ester svensson on mon 9 oct 06
Hello hello,
I'm working with an organisation that has a ceramics-project in
Afghanistan; we are setting up a small ceramics school here in Kabul, and
are also working in a potter's village called Istalif, just north of Kabul.
Our focus is on traditional Afghani pottery and tiles, and we would like to
keep things as local as possible, (ie. not import everything from overseas
and make them reliant on materials and equipment that's not available here).
I'm not the most experienced potter in the world (just taking a year out
from my ceramics-degree), so i've got quite a few questions about things,
(as you can perhaps imagine).
The traditional method here is single-fired earthenware; the kilns are not
very effficient (updraft), and i'm wondering whether anyone knows whether
the fast-fire olsen kiln would work if it was built with normal house-bricks
and mud-straw mixture (which is what the potters use for their kilns), i
mean if i could use the design and proportions, but with these local
materials to fire to low temperatures, ie not more than 1100 degrees C???
Hard firebricks are available from Pakistan, as is some kind of insulation
fibre, so we could also use this...
Also, I'm wondering whether the kilns they are using now could perhaps be
made more efficient by adding chimneys (Kabul and Istalif are at pretty high
altitudes), or even by insulating the insides with a layer of fibre? (they
are basically cubes, with a round firing chamber, firebox directly
underneath, a hole in the floor of the kiln, with a corresponding hole in
the roof/ceiling that is closed up during firing, and 4 flues opening onto
the roof, (no chimneys).
That's all for now, but you'll no doubt be hearing from me again in the
future... Thanks very much!
All the best,
ester
Marcia Selsor on mon 9 oct 06
Ester,
I did a comparison between Uzbek traditional kilns and some of the
Islamic style kilns I found in Spain.
Could you email me a photo or diagram of the kilns you are using off
list?
Then I may have some suggestions.
Marcia
selsor@imt.net
On Oct 9, 2006, at 9:31 AM, ester svensson wrote:
> Hello hello,
> I'm working with an organisation that has a ceramics-project in
> Afghanistan; we are setting up a small ceramics school here in
> Kabul, and
> are also working in a potter's village called Istalif, just north
> of Kabul.
> Our focus is on traditional Afghani pottery and tiles, and we would
> like to
> keep things as local as possible, (ie. not import everything from
> overseas
> and make them reliant on materials and equipment that's not
> available here).
> I'm not the most experienced potter in the world (just taking a
> year out
> from my ceramics-degree), so i've got quite a few questions about
> things,
> (as you can perhaps imagine).
> The traditional method here is single-fired earthenware; the kilns
> are not
> very effficient (updraft), and i'm wondering whether anyone knows
> whether
> the fast-fire olsen kiln would work if it was built with normal
> house-bricks
> and mud-straw mixture (which is what the potters use for their
> kilns), i
> mean if i could use the design and proportions, but with these local
> materials to fire to low temperatures, ie not more than 1100
> degrees C???
> Hard firebricks are available from Pakistan, as is some kind of
> insulation
> fibre, so we could also use this...
> Also, I'm wondering whether the kilns they are using now could
> perhaps be
> made more efficient by adding chimneys (Kabul and Istalif are at
> pretty high
> altitudes), or even by insulating the insides with a layer of
> fibre? (they
> are basically cubes, with a round firing chamber, firebox directly
> underneath, a hole in the floor of the kiln, with a corresponding
> hole in
> the roof/ceiling that is closed up during firing, and 4 flues
> opening onto
> the roof, (no chimneys).
> That's all for now, but you'll no doubt be hearing from me again in
> the
> future... Thanks very much!
> All the best,
> ester
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> ________
> 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.
>
Marcia Selsor
http://marciaselsor.com
Frank Colson on wed 11 oct 06
Ester- I know the conditions you are confronted with , as I have been in
Kabul and Pakistan as well ,when driving overland across the Mddle-
East some time ago. In fact I was able to sit down and throw pots with a
Pakistanian in Lehore during that time.
Much of what you are confronted with is similar to primative firing
conditions in Mexico. I put together a number of primitive working kilns
during my years there as well as a few dozen other countries, Napels,
Greece, New Zealand, Australia , etc.
Since you have not provided information of what you are attempting to
accomplish' raku,lowfire, cone range, and/or glazed pots.....I suggest that
you take a look at www.R2D2u.com and see if some of the material there would
be of help. Much of the mateial at that site is the result of designing
working kilns from local materials that would work fine, depending on what
your objectives are! I built a catenary gas kiln in Peru as a demo for the
World Crafts Organization in '68. There was absolutly no "wood" available
from any source. So, using an Inca indian as an assistant, I was able ot
build a kiln from adobe which served our purposes just fine.
Keep us all posted on your endevors!
Frank Colson
www.R2D2u.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "ester svensson"
To:
Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 7:31 AM
Subject: kilns in afghanistan
> Hello hello,
> I'm working with an organisation that has a ceramics-project in
> Afghanistan; we are setting up a small ceramics school here in Kabul, and
> are also working in a potter's village called Istalif, just north of
> Kabul.
> Our focus is on traditional Afghani pottery and tiles, and we would like
> to
> keep things as local as possible, (ie. not import everything from overseas
> and make them reliant on materials and equipment that's not available
> here).
> I'm not the most experienced potter in the world (just taking a year out
> from my ceramics-degree), so i've got quite a few questions about things,
> (as you can perhaps imagine).
