mel jacobson on tue 7 mar 06
it is good to note that all specs on brick
are determined for industry.
no brick company gives a damn about pottery kilns.
we don't count. it is the constant firing that
makes the specs what they are. heavy duty firing.
so saying that:
a potter's kiln fires a few times a month, at best.
a commercial kiln fires 24/7/365. when it falls apart
they build a new one.
we have mixed all sorts of used, scavenged ifb bricks in kilns.
k-20 would be great exterior bricks, great insulation
value. i have k-23's that are now 45 years old, and still
work just fine. we have kilns at the farm built of used
mixed brick...23,24, and k-26's. we get very hot in those
kilns...to cone 13. no wear can be detected. it is simple,
we do not fire them all the time.
i probably would avoid using k-20's in the flame way.
around the flue...they may not be great in the
fire box. but, they could be mixed all through the
kiln body. keeping in mind they might be best on
the outer skin. just take an old can of spray paint
and mark them with a stripe..then you will not get them
mixed up.
when building kilns, buy any used ifb you can get. you can use more
and more. we always use the best and cleanest
brick in the roof system..in our case, the flat top. actually
prefer brand new bricks for any roof. the flame/way gets hard
brick, and a few around openings. we like hard brick in the
corners of our flat/top. we never turn down an offer of free
or inexpensive ifb's. same for kiln shelves...take them all.
(they always work in the wood fired kiln.) we never have
enough for the salt kiln...and the same for posts.
and damaged kaowool is always picked off. god, you can split
it up. pack it in cracks, use it around rough areas...make a
5 gallon pail raku kiln. put it in an electric kiln, on the floor.
never have enough. we get broken pieces of thick m/board
and use it for dampers.
we got 60 bags of `outdated` castable last year.
that made most of our wood fired kiln. free. it worked
just great. like buying coffee that was over the `sell by` date.
still makes coffee. no industrial kiln builder would buy outdated
materials...for our use, it was perfect.
so, never turn down kiln building materials..there is always a place
to use it.
be creative. spec sheets are made for very heavy pounding.
you will never come close in a home kiln.
mel
"Luck is prepaid."
from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://my.pclink.com/~melpots3
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