Leonard Smith on thu 11 sep 03
brick)
>
> On Wednesday, September 10, 2003, at 06:05 AM, Janet Kaiser wrote:
>
>> 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.
> I beg to differ here, I have used cut bricks for 30 years and they
> have invariably outlasted commercial post by a factor of 2. I have
> used them in salt kilns, wood kilns, wood salt kiln,s oil kilns, LPG
> kilns and electric kilns and have found them to be more than
> satisfactory. I still use some that I cut using a bricksaw in 1974
> when I was a student.
>
> I cut them from our standard 9" x 4.5" x 3" medium duty firebricks in
> modular forms, 9" , 6", 4.5" 3" 2",1" all x1"x1". I then cut up old
> and broken shelves to use as spacers. This range of sizes has always
> given me just what I need regardless of the kiln. These module have
> lent themselves well to my pot making, so that when production potting
> I would throw to these heights, with shrinkage alowing them to fit
> under the shelve. Our pot shelves were all proprtional to our kiln
> shelves ie 2x 24"x 12" shelves, pot board 48" x 12". One pot board
> full = 2 kilnshelves full. Makes working out kiln loads much easier.
>
> The additional thermal mass is pretty insignificant
>>
>> They are also much lighter so the bats do not have to take that
>> unnecessary extra weight.
> Bats should never take the weight of the props, the props should
> always form a continuos pillar up the stack each one above the other -
> anything else will lead to the bats cracking.
>> 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.
> After each firing we stack all the props in together by height so that
> they are easily spotted when repacking. Part of our firing preparation
> is the cleaning of shelves and props, using kiln wash when necessary.
>>
>> 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 have always used grade firebricks of known manufacture and the
> saving are enormous, from 1 $5 brick you can get at least 24 3" props
>
>
> Leonard Smith
> Rosedale Street Gallery
> 2A Rosedale Street
> Dulwich Hill NSW 2203
> Australia
>
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