Wood fired kiln approaching reality

On 3/2/05 10:34 AM, Stelios Zacharias wrote:
....
My original plan was to make a kiln along the lines of the one on
this site:
http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~lgru...kiln/kiln.html
and I have been here before asking for help and have been helped
considerably by those who have answered.

I plan to build a small kiln like the one above or the one at
http://www.mudslinger.demon.co.uk/web2 in which to do wood and
salt/soda firings. The location will be in an area that is quite wooded.
How much clearance will I need to prevent fire problems? Would a mesh
screen at the top of the flue be sufficient to stop fly ash? Would it
help to put under a metal roof?

Respond to wood.fire at somdahl.com
Thank you
Gene Somdahl

i'd start by saying my local city kiln permit required 15 feet from
chimney to nearest combustable item (a pine tree branch) but i also
felt that was still too close so the nearby tree was trimmed quite far.


obviously nothing should be above the chimney but i think i'd feel more
comfortable with the tree no closer then 25 feet in my case.

from photos i've seen a roaring woodfire has flames coming out the flew
so a screen there might do very little.

also from my old camping-backpacking days be aware that some fires
start from campfires over combustable materials. fires can start below
ground, travel a ways underground and pop up & burn. i'd excavate the
firebox area & make sure this area is truely fireproof. fill the area
back up with rocks, dirt, sand. then bricklay the firebox.

have several garden hoses nearby when firing. maybe let some trickle
around the area while firing.

see ya

steve


E.R.Somdahl wrote:
On 3/2/05 10:34 AM, Stelios Zacharias wrote:
...
My original plan was to make a kiln along the lines of the one on
this site:

http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~lgru...kiln/kiln.html
and I have been here before asking for help and have been helped
considerably by those who have answered.

I plan to build a small kiln like the one above or the one at
http://www.mudslinger.demon.co.uk/web2 in which to do wood and
salt/soda firings. The location will be in an area that is quite
wooded.
How much clearance will I need to prevent fire problems? Would a mesh

screen at the top of the flue be sufficient to stop fly ash? Would it

help to put under a metal roof?

Respond to wood.fire at somdahl.com
Thank you
Gene Somdahl

Steve,

I don't dump salt in later; the little pots are all there is, I get
great surfaces with that, nothing else needed.

Steve
Bath
UK


In article .com,
steve writes
steve - by using the little buckets of salt do you not get the overall
kiln contamination that occurs when salt is dumped in later?

i have a batch of softbrick left over from my kiln build project & want
to make a little salt kiln one day.

i suppose i could make sagars to use salt in selected pieces in the
main kiln without messing things up too much.

see ya!

steve




Steve Mills wrote:
I use a style of salting taught me by French Potter/Sculptor Yves
Crespel who works in Brittany, using small pots of salt set in the
kiln
with the wares, rather than throwing large quantities into the
firebox,
this gives me subtle surfaces and flashing with ash deposit. I am not
interested in orange peel effects.

Steve
Bath
UK
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK

yeah, but with your little buckets of salt do you still contaminate the
whole kiln much that way? i wondered if this method gets a salt affect
without having to then dedicate the whole kiln to just salt fires?

see ya

steve



Steve Mills wrote:
Steve,

I don't dump salt in later; the little pots are all there is, I get
great surfaces with that, nothing else needed.

Steve
Bath
UK


In article .com,
steve writes
steve - by using the little buckets of salt do you not get the
overall
kiln contamination that occurs when salt is dumped in later?

i have a batch of softbrick left over from my kiln build project &
want
to make a little salt kiln one day.

i suppose i could make sagars to use salt in selected pieces in the
main kiln without messing things up too much.

see ya!

steve




Steve Mills wrote:
I use a style of salting taught me by French Potter/Sculptor Yves
Crespel who works in Brittany, using small pots of salt set in the
kiln
with the wares, rather than throwing large quantities into the
firebox,
this gives me subtle surfaces and flashing with ash deposit. I am
not
interested in orange peel effects.

Steve
Bath
UK
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK

Oh yes, you can't use it for any other sort of firing, but then I don't
mind 'cos that's what really excites me. Well that and the smoke and
flames!