> The traditional method here is single-fired earthenware; the kilns are not
> very effficient (updraft), and i'm wondering whether anyone knows whether
> the fast-fire olsen kiln would work if it was built with normal
> house-bricks
> and mud-straw mixture (which is what the potters use for their kilns), i
> mean if i could use the design and proportions, but with these local
> materials to fire to low temperatures, ie not more than 1100 degrees C???
> Hard firebricks are available from Pakistan, as is some kind of insulation
> fibre, so we could also use this...
> Also, I'm wondering whether the kilns they are using now could perhaps be
> made more efficient by adding chimneys (Kabul and Istalif are at pretty
> high
> altitudes), or even by insulating the insides with a layer of fibre? (they
> are basically cubes, with a round firing chamber, firebox directly
> underneath, a hole in the floor of the kiln, with a corresponding hole in
> the roof/ceiling that is closed up during firing, and 4 flues opening onto
> the roof, (no chimneys).
> That's all for now, but you'll no doubt be hearing from me again in the
> future... Thanks very much!
> All the best,
> ester
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> 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.
>
ester svensson on sat 14 oct 06
Hello Frank,
thanks for your email! That's great that you've been in this part of the
world=), it's great, eh? Lahore is brilliant as well; I grew up in Pakistan
cuase my parents work there.
I had a look at your website, great, I've actually seen it before as well.
The catenary kiln, caterina, looks interesting, do you think we could try
the same design with house-bricks and mud?
The potters here are single-firing glazed earthenware, but we would like to
try out some different things, eg biscuit-firing and/or firing to slightly
higher temperatures to make the ware stronger (it's all really fragile and
brittle now). But like i said, the challenge is keeping things local. For
our school in Kabul we're actually going to buy in some firebricks from
Pakistan, which will let us build a fast-fire (i've got Fred Olson's book
with me, but i must admit i feel some of it goes over my head sometimes...),
which we'll of course have to be careful with when firing since it's
single-fired ware, and also a simple gas-kiln. In Istalif, though (the
potters' village), it isn't really feasible for all the potters to buy
firebricks from pakistan, (and thier existing kilns can hopefully be
improved on), so there it'd be great to find solutions with local materials
(ie bricks, mud, iron, butane gas is available but no burners, and they
use big flat stones to make the roofs of their traditional kilns). Like I
said, i'm a bit of a novice at this, so any tips are greatly appreciated!
Would love to hear more about your experiences in Peru! Sorry to be an
idiot, but what is adobe?
Right, thanks again! If you'd like to see any pictures, i'd be happy to send
some to you.
All the best to you,
ester
On 12/10/06, Frank Colson wrote:
>
> Ester- I know the conditions you are confronted with , as I have been in
> Kabul and Pakistan as well ,when driving overland across the Mddle-
> East some time ago. In fact I was able to sit down and throw pots with a
> Pakistanian in Lehore during that time.
>
> Much of what you are confronted with is similar to primative firing
> conditions in Mexico. I put together a number of primitive working
> kilns
> during my years there as well as a few dozen other countries, Napels,
> Greece, New Zealand, Australia , etc.
>
> Since you have not provided information of what you are attempting to
> accomplish' raku,lowfire, cone range, and/or glazed pots.....I suggest
> that
> you take a look at www.R2D2u.com and see if some
> of the material there would
> be of help. Much of the mateial at that site is the result of designing
> working kilns from local materials that would work fine, depending on what
>
> your objectives are! I built a catenary gas kiln in Peru as a demo for
> the
> World Crafts Organization in '68. There was absolutly no "wood"
> available
> from any source. So, using an Inca indian as an assistant, I was able ot
> build a kiln from adobe which served our purposes just fine.
>
> Keep us all posted on your endevors!
>
> Frank Colson
> www.R2D2u.com
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "ester svensson" < thisisestersaddress@GMAIL.COM >
> To:
> Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 7:31 AM
> Subject: kilns in afghanistan
>
>
> > Hello hello,
> > I'm working with an organisation that has a ceramics-project in
> > Afghanistan; we are setting up a small ceramics school here in Kabul,
> and
> > are also working in a potter's village called Istalif, just north of
> > Kabul.
> > Our focus is on traditional Afghani pottery and tiles, and we would like
> > to
> > keep things as local as possible, (ie. not import everything from
> overseas
> > and make them reliant on materials and equipment that's not available
> > here).
> > I'm not the most experienced potter in the world (just taking a year out
> > from my ceramics-degree), so i've got quite a few questions about
> things,
> > (as you can perhaps imagine).
> > The traditional method here is single-fired earthenware; the kilns are
> not
> > very effficient (updraft), and i'm wondering whether anyone knows
> whether
> > the fast-fire olsen kiln would work if it was built with normal
> > house-bricks
> > and mud-straw mixture (which is what the potters use for their kilns), i
>
> > mean if i could use the design and proportions, but with these local
> > materials to fire to low temperatures, ie not more than 1100 degrees
> C???
> > Hard firebricks are available from Pakistan, as is some kind of
> insulation
> > fibre, so we could also use this...
> > Also, I'm wondering whether the kilns they are using now could perhaps
> be
> > made more efficient by adding chimneys (Kabul and Istalif are at pretty
> > high
> > altitudes), or even by insulating the insides with a layer of fibre?
> (they
> > are basically cubes, with a round firing chamber, firebox directly
> > underneath, a hole in the floor of the kiln, with a corresponding hole
> in
> > the roof/ceiling that is closed up during firing, and 4 flues opening
> onto
> > the roof, (no chimneys).
> > That's all for now, but you'll no doubt be hearing from me again in the
> > future... Thanks very much!
> > All the best,
> > ester
> >
> >
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> > 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.
> >
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> 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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