It turns out that the rumors of cone 13 being down in back were true. We decided to shut it down at 4pm. We mixed up the mud (wood ash, clay, and water) and sealed up all the openings. We spent the next three hours reduction cooling. I’ll post more on that soon, because I’m on my way home! It will be very good to be back.
I’m still up at Ken’s studio, and haven’t gone down to the kiln yet today. However, one of the morning shift has just past on some crazy news. Cone 13 is down not only in the middle, but also in the far back. This hotter than we’ve ever gone before. Apparently, they’re struggling to keep the front from taking off even more. Going hotter is hard on the clay. I was about to go split some wood for the night shift, but with these temperatures, we might just shut it down this evening.
Here’s two shots from last night – the kiln at night, and my sidestoking duty station.
The kiln has been above 2000 degrees in both front and back for about a day now. It’s been keeping between 2200 and 2300 in front, and we’ve been fighting to get the back to match that. We’ll gain maybe 100 degrees over the next two days. It’s funny how you spend the first day or two working to keep it slow, and now we might have to fight for every 20 degrees.
For the next few days it will mainly be about what the cones are doing, and what the coal bed is like. Cones measure a combination of heat + time, and give us a better idea of how the pots are doing than just temperature. Last I heard, cone 13 is bending in front, and 10 is down in the middle. Not sure about the far back. The kiln will continue to feel hotter and hotter as we go on.
Flame and smoke from the stack with every stoke now. Also, it is a VERY beautiful day.
I’ve been on shift since 4, and right now we’re at 2250 in front, and 2100 in back. I’m on the back of the kiln, and have been fighting with it for the last hour. It went down to 2040. I had to switch to small rapid stokes (3 pieces at once) from larger stokes (7 pieces). I ask Steve, who’s down at the front, as to how many pieces he’s been putting in – “how ever many pieces he #%}^* well feels like”
Second swing shift of the firing. 8:30, and we’re 24 hours into the firing. We’re at 1550 degrees in front, and 900 some in back. It will even out as we go along. Red heat in front.
I’ve been trying to use the iphone wordpress app. It’s decent, but in this area of sketchy phone reception, it does have a few frustrating bugs. If a post fails halfway through sending, it will then crash every time you try to send it again, and you’ll have rewrite it. This post will be a little shorter than it once was.
Anyway, when I last checked the kiln a few hours ago, it was at 950 degrees. The day shift has it now. I’m on shift from 4pm to 12:30am. We started the kiln at 9 last night. For the first 900 degrees, the fire is outside the kiln, in the primary air intake. This lets us control the fire more easily, heating the kiln up slowly, as to not shock the pots.
We’re most of the way done with loading. Both the middle and the front fireboxes are a bit roomier than normal. We aren’t going to be using the far back firebox, since we think it doesn’t effect the kiln. We just used the space for pots instead. The kiln is packed very tightly.
So, far too early tomorrow morning, I will head off to Seabeck, WA for our woodfiring. I’ll have my iphone, so it will be my goal to post a series of small updates during the firing. I will apologize in advance for the spelling, since the wordpress iphone app lacks any form of spell check.
Here’s a shot of some of my preparations. I have three giant bins this size, along with a milk crate of tiny pieces. I’ve taken to using pillow stuffing to protect some of the delicate wings of my critters. However, in this shot, I think laziness played more of a role than prudence. They do look like they’re taking a nap in a cloud, though.
I’m quite excited about the firing coming up in late October. I’ve had some extra time to get pieces together for it, and I feel like it’s paying off. I think I’m on track to make enough work for my galleries, and have a holiday sale at my studio. I’ll post dates and stuff like that once I have them, but in the mean time, here’s more of a sneak peak at my drying shelves.
These are the ones that I finished most recently.
Also, in my studio, I have a big white board. I use it to make random notes to myself, sketch ideas, and just doodle stuff. I really like the idea I have on there now, but I’ll have to wait and see as to how it comes together. I’ve been big on antlers recently, but I don’t know how well they’ll survive the firing. They might just droop. To avoid that, I’ll have to make them very stocky. Also, do you you recognize the guy in pink?