel the arrow into the face of the defender?
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Hank Murrow
Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2003 6:31 AM
Dear Eric;
Those tapered apertures were built so the wider end faced the castle
archer, allowing him wide latitude in aim, while making a very narrow
slot for the enemy to shoot their arrows through, thus protecting the
castle shooter. I have a friend in southern france who has one in her
house near the entry. 12th century high tech!
Cheers, Hank in Eugene
Vince Pitelka on sun 10 aug 03
> Whether the angle is inside or outside matters little,
> solely in terms of viewing.
On the contrary, it makes a huge difference. If the spy hole tapers wider
towards the outside, then you have to move your eye back and forth to see
the whole cone pack, and you need a big clunky spyplug to fill the hole. If
the hole tapers wider towards the inside, from one vantage point you can see
the whole cone pack, and you only need a small spyplug, like the ones on
electric toploaders.
And regarding another post, no, there is no concentration of heat or
velocity of gases and flames when the spy hole tapers smaller towards the
outside.
I cannot imagine making a spyhole taper larger to the outside. It seems to
contradict everything you want a spyhole to do.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Office - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 x111, FAX 615/597-6803
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
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