Centa Uhalde on wed 10 jan 07
Hello,
My friend, John Toki, sold me a couple of burner contraptions for natural
gas conversion of an old electric to soda fire kiln, an idea I've been
toying with and have decided to pursue with the help of my far more
resourceful, contractor husband. Mary Law, a Berkeley soda fire potter, said
to place the burners opposite each other and angled into the kiln so that
the fire circulates around. My husband was thinking, if the kiln is up on a
stand he could bring the black pipe under the kiln to get it from one side
to the other in order to connect both burners. Is this ok to do? Another
question: there is a big chunk (and several small chunks) of soft brick
missing in this kiln. I was reading a bit about the different possible
coatings. Is there something you would recommend for filling the missing
chunks of soft brick--old electric kiln soft brick---is that what "castable"
is for? If so, what product exactly would I use??? Also, what might anyone
recommend for coating this brick? I hear "ITC this.. ITC that...." I hadn't
realized how many different products belong under that general description
before looking at Nils Lou's book. So which would anyone suggest using as a
cover coat? And, is it necessary to spray it? Someone I spoke with said I
could do just as well by using a mix of alumina oxide and EPK. I have no
idea how long this type of setup will last, of course. I will be
experimenting with firing cone 6 soda, not cone 10. I have always fired in
an electric kiln, so firing gas is new, as well as the soda. I didn't want
to make a big investment of a kiln with no experience. Another question I
have is: I've heard that the soda settles in a molten state at the bottom of
the kiln, or may spill out the bottom in liquid form. Should there be an
escape hole for it to escape out? Also, for a medium size octagonal kiln,
how big of flue openings should be made on the top lid? John Toki suggested
2 4" holes, like a raku kiln he showed me. Finally, we plan to enclose the
kiln in a metal shed next to the house, complete with spark arrester, if
needed which we could very well since it would be under trees. Thanks in
advance for any words of wisdom.
Centa
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