mel jacobson on sat 11 nov 06
there are going to be many ways to save fuel,
and still fire pots in a good way.
as i have said many times...`it is amazing to me
how folks can scramble over each to fetch a
plastic bottle from the garbage to get it
in the re/cycle bin, and still fire
their gas kiln for 19 hours on full gas power.
smoke and carbon all over the studio.`
the comparison is totally out of whack.
i am like ron and john with safe glazes.
but, i think we can:
fire in half the time with half the fuel.
just have to rid out craft of old superstition.
any gas kiln with flame coming out of the stack
is wasting huge amounts of fuel. many do it
every firing. flame from the stack means that
unburned gas is seeking oxygen, and can only
find it outside the kiln. (it is much more complex
than that, but a good metaphor.)
many institutional kilns are being fired with little
regard to fuel saving, or carbon emissions, as someone
else is paying the gas bill. (there are pockets of great
folks working for quality, but many that i have visited
are almost proud of their carbon.) there is slowly
growing a group of dedicated teachers that pride themselves
in teaching the fundamentals of low gas/no emission kiln firing.
i am more and more of the opinion that kilns
can be fired fast, cleared at the end of the firing,
and a slow cool with low gas down firing will save
gobs of fuel, and give us better firings. and of course,
some folks are discovering the wonders of color when
fuel kilns are fired without hard reduction. `neutral can
be beautiful.`
reduction on the way down is an option that is
rarely explored...of course we were all told in
1960 that you only get reduction at cone 06.
baloney.
bob anderson and i have fired many kilns of pots
at the farm that are fired neutral all the way to cone
11/fast/then we add wood into a closed up kiln as the
kiln cools. perfect brown body reduction and shino,
whites, temmoku all perfectly reduced. in fact, we often
think the pots are better than if we do reduction on the way up.
anyway...i am pleased when we start to think of positive ways
to fire kilns, saving fuel that makes huge profit for the potter and
good for the world at large. from the practical stand point, if you are
running a pottery...cut your firing bills in half, and even change your
pallet of colors a bit. it may be to your benefit..totally.
the world of buying public loves color.
mel
from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
Clayart page link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
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