If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Kiln building - beginner's questions
After a pit firing attempt about this time last year which drew many informative and helpful comments from the group, I think I am ready to go to the next step. I am planning to build the kiln shown on this web-page which I found by googling: http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~lgru...kiln/kiln.html Could someone advise on whether mortar in between the bricks is a must or just helpful. Should I line the inside or outside of the kiln or neither with the same material I will be using as mortar. The site advises clay plus sand for the mortar. What sort of temperatures will I be reaching - would pots come out able to hold water, without being glazed? I guess this depends on the clay body I am using - well, I have two clays I collected recently from fields / road cuttings. One has a grey colour, the other a reddy-orange colour. I don't know too much about them, save that the red clay came out of the pit nicely fired, whereas the grey could have done with more heat probably. I'll be using mainly olive and a sort of holm oak for the firing itself. Would the kiln be able to fire more than once, or is it a once-only thing? Should I use special bricks or standard bricks? Thanks for your time. Stelios Greece -- The address in the headers is real and does not need de-mungeing |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
i first held off your question thinking others would respond better or more
briefly then me. but coming back a few days later you're still asking. 1. i think mortar between the bricks helps keep heat from leaking out, and adds to the integrity of the kiln. it also helps even out sloppy bricks that you may be using. MEANWHILE i have seen people do wonderful construction using dry bricks & no mortar. 2. you'll certainly reach a good bisque temp, pieces will still leach thru the claybodies. using low fire glazes you'll likely get pieces to hold water. i have used raku coffee mugs ~ they work fine. drink fast! 3. you can fire the kiln several times. it'll take a few just to learn how to fire it well anyway. you're building a modern day "low budget" kiln. you should reach temps equal or better then what the old timers did. placement of pieces in the kiln and your ability to build a good camp fire ~ or smoke fire mess ~ will determin the pot quality. have fun with it! maybe in time you can convert it over to a single or double burner propane fired kiln and get higher temps? see ya! steve Subject: Kiln building - beginner's questions From: Stelios Zacharias Date: 9/27/2004 2:06 AM Pacific Daylight Time Message-id: After a pit firing attempt about this time last year which drew many informative and helpful comments from the group, I think I am ready to go to the next step. I am planning to build the kiln shown on this web-page which I found by googling: http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~lgru...kiln/kiln.html Could someone advise on whether mortar in between the bricks is a must or just helpful. Should I line the inside or outside of the kiln or neither with the same material I will be using as mortar. The site advises clay plus sand for the mortar. What sort of temperatures will I be reaching - would pots come out able to hold water, without being glazed? I guess this depends on the clay body I am using - well, I have two clays I collected recently from fields / road cuttings. One has a grey colour, the other a reddy-orange colour. I don't know too much about them, save that the red clay came out of the pit nicely fired, whereas the grey could have done with more heat probably. I'll be using mainly olive and a sort of holm oak for the firing itself. Would the kiln be able to fire more than once, or is it a once-only thing? Should I use special bricks or standard bricks? Thanks for your time. Stelios Greece -- The address in the headers is real and does not need de-mungeing steve graber |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Hi Steve,
I started with a kiln plan just like that 30 years ago - all I had was that kiln and an old kick wheel. These two things I used for 7 years, and I learned a lot from all the firings. I even got that kiln to stoneware firing !!! I must say I was using ordinary house bricks - what I did was to put a old steel pipe in the fire box and an old vacuum cleaner as the blower, and with lots of timber, I got to 1200 + deg C, but the most interesting thing that happened was that I self glazed the bricks - you see they were low fired, and by taking them to that temp they started to melt and developed a glazed finish!! All very interesting ... so keep learning, I still love it all, even after 34 years. Yours in Art Elaine. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
I've been waiting to see responses on this thread in anticipation. I have a
