A Kiln for Claire. Part Two. A Small wood fired kiln




My first kiln was inspired by instructions I saw in Michael Casson's, "Craft of the Potter", book. It was really a basic firebox with a chamber put on top of it. A floor for the chamber was made out of old kiln shelves, and a roof was made the same way. It worked, but its chamber was only about one cubic foot, which was far too small for serious use. That kiln later prompted me to build a simple chamber out of insulating fire brick on top of a firebox of another kiln that I was about to pull down. This worked very well to 1100 degrees Centigrade, but having no real chimney, could not climb higher than that.

The plans that come with this post gets its inspiration from those attempts, but I have made improvements to the structure, and provided a proper chimney. I think this could be a very practical small wood fired kiln, that is not too costly to make, and very economical to fire. Having no arch over the chamber makes this easy to build, and external metal bracing is not really essential, as there is no arch to push the walls outward.

The plans should enlarge to an almost readable size when you click on them.

I will produce more complete plans for the kiln that I showed in part one of this series on kiln building. I had hoped to have got that done in time for part two, but took longer than I thought on the kiln that is with this. So, hopefully it will arrive with part 3!

Comments

Linda Starr said…
Wow Peter, you need to put your articles into a book and get paid for them. They are so great. I wish I was in the mind for a wood kiln I would definitely use your plans.
Peter said…
Hi Linda,
I enjoy writing and it would be wonderful to find a way to be paid for it! It would be really interesting to write something about pottery and kiln building. I realise that far better qualified people than me have already done that, but I think that there are some things about my isolation here that have given me a few skills that might be worth passing on. I did recently send an article into the NZ Society of Potters newsletter, which I gather they have printed, so (whilst no money will change hands over that) I guess I have made a little start and can claim now to be a published author!
All the Best. P.
Pat - Arkansas said…
Well done, Peter. Your illustrations are wonderful and, of course, have more meaning to a kiln-firing potter than to someone like me. However, I can and do appreciate the art and skill needed to do this. I hope your published article leads to more and better things.

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