clennell on thu 23 sep 04
> Time for another discussion about this on Clayart? Tony C. when you
> have a chance to breathe, please tell us more about your smokeless
> chimney? Others? I'm very passionate and serious about this. Some of the
> best wood kilns in the country have had to be torn down in the past
> year.
>
> Karen Terpstra
> La Crosse, WI
> http://www.uwlax.edu/faculty/terpstra/
> http://www.terpstra-lou.com
KT: The smokeless chimney has most of all to do with the wood used as you
have already wisely suggested. In the back of Jack Troys Woodfiring book
there is a chart on page 161 that gives the characteristics of wood types.
It lists species, splitability, ease of starting, heavy smoke, sparks and
coaling qualities. I look for a wood that gives NO smoke and excellent
coaling qualities because I use a bourry box. He lists pine as medium smoke
but my experience was it was like burning a Michelin.
Our house wood stove chimney smokes more than our kiln. It burns clean
although there is a smell of dry heat that might bother a neighbour
barbequeing on the patio. My neighbour collects tractors and has 23 of them
on one acre of land so some wood smell is pleasant over the smell of deisel.
I too worry about people charging into woodfiring without sitting down and
doing some reading. Right now in Ontario the pollution police are hot on the
heels of gas kilns. Wood kilns are exempt from these rules until someone
draws attention to woodfiring because of their acting before thinking.
Most think they can use a fireplace and so they can fire a woodkiln.
Temperatures exiting the chimney exceed 900F so heat is visible but not
smoke in my case.. If this was a masonary house chimney you 'd probably
crack it to bits or have yourself a chimney fire.
One of the Ozzie hard core woodfirers Yurri? throws half a cow in the
firebox. He lives far from town. He gets big cow bones from the butcher and
throws them in for phosphorous and iron from the fat and blood. Nice white
surface on the clay but let your neighbours get wind of you cremation
facility and you just might a problem.
Woodkilns don't come with instruction manuals. They all fire differently and
you have to write your own manual in the form of experience. I don't think
they are intended for those that can't be bothered to read all they can
before they fire one.
Gotta go- gas firing today!
cheers,
Tony
| |
|
