I finished the little kiln a few weeks ago, loaded it and finally fired it off, on Mother’s Day. So, accordingly, this first firing is dedicated to mothers. Not just my mom, but moms everywhere – including but not limited to “Mother Earth”. So take a minute to honor thy mother, and think – where would we all be without our moms? I can’t even fathom the number of poorly crafted & ghastly creations I’ve made but my mom said she liked them anyways.
Alrighty then, getting back to the point…. The first firing was mid-range; to about cone 5. Although this is a bit cooler than a typical wood firing, the local clay we’ve been using looks really good at this range and is a nice “brick” red & it saves a lot of BTU’s so it’s a win win situation.
Here is the kiln loaded & bricked up, with a propane burner on to pre-heat. The fiber chimney extension is removable to allow work to be loaded in from the top of the chimney in order to increase the stacking space.
For such a little kiln, it really seemed to swallow up a lot of work!
Here’s the kiln being fired off, sometime around midnight.
The kiln really fired like a gem & seemed to be quite efficient, so it should be pretty eco-groovy compared to some other wood kilns I’ve fired. During the “drying out” stage the kiln steamed for several hours, seeming to hold the temperature down a bit (it even continued to steam after the firing was done!). This first firing lasted about 18 hrs. , burning about a ½ cord of wood & a bit of propane. I can’t wait to unload it…..
