Jesse Stevens on wed 18 aug 04
I am planning to build a smallish woodfired kiln and in addition to
researching designs I'm also trying to gather up materials, or at least
figure out sources. I'm going to try for a high temp model, something
workable for 2-3 people, that delivers good ash/flash effects, and is as
cost effective as possible. I've fired anagama, train, and seen a
single chamber cat arch wood kiln in action- leaning towards the train
design I worked with at Watershed Ceramic Arts here in Maine. I live
about an hour away, have some good local materials- local sawmills'
scrap waste and unlimited 'brick clay' about 4' down.
Here's some questions I've got, thanks in advance for responses or
any general musings.
Anybody have or heard about sources of used brick in my area(Maine,
or general New England). I've read postings on industrial sources,
but none have been around here.
Castable kilns represent significant savings- esp. when youre talking
about buying new brick. True or False?
If I do go castable, I've only seen arch forms casted, so would it be
possible to make a top- loading train kiln in that medium?
What are some good castable recipes and are there ingredients one
could add to that mixure to resist some of the ash induced corrosion?
How about homemade bricks, anybody have experience with adobe,
tatami , ect?
Thanks again,
Jesse in New Gloucester, ME
Eva Gallagher on thu 19 aug 04
Hi Jesse - if there is a lot of limestone in your area you may want to look
for old lime kilns (some county maps or topo maps will have them marked)- I
found a whole bunch of bricks at such a location - they were all
semi-buried, some covered with moss, but many look very good. I don't know
what temperatures they are good for but many of the wedges had a melted face
on the hot surface. That lime kiln was out of operation 35 years ago so I
imagine that that many bricks are over 50 years old. Although they have been
exposed to the elements, I think they are OK for outer layers of floors and
sides. It was actually kind of fun searching for them - like doing
archaeology.
Good hunting!
Eva Gallagher
Deep River, Ontario
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jesse Stevens"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 11:51 AM
Subject: kiln brick/ materials
> I am planning to build a smallish woodfired kiln and in addition to
> researching designs I'm also trying to gather up materials, or at least
> figure out sources. I'm going to try for a high temp model, something
> workable for 2-3 people, that delivers good ash/flash effects, and is as
> cost effective as possible. I've fired anagama, train, and seen a
> single chamber cat arch wood kiln in action- leaning towards the train
> design I worked with at Watershed Ceramic Arts here in Maine. I live
> about an hour away, have some good local materials- local sawmills'
> scrap waste and unlimited 'brick clay' about 4' down.
> Here's some questions I've got, thanks in advance for responses or
> any general musings.
>
> Anybody have or heard about sources of used brick in my area(Maine,
> or general New England). I've read postings on industrial sources,
> but none have been around here.
>
> Castable kilns represent significant savings- esp. when youre talking
> about buying new brick. True or False?
>
> If I do go castable, I've only seen arch forms casted, so would it be
> possible to make a top- loading train kiln in that medium?
>
> What are some good castable recipes and are there ingredients one
> could add to that mixure to resist some of the ash induced corrosion?
>
> How about homemade bricks, anybody have experience with adobe,
> tatami , ect?
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Jesse in New Gloucester, ME
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Snail Scott on thu 19 aug 04
At 12:38 PM 8/19/2004 -0400, you wrote:
>...you may want to look
>for old lime kilns...I
>found a whole bunch of bricks at such a location...I don't know
>what temperatures they are good for but many of the wedges had a melted face
>on the hot surface...
Lime kilns generally operated in what we would call
a low-fire temperature range. Using the bricks for
cold-face purposes might be worthwhile, though.
-Snail Scott
Eva Gallagher on thu 19 aug 04
Hi Snail,
Some of the bricks had iron reduction spots so I assume that they had gone
up to at least cone 8-9. So far I had identified about 6 different makes of
bricks - but you are right just use them on cold faces.
Eva,
Deep River, Ontario
----- Original Message -----
From: "Snail Scott"
To:
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2004 7:10 PM
Subject: Re: kiln brick/ materials
> At 12:38 PM 8/19/2004 -0400, you wrote:
> >...you may want to look
> >for old lime kilns...I
> >found a whole bunch of bricks at such a location...I don't know
> >what temperatures they are good for but many of the wedges had a melted
face
> >on the hot surface...
>
>
> Lime kilns generally operated in what we would call
> a low-fire temperature range. Using the bricks for
> cold-face purposes might be worthwhile, though.
>
> -Snail Scott
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
steve harrison on fri 20 aug 04
Hello Jesse,
I can't tell you about 2nd hand bricks in Maine from over here in
Australia. However, I can answer a couple of your questions.
Castable will sag over time as a flat top section. It will need a steel
frame and stainless steel anchors to support it, similar to the way a
flat top fibre lid needs support.
Yes, you can make your own fire bricks. I made mine, but its a lot of
work. You need space and time and then there is the firing cost. I
think that you will be better off with 2nd hand bricks, if you can find
them in your area.
have you thought of a fibre lid for the kiln? Light weight and fuel
efficient. It might be a solution that suits your problem. I've had
three wood fired fibre lined kilns in different configurations over the
years.
You might be interested in my books on wood firing? In them there are
designs that incorporate flat top lids and ceramic fibre linings.
They can be found at the Ian Currie web site
http://ian.currie.to/sh/Steve_Harrisons_books.html
or If you are near Steve Branfman's Potters Shop, he carries them in
stock.
Best wishes
Steve Harrison
Hot & Sticky Pty Ltd
5 Railway Pde
Balmoral Village
NSW 2571
Australia
http://ian.currie.to/sh/Steve_Harrisons_books.html
On Thursday, August 19, 2004, at 01:51 AM, Jesse Stevens wrote:
> I am planning to build a smallish woodfired kiln and in addition to
> researching designs I'm also trying to gather up materials, or at least
> figure out sources. I'm going to try for a high temp model,
> something
> workable for 2-3 people, that delivers good ash/flash effects, and is
> as
> cost effective as possible. I've fired anagama, train, and seen a
> single chamber cat arch wood kiln in action- leaning towards the train
> design I worked with at Watershed Ceramic Arts here in Maine. I live
> about an hour away, have some good local materials- local sawmills'
> scrap waste and unlimited 'brick clay' about 4' down.
> Here's some questions I've got, thanks in advance for responses or
> any general musings.
>
> Anybody have or heard about sources of used brick in my area(Maine,
> or general New England). I've read postings on industrial sources,
> but none have been around here.
>
> Castable kilns represent significant savings- esp. when youre talking
> about buying new brick. True or False?
>
> If I do go castable, I've only seen arch forms casted, so would it be
> possible to make a top- loading train kiln in that medium?
>
> What are some good castable recipes and are there ingredients one
> could add to that mixure to resist some of the ash induced corrosion?
>
> How about homemade bricks, anybody have experience with adobe,
> tatami , ect?
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Jesse in New Gloucester, ME
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
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