Salt Kiln

We are now in the process of rebuilding the kiln at a different location so we can salt fire!

Nov. 5th is the next wood firing. Here are pictures from the one this spring:

Loaded and ready to go:


Some of the wood:


The firing begins:


Here we were losing too much heat out of the chimney, but it looked really cool:


The lintel above the stoke hole stuck out a bit, making it impossible to completely cover the stoke hole:


The view from above (note the glowing through the lid (it is TWO high temperature silicone carbide kiln shelves thick!):


We only had about five pieces blow up, but they were big ones (all greenware):


The best looking of the survivors (some were greenware):

My first wood firing

I got to see (part of) my first wood firing at Gulf Wars. Anyeta built a Roman bottle-type kiln. I helped a little with the construction and took lots of pictures. Here we go:



The kiln was in the Early Period Life area of the site. I hate I got the car in the background.

A view of the shelves and support:


Fully loaded (this was all there was to fire):


View of the cones and draw rings through the peephole:


The taller it got, the scarier it got:


View from a distance. You can see the Viking longhall in the background:


The firing begins. The chimney says "Cone 06 or Bust Gulf Wars XIV." I think it eventually hit 2000 degrees Fahrenheit - around cone 04!


With a flash:


No flash, you can see the firebox area and the flames coming out of the chimney (that's Mistress Anyeta standing and watching):


My favorite picture:


I didn't make it back for the unloading, but it looked like only a couple of pieces broke. That's good, considering most of them were made during the week and some were only a little past leather hard. I don't know how the cones melted (07. 05, and 03), but I hope to talk to Anyeta soon and find out.