It was a long wait today… as the kiln temperature dropped ever so slowly.
I kept opening it slowly to “encourage” the cooling process; being careful
not to open it too quickly. When it got to about 250 degrees, I felt it was okay
to unbrick the door. And then it was time to start unloading the kiln.
Like a little kid on Christmas…
It’s always fun to unload the kiln – to see the results of your hard work. And to see how
things have been transformed during the atmospheric firing process. It was a very
tightly packed kiln. I was concerned that there may be some “dry patches” in the kiln
because it was packed too tight… luckily the soda made its way through the kiln and hit
everything quite nicely… if I do say so myself. Only two mugs were on the “drier” side.
All in all, it was a great firing with great results.
But then, after unloading and packing everything into boxes to get it home…
I still had to clean the kiln, scrape & kiln wash all the shelves, sweep out the fire box
and all of that fun stuff that comes with maintaining the kiln! Exhausting…
Congrats Gary!
Looks great.
Oh did your conepack blow up or just fall over?
Well, let’s just say it DIDN’T fall over!!!
In this type of firing, did the parts stick to the glazes or did it blow at about 212° long before you would have had any melt?
This is one of the reasons that you have one of the best blogs on ceramics out there today. You SHOW people the results of your efforts, and detail that goes into making pieces. I think many people do not realize all the “meta” work that goes into making pottery. I think they just imagine that you conceive of a piece, and it just appears three days later. There is so much extra work involved in making ceramics, or in wood working, too. Tool sharpening, aligning, lubricating, cleaning all must be done before piece one can be made, at least with any quality.
Thanks, Gary, for good “behind-the-scenes” looks every now and then.
Thank you so much for the great blog review! I do think it’s important to show the process. Not enough people realize all of the steps involved. I frequently get asked at the art fairs “How long does it take to make a piece like this?” And I never have a good answer. I try to explain that it’s a long, drawn-out process of wedging, throwing, partial drying, stamping, trimming, slipping, drying, firing, glazing, wadding, firing, etc. I always feel like I’m overwhelming them with the extended answer, when they were assuming it would be a “simple” answer like “10 minutes.” I think demonstrating the process on a blog like this is important in educating my readers & customers about the process so they too can have a greater appreciation for the craft of ceramics. Thanks again for the nice comments.
The cone pack exploded so early on in the process that it never had a chance to stick to anything. I made the cone packs before I started loading, set them on a wire mesh for good air flow. So they dried with a fan on them for about 5 hours before being placed in the kiln. Then they sat in there overnight to dry even more. But after about a half hour of firing the next morning, the cone pack had exploded. I think it was the direct flame on it that blew it up as I turned the kiln on in the morning. So… nothing bad happened to my work. Just some “cone pack rubble” and a bit of cone debris melted onto the floor of the kiln. Chipped right off. Easy-peasy.
Love the side-by-side before and afters. Even the way you load is an art form. Give me a heads-up next time. I would love the opportunity to offer a little labor. I think I need a wall pocket.
I would love to have you help next time… or ANY time! And I think everyone needs a wall pocket!