Well, after just a couple hours of sleep and a quick shower…
it was back to the studio with for a full day of firing my soda kiln.
I started the kiln early in the morning and it all went smoothly. With the temperature
raising at the right rate, body reduction where it should be… and the rest of the day
the kiln seemed to “fire itself.” In the afternoon, I measured up my soda mixture of
soda ash, soda bicarbonate, whiting and wood chips! When the kiln gets up to the top
temperatures, it’s time to start inserting the soda mixture into the kiln. So around
cone 9, I started putting it in every 15-20 minutes. All in all, an easy firing.
So now I wait… the kiln is all closed up and cooling slowly. Fingers crossed…

Plus, besides firing my kiln all day, I also got a beautiful firing “souvenir.”
Albeit a temporary & slightly painful souvenir… it was a quick reminder how
hot things can get around the kiln. At one point during the firing, one of the wires
popped out of the pyrometer and I needed to fix it. So I tried to pull the pyrometer out
of the kiln part way with gloves on… and I still got burned!!! Luckily, it was a minor
burn. Imagine how bad it would have been if I didn’t have gloves on!!!

Yuck. And pay no attention to the grimy terra cotta residue in my overly dried-out
& beat-up fingers! They’ve been working hard… and need some TLC. Soon…