Claudia MacPhee on sat 27 may 06
Hi All, Just returned from the auction (standing around for 4 hours in the rain and 40k winds waiting for the bricks to come up for bid). Lucky me!!!! I bought about 1,000 bricks for $200. Mostly AP Green Ozarks and some red ones. They are in a big pile that someone dumped gravel on so don't have an exact count, but will take lots of trips to bring back here. Exciting! I picked thru them and they are in really good shape.
My question-can anyone suggest books, websites etc for understanding kiln designs? I am going to think this one thru for quite awhile before I start building. My son is a mechanical engineer who lives nearby so I also have him to help me understand about how heat works. I will probably be firing alone so won't want something too big. Open to any and all suggestions. Thanks in advance, Claudia MacPhee Tagish, Yukon
Cheryl Weickert on sun 28 may 06
Most libraries that don't have the book you are looking for can get them
in from other libraries if you request it by title and author.... I've
gotten books from college libraries by request in our local little town
library.
Pinky in blazing MN... in the 90's... too hot, too soon for us in MN... we
can handle the cold but the heat is another story!
On Sun, 28 May 2006 09:03:12 -0500, Brian Fistler
wrote:
>It's a current book and you shouldn't have a problem finding it
>online... I was milling around a library in a larger town (Ok, this is
>Iowa, it wasn't THAT large of a town but then agian, when you live 5
>miles south of hicks-ville, population ~3000 a wide spot in the road can
>seem positivly metropolitian...) yesterday looking around while my wife
>was teaching a lamp-working class and was looking up ceramics & pottery
>on their computer and if I remember right, I think that book was
>available on a library-exchange basis, although they didn't have it "in
>stock".
>
>If your budget allows, I'd highly recommend you get a copy, otherwise
>maybe check with your local library.
>
>Brian
Vince Pitelka on sun 28 may 06
Claudia -=20
Sounds like you got a great deal. You'll have to run some tests on =
those reddish bricks. Do they also have a name impressed in them? I =
have encountered lots of high-duty firebrick that have a reddish skim of =
mortar on the surface. No doubt there will be fragments of some of =
those reddish bricks in the pile, and you can see if the red color goes =
all the way through. The red is usually caused by iron, and high-duty =
bricks usually contain very little iron. If they are the same =
dimensions as the other firebrick, the chances are good that they are =
high-duty. I have never encountered a red brick that had exactly the =
same shape and size as a high-duty firebrick. Take a fragment of one of =
the reddish bricks, place it in a bisque-fired bowl, and have someone =
fire it to cone 10 in a gas reduction firing. =20
The best general kiln-construction book is still Fred Olson's "The Kiln =
Book." It is very comprehensive, and covers most kinds of kiln =
construction in depth.=20
Good luck -=20
- 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/
Paul Herman on sun 28 may 06
Hi Claudia,
Congratulations on getting a great deal on the bricks, 20 cents each
is fine.
There's a great little magazine for wood firers called "The Log Book"
published in Ireland. I highly recommend it, and they cover all kinds
of wood firing, high and low. Their website is:
http://homepage.eircom.net/~thelogbook/
Good books are by Jack Troy "Wood Fired Stoneware and Porcelain", and
Minogue and Sanderson "Wood Fired Ceramics". Also, for some smaller
designs, find "Laid Back Wood Firing" by Steve Harrison, on Bourrey
Box style kilns. By the way, all three of these titles are available
from The Potter's Shop in Massachusetts. email PottersShop@aol.com
Good luck with the new direction. I warn you, wood firing is highly
addictive!
Happy with the wood fire monkey on my back,
Paul Herman
Great Basin Pottery
Doyle, California US
http://greatbasinpottery.com
On May 27, 2006, at 6:11 PM, Claudia MacPhee wrote:
> Hi All, Just returned from the auction (standing around for 4 hours
> in the rain and 40k winds waiting for the bricks to come up for
> bid). Lucky me!!!! I bought about 1,000 bricks for $200. Mostly AP
> Green Ozarks and some red ones. They are in a big pile that someone
> dumped gravel on so don't have an exact count, but will take lots
> of trips to bring back here. Exciting! I picked thru them and they
> are in really good shape.