stack of low fired patio type or house bricks and have been toying with building a small wood fire kiln but thought the bricks probably not usable. I will now jump in and give it a try. Thanks! "Elaine Coggins" wrote in message ... Hi Steve, I started with a kiln plan just like that 30 years ago - all I had was that kiln and an old kick wheel. These two things I used for 7 years, and I learned a lot from all the firings. I even got that kiln to stoneware firing !!! I must say I was using ordinary house bricks - what I did was to put a old steel pipe in the fire box and an old vacuum cleaner as the blower, and with lots of timber, I got to 1200 + deg C, but the most interesting thing that happened was that I self glazed the bricks - you see they were low fired, and by taking them to that temp they started to melt and developed a glazed finish!! All very interesting ... so keep learning, I still love it all, even after 34 years. Yours in Art Elaine. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Using house bricks in that kiln design is fine for lower temperatures, but
they are not efficient insulators and you will need lots of fuel - however, it's a great learning tool. You will need to use some "mortar" to seal the brick joints so that cold air doesn't get in after the firing is finished and crack all your pots. Old clay slurry is quite suitable and cheap. Dave "W_D_Great_Divider" wrote in message news I've been waiting to see responses on this thread in anticipation. I have a stack of low fired patio type or house bricks and have been toying with building a small wood fire kiln but thought the bricks probably not usable. I will now jump in and give it a try. Thanks! |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
once you build a kiln i doubt you'll want to buy one. you can get very much of
what you want with a home built kiln where one purchased has you conforming to what you simply have to use for fire. i bought one to start with years back - an electric. later i acquired an old gas kiln about as big as a coke machine & refurbished it. it fired very well, but was small in size for what i tend to throw. i designed and built a big thing in my new backyard. then i built a portable cloth raku kiln. that link you had with a brick kiln might be a fun starting point for another kiln. even one slightly larger, and dig around it to dump natural dirt on top for better insulation. use it for a salt kiln. steve Subject: Kiln building - beginner's questions From: Stelios Zacharias Date: 9/30/2004 11:13 PM Pacific Daylight Time Message-id: On 01 Oct 2004 03:29:18 GMT, (Slgraber) wrote: i first held off your question thinking others would respond better or more briefly then me. but coming back a few days later you're still asking. I'm glad you did answer. I just need that little bit of encouragement to go through with what those around me call my crazy schemes! 1. i think mortar between the bricks helps keep heat from leaking out, and adds to the integrity of the kiln. it also helps even out sloppy bricks that you may be using. MEANWHILE i have seen people do wonderful construction using dry bricks & no mortar. OK - thanks for this. 2. you'll certainly reach a good bisque temp, pieces will still leach thru the claybodies. using low fire glazes you'll likely get pieces to hold water. i have used raku coffee mugs ~ they work fine. drink fast! I'll look into these Raku glazes after a few successful bisques. 3. you can fire the kiln several times. it'll take a few just to learn how to fire it well anyway. you're building a modern day "low budget" kiln. you should reach temps equal or better then what the old timers did. placement of pieces in the kiln and your ability to build a good camp fire ~ or smoke fire mess ~ will determin the pot quality. These temps were good enough for the ancients - they'll be good enough for me. There's a whole bunch of whacky early bronze age shapes I intend to mimic, so the end result won't be too far off my prototypes. have fun with it! maybe in time you can convert it over to a single or double burner propane fired kiln and get higher temps? I think the next step will probably be to buy a kiln - unless I get really hooked on the whole wood firing thing. I don't want to think about running before walking though. Thanks for your info, Steve. Cheers, Stelios Subject: Kiln building - beginner's questions From: Stelios Zacharias Date: 9/27/2004 2:06 AM Pacific Daylight Time Message-id: After a pit firing attempt about this time last year which drew many informative and helpful comments from the group, I think I am ready to go to the next step. I am planning to build the kiln shown on this web-page which I found by googling: http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~lgru...kiln/kiln.html Could someone advise on whether mortar in between the bricks is a must or just helpful. Should I line the inside or outside of the kiln or neither with the same material I will be using as mortar. The site advises clay plus sand for the mortar. What sort of temperatures will I be reaching - would pots come out able to hold water, without being glazed? I guess this depends on the clay body I am using - well, I have two clays I collected recently from fields / road cuttings. One has a grey colour, the other a reddy-orange colour. I don't know too much about them, save that the red clay came out of the pit nicely fired, whereas the grey could have done with more heat probably. I'll be using mainly olive and a sort of holm oak for the firing itself. Would the kiln be able to fire more than once, or is it a once-only thing? Should I use special bricks or standard bricks? Thanks for your time. Stelios Greece -- The address in the headers is real and does not need de-mungeing steve graber -- The address in the headers is real and does not need de-mungeing steve graber |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