:-)

Steve
Bath
UK


In article .com,
steve writes
yeah, but with your little buckets of salt do you still contaminate the
whole kiln much that way? i wondered if this method gets a salt affect
without having to then dedicate the whole kiln to just salt fires?

see ya

steve



--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK

I agree with Steve on all points, though I have to say that a fine
stainless steel mesh cone on top of the chimney is a good idea as a
spark arrester.

Steve
Bath
UK


In article .com,
steve writes
i'd start by saying my local city kiln permit required 15 feet from
chimney to nearest combustable item (a pine tree branch) but i also
felt that was still too close so the nearby tree was trimmed quite far.


obviously nothing should be above the chimney but i think i'd feel more
comfortable with the tree no closer then 25 feet in my case.

from photos i've seen a roaring woodfire has flames coming out the flew
so a screen there might do very little.

also from my old camping-backpacking days be aware that some fires
start from campfires over combustable materials. fires can start below
ground, travel a ways underground and pop up & burn. i'd excavate the
firebox area & make sure this area is truely fireproof. fill the area
back up with rocks, dirt, sand. then bricklay the firebox.

have several garden hoses nearby when firing. maybe let some trickle
around the area while firing.

see ya

steve


E.R.Somdahl wrote:
On 3/2/05 10:34 AM, Stelios Zacharias wrote:
...
My original plan was to make a kiln along the lines of the one on
this site:

http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~lgru...kiln/kiln.html
and I have been here before asking for help and have been helped
considerably by those who have answered.

I plan to build a small kiln like the one above or the one at
http://www.mudslinger.demon.co.uk/web2 in which to do wood and
salt/soda firings. The location will be in an area that is quite
wooded.
How much clearance will I need to prevent fire problems? Would a mesh

screen at the top of the flue be sufficient to stop fly ash? Would it

help to put under a metal roof?

Respond to wood.fire at somdahl.com
Thank you
Gene Somdahl


--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK

I have a mullite shelf, on top of 4 brick (long ways) as a cap on top
of my chimney. All you need to remember, is that the total area of
the openings on the sides between the bricks need to be greater than
the area of the flue opening.

It keeps the flame from licking long.

I put up some photos of Okinawan Spirit houses (From Shoji
Hamada's Sankokan) he

http://claycraft.blogspot.com/

Lee In Mashiko, Japan

Thanks for this - I had come across it before. It does not print
too nicely with Netscape for storing, but the contents are very
helpful.

Thanks also to Lee for advice.

I am going to go over the plans with a friend who is more
brick-savvy than I, and we'll come up with an idea together which
will let me maximise the usefulness of the fire-bricks.

All I have to do now is find some shelving somewhere. Can this be
used structurally - for example to separate the firebox from the
chamber and to make a lid over the chamber?

Are there different types of shelving materials (obviously there
will be) and can I get away with buying the cheapest?

Cheers,
Stelios



On Sat, 5 Mar 2005 07:52:15 +0000, Steve Mills
wrote:

Of course http://www.mudslinger.demon.co.uk/web2

This gives a fair idea of how it's built.
I fire mine regularly to cones 10/12 with salt.

I have also now written a CD in Adobe Acrobat detailing the design which
I have been selling in the UK. When I can make the time (!!!!!!!!!!) I
intend to offer it for sale over the web.

Steve
Bath
UK


In article . com, Lee
In Mashiko, Japan writes
I built a small version of Steve's kiln in my back yard while I was
doing my apprenticeship, to bisque work to go in my teacher's
noborigama. I could reach red heat in an hour (had to start with a
warming fire outside the firemouth to keep from blowing pots up.)

I noticed, Stelios, that the web page where your kiln plans are
says that it is a raku kiln.

One modification I would consider is making the firechamber a little
taller if you are going to fire to high fire temperatures. Steve,
can you share the link to your design?

--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan http://potters.blogspot.com/ WEB LOG
http://claycraft.blogspot.com/ Photos!