> My question-can anyone suggest books, websites etc for
> understanding kiln designs? I am going to think this one thru for
> quite awhile before I start building. My son is a mechanical
> engineer who lives nearby so I also have him to help me understand
> about how heat works. I will probably be firing alone so won't want
> something too big. Open to any and all suggestions. Thanks in
> advance, Claudia MacPhee Tagish, Yukon
> ______________________________________________________________________
> ________ 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.
Hank Murrow on sun 28 may 06
On May 27, 2006, at 6:11 PM, Claudia MacPhee wrote:
>
> Hi All, Just returned from the auction (standing around for 4 hours in=20=
> the rain and 40k winds waiting for the bricks to come up for bid).=20
> Lucky me!!!! I bought about 1,000 bricks for $200. Mostly AP Green=20
> Ozarks and some red ones. They are in a big pile that someone dumped=20=
> gravel on so don't have an exact count, but will take lots of trips to=20=
> bring back here. Exciting! I picked thru them and they are in really=20=
> good shape.
> =A0=A0 My question-can anyone suggest books, websites etc for=20
> understanding kiln designs? I am going to think this one thru for=20
> quite awhile before I start building. My son is a mechanical engineer=20=
> who lives nearby so I also have him to help me understand about how=20
> heat works. I will probably be firing alone so won't want something=20
> too big. Open to any and all suggestions. Thanks in advance, Claudia=20=
> MacPhee=A0 Tagish, Yukon
Dear Claudia;
The very first thing you should do is determine your kiln shelf=20
setting. I recommend two 12 x 24 shelves and a setting that is not too=20=
high, perhaps 30_36". This will yield a kiln that stacks around 12 cu=20
ft, which is small enough that you can fire often which is what you=20
need in the beginning years to gain experience. Also, a smallish kiln=20
will allow you to try different firing tricks without the fear of=20
losing a big load. So many folks are wanting to fire down in the=20
cooling, but are afraid to do it because they have a lot invested in=20
their big loads. Those who have done it are changed forever, if you can=20=
believe their testimony here.
Once you have decided on a shelf configuration, it is just a matter of=20=
deciding updraft or downdraft, etc. and building the kiln around your=20
setting.
Cheers, Hank in Eugene
> www.murrow.biz/hank
Brian Fistler on sun 28 may 06
On Sat, 2006-05-27 at 18:11 -0700, Claudia MacPhee wrote:
>
[snip]
OK, I'm envious... I've got the book, but not the bricks ;)
"The Kiln Book" by Frederick Olson goes into great detail on the
construction of just about any type of kiln you can imagine...
I'd think you could probably find plans on the internet, also, but I
haven't looked. Unless you know what kind of kiln best suits your
needs, updraft, downdraft, crossdraft etc. it'll be harder to narrow
your choices.
Olson's book covers a lot of information from the brick-laying to
burners for gas-fired, wood fired, even electric kiln construction and
maintenance. How to morter, what material to use, temperatures for
various brands and types of bricks & refractory morters. Lot of diagrams
& mesaurements, angles etc. Also diagrams of heat flows through the
various kiln designs.
It's a current book and you shouldn't have a problem finding it
online... I was milling around a library in a larger town (Ok, this is
Iowa, it wasn't THAT large of a town but then agian, when you live 5
miles south of hicks-ville, population ~3000 a wide spot in the road can
seem positivly metropolitian...) yesterday looking around while my wife
was teaching a lamp-working class and was looking up ceramics & pottery
on their computer and if I remember right, I think that book was
available on a library-exchange basis, although they didn't have it "in
stock".
If your budget allows, I'd highly recommend you get a copy, otherwise
maybe check with your local library.
Brian
> My question-can anyone suggest books, websites etc for
> understanding kiln designs? I am going to think this one thru for
> quite awhile before I start building. My son is a mechanical engineer
> who lives nearby so I also have him to help me understand about how
> heat works. I will probably be firing alone so won't want something
> too big. Open to any and all suggestions. Thanks in advance, Claudia
> MacPhee Tagish, Yukon
> !DSPAM:4479871c179621804284693!
> ______________________________________________________________________________ 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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