I woodfired today! I'm going to go bathe this ash and soot and dirt and sawdust and sweat and plant matter and sweat and whatever else off my body, and I'll be back to tell you all about it.
Whew. I thought I got a tan, but it was really only dirt.
For all you non-potters out there, woodfiring is a very high temperature process. This isn't something that happens in a little pit in the ground..there is a kiln built specifically for this purpose. Sometimes it's a kiln of Japanese design, like an anagama or a noborigama kiln. The kiln I used this weekend is not a climbing kiln like the Japanese designs, but rather a freestanding kiln very much like the one shown here.
High temperature clays and glazes (stoneware and porcelain) are used in this kind of kiln, as the goal temperature is 2350 degrees F. Low temperature clays, in contrast, can fire up to about 2000 degrees F, but if they were put into this wood kiln they would melt into a puddle, ruining all pots around and below, and also all the shelves and all the intensive work put into firing the kiln. Bad news.
We started the firing at around midnight last night..it's much nicer to fire in the nighttime because it's cooler. Fred and Mark took the first shift, while Lloyd and I slept. Lloyd started his shift at 6am, and I took over at noon. We got stalled a bit around 1800 degrees, but then I took over and on my shift I got it over the 2000 mark! Yay me! At that point, cones 05, 01, 1, 7, and 8 were down, with only 9, 10, and 11 to go..
(Cones are little cone-shaped pieces of ceramic material that are formulated to melt at a certain temperature. They're a visual way to check what's going on in the kiln, since you can't actually see the pots during the firing. If your glaze is formulated to melt at cone 10, then when cone 10 is down, you know your glazes are mature too. Cool, huh?)
The kiln used to belong to a friend of mine, Careen. She lived in this old old haunted house with no electricity or running water, heated with a woodstove. She and I fired it a few times a year, until she went out to Utah for grad school. Fred and Lloyd and I are still firing it, though..it needs to be patched and reinforced before every firing, it's so old and dilapidated.
Lots of good conversation and memories and good feelings for the pots, which will be unloaded on Wednesday.
Behind the haunted house is a family of cats..a mama and four kittens. They're feral, and very afraid of me. They were cute, though.
I'm beat. I'm going to bed. I can't keep my eyes open anymore..
Whew. I thought I got a tan, but it was really only dirt.
For all you non-potters out there, woodfiring is a very high temperature process. This isn't something that happens in a little pit in the ground..there is a kiln built specifically for this purpose. Sometimes it's a kiln of Japanese design, like an anagama or a noborigama kiln. The kiln I used this weekend is not a climbing kiln like the Japanese designs, but rather a freestanding kiln very much like the one shown here.
High temperature clays and glazes (stoneware and porcelain) are used in this kind of kiln, as the goal temperature is 2350 degrees F. Low temperature clays, in contrast, can fire up to about 2000 degrees F, but if they were put into this wood kiln they would melt into a puddle, ruining all pots around and below, and also all the shelves and all the intensive work put into firing the kiln. Bad news.
We started the firing at around midnight last night..it's much nicer to fire in the nighttime because it's cooler. Fred and Mark took the first shift, while Lloyd and I slept. Lloyd started his shift at 6am, and I took over at noon. We got stalled a bit around 1800 degrees, but then I took over and on my shift I got it over the 2000 mark! Yay me! At that point, cones 05, 01, 1, 7, and 8 were down, with only 9, 10, and 11 to go..
(Cones are little cone-shaped pieces of ceramic material that are formulated to melt at a certain temperature. They're a visual way to check what's going on in the kiln, since you can't actually see the pots during the firing. If your glaze is formulated to melt at cone 10, then when cone 10 is down, you know your glazes are mature too. Cool, huh?)
The kiln used to belong to a friend of mine, Careen. She lived in this old old haunted house with no electricity or running water, heated with a woodstove. She and I fired it a few times a year, until she went out to Utah for grad school. Fred and Lloyd and I are still firing it, though..it needs to be patched and reinforced before every firing, it's so old and dilapidated.
Lots of good conversation and memories and good feelings for the pots, which will be unloaded on Wednesday.
Behind the haunted house is a family of cats..a mama and four kittens. They're feral, and very afraid of me. They were cute, though.
I'm beat. I'm going to bed. I can't keep my eyes open anymore..
VIEW 10 of 10 COMMENTS
bb