either that or fireclay as a thin (ish) slurry
"Coggo" wrote in message ... Using house bricks in that kiln design is fine for lower temperatures, but they are not efficient insulators and you will need lots of fuel - however, it's a great learning tool. You will need to use some "mortar" to seal the brick joints so that cold air doesn't get in after the firing is finished and crack all your pots. Old clay slurry is quite suitable and cheap. Dave "W_D_Great_Divider" wrote in message news I've been waiting to see responses on this thread in anticipation. I have a stack of low fired patio type or house bricks and have been toying with building a small wood fire kiln but thought the bricks probably not usable. I will now jump in and give it a try. Thanks! |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Depends on how many bricks you got.... I built a twin brick skin updraught
using soil betwixt the skins, damn thing was sooooo boring to fire,it just went up and came down, but took 36 hours to cool (8 hours to heat...) Hugs Eddie "Slgraber" wrote in message ... once you build a kiln i doubt you'll want to buy one. you can get very much of what you want with a home built kiln where one purchased has you conforming to what you simply have to use for fire. i bought one to start with years back - an electric. later i acquired an old gas kiln about as big as a coke machine & refurbished it. it fired very well, but was small in size for what i tend to throw. i designed and built a big thing in my new backyard. then i built a portable cloth raku kiln. that link you had with a brick kiln might be a fun starting point for another kiln. even one slightly larger, and dig around it to dump natural dirt on top for better insulation. use it for a salt kiln. steve Subject: Kiln building - beginner's questions From: Stelios Zacharias Date: 9/30/2004 11:13 PM Pacific Daylight Time Message-id: On 01 Oct 2004 03:29:18 GMT, (Slgraber) wrote: i first held off your question thinking others would respond better or more briefly then me. but coming back a few days later you're still asking. I'm glad you did answer. I just need that little bit of encouragement to go through with what those around me call my crazy schemes! 1. i think mortar between the bricks helps keep heat from leaking out, and adds to the integrity of the kiln. it also helps even out sloppy bricks that you may be using. MEANWHILE i have seen people do wonderful construction using dry bricks & no mortar. OK - thanks for this. 2. you'll certainly reach a good bisque temp, pieces will still leach thru the claybodies. using low fire glazes you'll likely get pieces to hold water. i have used raku coffee mugs ~ they work fine. drink fast! I'll look into these Raku glazes after a few successful bisques. 3. you can fire the kiln several times. it'll take a few just to learn how to fire it well anyway. you're building a modern day "low budget" kiln. you should reach temps equal or better then what the old timers did. placement of pieces in the kiln and your ability to build a good camp fire ~ or smoke fire mess ~ will determin the pot quality. These temps were good enough for the ancients - they'll be good enough for me. There's a whole bunch of whacky early bronze age shapes I intend to mimic, so the end result won't be too far off my prototypes. have fun with it! maybe in time you can convert it over to a single or double burner propane fired kiln and get higher temps? I think the next step will probably be to buy a kiln - unless I get really hooked on the whole wood firing thing. I don't want to think about running before walking though. Thanks for your info, Steve. Cheers, Stelios Subject: Kiln building - beginner's questions From: Stelios Zacharias Date: 9/27/2004 2:06 AM Pacific Daylight Time Message-id: After a pit firing attempt about this time last year which drew many informative and helpful comments from the group, I think I am ready to go to the next step. I am planning to build the kiln shown on this web-page which I found by googling: http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~lgru...kiln/kiln.html Could someone advise on whether mortar in between the bricks is a must or just helpful. Should I line the inside or outside of the kiln or neither with the same material I will be using as mortar. The site advises clay plus sand for the mortar. What sort of temperatures will I be reaching - would pots come out able to hold water, without being glazed? I guess this depends on the clay body I am using - well, I have two clays I collected recently from fields / road cuttings. One has a grey colour, the other a reddy-orange colour. I don't know too much about them, save that the red clay came out of the pit nicely fired, whereas the grey could have done with more heat probably. I'll be using mainly olive and a sort of holm oak for the firing itself. Would the kiln be able to fire more than once, or is it a once-only thing? Should I use special bricks or standard bricks? Thanks for your time. Stelios Greece -- The address in the headers is real and does not need de-mungeing steve graber -- The address in the headers is real and does not need de-mungeing steve graber |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
