Vince Pitelka on tue 19 oct 04
> I'm currently building a new 4 port downdraught gas kiln. A friend who is
> quite a knowledgeable kiln builder wants to offset the arch bricks by half
> a
> brick, so they are staggered and 'interlocked'. He says this will give the
> arch greater strength. However, I'm only familiar with the simpler method
> of
> just placing them in simple rows. Has anyone got any advice on this?
Steven -
The only circumstance I am aware of where they do it the way you are
familiar with (a ring arch) is in certain industrial applications. For
studio kilns you should always lay a "locked" arch, with the front-to-back
rows staggered 1/2 brick. Just to make sure we are talking the same thing -
you put the arch form in place, get your skews and your reinforcing frame
installed, and then start from both sides, laying a row of arch bricks from
front to back on each side. You offset the next row on each side by
starting with an arch brick cut in half (4 1/2" long) so that none of the
seams line up with the adjacent bricks. On the next row you would start
with a whole brick, on the one after that a half brick, etc. You keep doing
that until you get to the top where you can cut and fit your row of key
bricks. That way, throughout the arch, there will be no seams lining up.
You will have a much stronger arch.
I cannot imagine any application in a studio kiln where you would want to
lay a "ring arch," with continuous rows of whole arch bricks layed
sid-by-side across the arch in parallel "rings." As I said, that system is
only used in industry, and I really don't know why it is ever used. Maybe
someone else has some insight on that.
Good luck -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
David Hendley on wed 20 oct 04
I was amazed when, a couple of year ago, I watched the video
on how to build a kiln form Steve Jepson.
You guessed it, they built a ring arch. I thought at the time that it was
odd, and a dis-service to aspiring kiln builders.
I would never want to build an arch like this - it is the equivalent of
building kiln walls by laying a brick on top of another, with no staggers
in the joints.
David Hendley
Working hard to make sure there is no mug left behind
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
----- Original Message -----
> The only circumstance I am aware of where they do it the way you are
> familiar with (a ring arch) is in certain industrial applications. For
> studio kilns you should always lay a "locked" arch, with the front-to-back
> rows staggered 1/2 brick.
> I cannot imagine any application in a studio kiln where you would want to
> lay a "ring arch," with continuous rows of whole arch bricks layed
> sid-by-side across the arch in parallel "rings." As I said, that system
is
> only used in industry, and I really don't know why it is ever used. Maybe
> someone else has some insight on that.
> Good luck -
> - Vince
Marcia Selsor on wed 20 oct 04
I don't know this style but I photographed some very impressive brick
work in fire boxes in old Spanish kilns that were almost herringbone
pattern...(like Brunelleschi's dome).
I had a friend, a master kiln builder, demonstrate how they built round
domes on the top chamber of three story kilns in Agost Spain. He built
a temporary 2 foot pilling in the center of a square chamber about 2
feet high. Tied a string to his wrist and started laying bricks. He did
use a clay binder. But that dome was done in a day. Approximately 12 x
12 foot chamber with a 12 foot ceiling.
Marcia Selsor
On Oct 20, 2004, at 9:39 AM, David Hendley wrote:
> I was amazed when, a couple of year ago, I watched the video
> on how to build a kiln form Steve Jepson.
> You guessed it, they built a ring arch. I thought at the time that it
> was
> odd, and a dis-service to aspiring kiln builders.
> I would never want to build an arch like this - it is the equivalent of
> building kiln walls by laying a brick on top of another, with no
> staggers
> in the joints.
>
> David Hendley
> Working hard to make sure there is no mug left behind
> david@farmpots.com
> http://www.farmpots.com
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>> The only circumstance I am aware of where they do it the way you are
>> familiar with (a ring arch) is in certain industrial applications.
>> For
>> studio kilns you should always lay a "locked" arch, with the
>> front-to-back
>> rows staggered 1/2 brick.
>
>> I cannot imagine any application in a studio kiln where you would
>> want to
>> lay a "ring arch," with continuous rows of whole arch bricks layed
>> sid-by-side across the arch in parallel "rings." As I said, that
>> system
> is
>> only used in industry, and I really don't know why it is ever used.
>> Maybe
>> someone else has some insight on that.
>> Good luck -
>> - Vince
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> 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.
>
Richard Aerni on wed 20 oct 04
On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 10:39:45 -0500, David Hendley wrote:
>I was amazed when, a couple of year ago, I watched the video
>on how to build a kiln form Steve Jepson.
>You guessed it, they built a ring arch. I thought at the time that it was
>odd, and a dis-service to aspiring kiln builders.
Someone mentioned earlier that they had seen ring arched kilns in industry,
and wondered why. The only reason I can surmise is that with the ring
arch, it is easy to replace sections of the arch without having to rebuild
the entire arch itself. With the prevalence of very large kilns in
industry, this would be a definite plus. But for a studio potter with a
small kiln (lets say less than 200 cubic feet), building an interlocking
arch form would seem to insure a longer lived arch.
Also, along these lines, keep in mind that an arch is only as good as the
understructure and the ironwork keeping the kiln brick in check. If the
walls are out of plumb, if the iron is too loose, not plumb, etc, and lets
the arch wander, then you will have a short-lived kiln.
Best,
Richard Aerni
Rochester, NY
John Britt on wed 20 oct 04
Vince,
Tracy Dotson always builds kilns with ring arches. I always wondered about
this until we had a mild explosion at Penland and then fixing the arch was
easy. I built a small 9" wide arch and jacked up sections and reset
them. It was no problem.
I have had to reset interlocking arches and it was much more difficult.
The ring arch kiln works fine, even though I usually build interlocking or
cast arches.
John Britt
www.johnbrittpottery.com
Hank Murrow on wed 20 oct 04
On Oct 20, 2004, at 2:25 PM, Richard Aerni wrote:
> Someone mentioned earlier that they had seen ring arched kilns in
> industry,
> and wondered why. The only reason I can surmise is that with the ring
> arch, it is easy to replace sections of the arch without having to
> rebuild
> the entire arch itself.
The other reason is that the ring arch can be built with bricks that
are not the same dimension, as they do not interlock. I built a
'life-size' sculpture kiln for the University of Oregon that they named
the 'Hanky' with ring arches because we were using a mixed supply of
brick. Each arch floats independently and somewhat differently, and the
whole kiln has lasted these 15 years with at least that many more
clearly on the horizon. I cast a pretty two-piece lintel at the front,
which contains the first arch and provides a seal for the guillotine
style fiber door. Cast side sills too, for the same reason.
I believe it is important to try to fathom the principle behind
practice....... in this way one may act a little more freely.
Cheers, Hank in Eugene
www.murrow.biz/hank
| |
|