--

The address in the headers is real and does not need de-mungeing

check with your local town, you might accidently have a production
pottery around you that may be a source for scrap that you can use.

here in southern california, Pacific Clay is nearby. they do bricks &
planters. they USED to do clay piping, but that industry died over 10
years ago. they still have the site that used to be for the pipe
manufacture. kilns, bricks, etc are still there & slowly being sold
off. homes are taking over the area now.

possibly you have someone nearby. they are not always a visible
manufacturing site like other comapnies.

see ya

steve




Stelios Zacharias wrote:
Thanks for this - I had come across it before. It does not print
too nicely with Netscape for storing, but the contents are very
helpful.

Thanks also to Lee for advice.

I am going to go over the plans with a friend who is more
brick-savvy than I, and we'll come up with an idea together which
will let me maximise the usefulness of the fire-bricks.

All I have to do now is find some shelving somewhere. Can this be
used structurally - for example to separate the firebox from the
chamber and to make a lid over the chamber?

Are there different types of shelving materials (obviously there
will be) and can I get away with buying the cheapest?

Cheers,
Stelios



On Sat, 5 Mar 2005 07:52:15 +0000, Steve Mills
wrote:

Of course http://www.mudslinger.demon.co.uk/web2

This gives a fair idea of how it's built.
I fire mine regularly to cones 10/12 with salt.

I have also now written a CD in Adobe Acrobat detailing the design
which
I have been selling in the UK. When I can make the time (!!!!!!!!!!)
I
intend to offer it for sale over the web.

Steve
Bath
UK


In article . com,
Lee
In Mashiko, Japan writes
I built a small version of Steve's kiln in my back yard while I was
doing my apprenticeship, to bisque work to go in my teacher's
noborigama. I could reach red heat in an hour (had to start with
a
warming fire outside the firemouth to keep from blowing pots up.)

I noticed, Stelios, that the web page where your kiln plans
are
says that it is a raku kiln.

One modification I would consider is making the firechamber a
little
taller if you are going to fire to high fire temperatures.
Steve,
can you share the link to your design?

--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan http://potters.blogspot.com/ WEB LOG
http://claycraft.blogspot.com/ Photos!


--

The address in the headers is real and does not need de-mungeing

Stelios,

I use thick shelving to separate the firebox from the pot chamber, and
currently use the same for the pot chamber lid. However I am going to
cast some shallow arched sections for the lid, 1) to give me a bit more
height, and 2) to make it easier to remove (the current lid is rather
heavy).

Keep an eye open for potteries closing down or relocating; that is how I
got the 2nd hand shelves I am using. They are 2 inches (50mm) thick.

Steve
Bath
UK


In article , Stelios
Zacharias writes

Thanks for this - I had come across it before. It does not print
too nicely with Netscape for storing, but the contents are very
helpful.

Thanks also to Lee for advice.

I am going to go over the plans with a friend who is more
brick-savvy than I, and we'll come up with an idea together which
will let me maximise the usefulness of the fire-bricks.

All I have to do now is find some shelving somewhere. Can this be
used structurally - for example to separate the firebox from the
chamber and to make a lid over the chamber?

Are there different types of shelving materials (obviously there
will be) and can I get away with buying the cheapest?

Cheers,
Stelios



On Sat, 5 Mar 2005 07:52:15 +0000, Steve Mills
wrote:

Of course http://www.mudslinger.demon.co.uk/web2

This gives a fair idea of how it's built.
I fire mine regularly to cones 10/12 with salt.

I have also now written a CD in Adobe Acrobat detailing the design which
I have been selling in the UK. When I can make the time (!!!!!!!!!!) I
intend to offer it for sale over the web.

Steve
Bath
UK


In article . com, Lee
In Mashiko, Japan writes
I built a small version of Steve's kiln in my back yard while I was
doing my apprenticeship, to bisque work to go in my teacher's
noborigama. I could reach red heat in an hour (had to start with a
warming fire outside the firemouth to keep from blowing pots up.)

I noticed, Stelios, that the web page where your kiln plans are
says that it is a raku kiln.

One modification I would consider is making the firechamber a little
taller if you are going to fire to high fire temperatures. Steve,
can you share the link to your design?

--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan http://potters.blogspot.com/ WEB LOG
http://claycraft.blogspot.com/ Photos!



--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK