Janet Kaiser on tue 9 sep 03
I hadn't realised the brick-cutting thread was for making kiln
furniture, until Lili`s post. If this is a bid to save on costs
and expenditure, may I suggest that it may be a false economy?
Posts (either bought or made yourself) would soon pay for
themselves because they take up far less space in the kiln. That
means more pot-space and higher production. More value for money
each firing as it were.
They are also much lighter so the bats do not have to take that
unnecessary extra weight. Again some people have difficulty with
shelves sagging without the extra weight, so replacing bats
sooner rather than later would also save money.
Talking for myself as I can be very clumsy and cack-handed when
kiln-loading, I would also prefer the hollow lighter posts to
bricks simply because they are less likely to do a lot of damage
when I push them over by mistake. Even when I`d topple a top
section or two off, they rarely did any real damage, whereas a
brick or part of a brick...?
When I started out and was learning how to load a kiln it would
take a couple of times to sort out heights of pots, volume etc.
until I was satisfied with my packing. It was difficult enough
with the various height posts at my disposable so I could vary
the depths between full and/or half bats, but I am almost certain
I could not have learned to make economical use of the space with
fixed height posts.
Lastly depending on the type of brick, there is no guarantee they
are going to last as long as tried and tested posts, nor whether
they will be stable..? I also wonder about the additional
heatwork that bricks would generate..? Wouldn't the surface of
pots placed next to that amount of red hot clay fire differently?
Sincerely
Janet Kaiser
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