oh yeah, about 1060 C + at the top
"Eddie Daughton" wrote in message ... Depends on how many bricks you got.... I built a twin brick skin updraught using soil betwixt the skins, damn thing was sooooo boring to fire,it just went up and came down, but took 36 hours to cool (8 hours to heat...) Hugs Eddie "Slgraber" wrote in message ... once you build a kiln i doubt you'll want to buy one. you can get very much of what you want with a home built kiln where one purchased has you conforming to what you simply have to use for fire. i bought one to start with years back - an electric. later i acquired an old gas kiln about as big as a coke machine & refurbished it. it fired very well, but was small in size for what i tend to throw. i designed and built a big thing in my new backyard. then i built a portable cloth raku kiln. that link you had with a brick kiln might be a fun starting point for another kiln. even one slightly larger, and dig around it to dump natural dirt on top for better insulation. use it for a salt kiln. steve Subject: Kiln building - beginner's questions From: Stelios Zacharias Date: 9/30/2004 11:13 PM Pacific Daylight Time Message-id: On 01 Oct 2004 03:29:18 GMT, (Slgraber) wrote: i first held off your question thinking others would respond better or more briefly then me. but coming back a few days later you're still asking. I'm glad you did answer. I just need that little bit of encouragement to go through with what those around me call my crazy schemes! 1. i think mortar between the bricks helps keep heat from leaking out, and adds to the integrity of the kiln. it also helps even out sloppy bricks that you may be using. MEANWHILE i have seen people do wonderful construction using dry bricks & no mortar. OK - thanks for this. 2. you'll certainly reach a good bisque temp, pieces will still leach thru the claybodies. using low fire glazes you'll likely get pieces to hold water. i have used raku coffee mugs ~ they work fine. drink fast! I'll look into these Raku glazes after a few successful bisques. 3. you can fire the kiln several times. it'll take a few just to learn how to fire it well anyway. you're building a modern day "low budget" kiln. you should reach temps equal or better then what the old timers did. placement of pieces in the kiln and your ability to build a good camp fire ~ or smoke fire mess ~ will determin the pot quality. These temps were good enough for the ancients - they'll be good enough for me. There's a whole bunch of whacky early bronze age shapes I intend to mimic, so the end result won't be too far off my prototypes. have fun with it! maybe in time you can convert it over to a single or double burner propane fired kiln and get higher temps? I think the next step will probably be to buy a kiln - unless I get really hooked on the whole wood firing thing. I don't want to think about running before walking though. Thanks for your info, Steve. Cheers, Stelios Subject: Kiln building - beginner's questions From: Stelios Zacharias Date: 9/27/2004 2:06 AM Pacific Daylight Time Message-id: After a pit firing attempt about this time last year which drew many informative and helpful comments from the group, I think I am ready to go to the next step. I am planning to build the kiln shown on this web-page which I found by googling: http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~lgru...kiln/kiln.html Could someone advise on whether mortar in between the bricks is a must or just helpful. Should I line the inside or outside of the kiln or neither with the same material I will be using as mortar. The site advises clay plus sand for the mortar. What sort of temperatures will I be reaching - would pots come out able to hold water, without being glazed? I guess this depends on the clay body I am using - well, I have two clays I collected recently from fields / road cuttings. One has a grey colour, the other a reddy-orange colour. I don't know too much about them, save that the red clay came out of the pit nicely fired, whereas the grey could have done with more heat probably. I'll be using mainly olive and a sort of holm oak for the firing itself. Would the kiln be able to fire more than once, or is it a once-only thing? Should I use special bricks or standard bricks? Thanks for your time. Stelios Greece -- The address in the headers is real and does not need de-mungeing steve graber -- The address in the headers is real and does not need de-mungeing steve graber |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Beginner's Fusing Kiln | Jeff Cochran | Glass | 7 | November 9th 03 08:45 PM |
FAQ Raku part 2 of 2 | SBRANFPOTS | Pottery | 0 | October 21st 03 02:13 PM |
FAQ Raku part 2 of 2 | SBRANFPOTS | Pottery | 0 | September 16th 03 11:11 PM |
Raku FAQs | Tom Buck | Pottery | 0 | July 20th 03 04:49 AM |
FAQ:Intro to rec.crafts.pottery | Mishy Lowe | Pottery | 0 | July 18th 03 06:05 AM |