tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580639918656230427.post141932519928084581..comments2024-03-14T00:24:15.440+13:00Comments on Peter's Pottery: Using Microwaves to Dry ClayPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03078608554226394069noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580639918656230427.post-19658083465103192162011-05-24T22:20:56.834+12:002011-05-24T22:20:56.834+12:00Hi Joesoap,
Good to hear from you. Welcome to my ...Hi Joesoap,<br />Good to hear from you. Welcome to my site, I am glad you are enjoying it. Armchair potting has a lot to recommend it! A useful idea of yours, especially as it can produce food as well! Kilns have been known to cook a good turkey or extra large chicken (although I haven't tried it!). Best Wishes, PPeterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03078608554226394069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580639918656230427.post-15303481086994838802011-05-23T19:22:41.816+12:002011-05-23T19:22:41.816+12:00Hi Folks, I'm an armchair potter enjoying to r...Hi Folks, I'm an armchair potter enjoying to read your posts. Another way of heating up air is to build a stirdy frame to hold the pottery but covered in thick cardboard. Install two 100w light bulbs (the old fshion types) at the bottom third of the box, a door panel of timber and cardboard and a hole at the top and off you go with a cheaper Dehydrator. Can be used to produce jerky (biltong) or other food stuff as well<br />Regards<br />Joesoapdnihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17792512060807953786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580639918656230427.post-15245880843105655962009-10-19T09:23:24.906+13:002009-10-19T09:23:24.906+13:00A potter here, Peter Lange, made an ice kiln!! You...A potter here, Peter Lange, made an ice kiln!! You can see a picture of it here http://www.nzpotters.com/Events/EventImage.cfm?EventImageID=26&eventID=11<br />So, maybe the thought of a potter working in Iceland isn't quite so impossible as it sounds! I can't help but have visions of little updraft igloo kilns huffing and puffing their way to destruction at just above freezing point out there on the ice! Interesting that he should then move to Sweden (he must enjoy cold winters!Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03078608554226394069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580639918656230427.post-38497784019985460502009-10-18T07:50:13.591+13:002009-10-18T07:50:13.591+13:00The warm dry climate is appealing to me, after a c...The warm dry climate is appealing to me, after a cold wet week of northern english autumn, torrential rainstorm and flooding.<br />In my past, I've somehow spent time in very cold countries.<br />The first New Zealander I met was a guy I worked with in a pottery in Iceland! He was from Auckland, now living, potting, raising children, in Sweden.soubriquethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01151288534629885195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580639918656230427.post-987659861523380382009-10-15T09:51:51.480+13:002009-10-15T09:51:51.480+13:00Hello Soubriquet,
Thanks so much for your interest...Hello Soubriquet,<br />Thanks so much for your interesting comment regarding microwaves to dry pots, and welcome to my site. The vacuum chamber part of the process sounds a great idea. What a shame that some of these things are hard to scale up to a size where they would be useful for large numbers of pots! I think that the other solution to drying pots is to go to live in a country with a warm, dry climate!Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03078608554226394069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580639918656230427.post-33760585503033293052009-10-12T10:27:39.563+13:002009-10-12T10:27:39.563+13:00Back in 1986, I was having technical kiln control ...Back in 1986, I was having technical kiln control problems at my pottery, my father introduced me to a friend of his, a boffin who was retired, but still a part-time consultant to the electricity supply industry. Percy arranged the loan of some recording equipment to find out what was happening to my kiln. We became friends and were discussing accellerated pot-drying, Percy suggested a microwave chamber, they'd experimented with it for some other industry. I was a bit concerned about possibly reaching boiling point and bursting pots with steam pressure. <br />Percy's answer to that was a low power microwave. And infra-red remote sensors to monitor temperature rise, but the piece de resistance.... was that the whole thing took place in a vacuum chamber.... And so water vapourises and is sucked away. Of course, I already had a vacuum pump on the pugmill, so a bit of plumbing and a mysterious box later, we were vacuum drying. <br />However, the equipment could only take a few pots at a time, and the contraption was fairly bulky, so I abandoned the idea, and went back to my old shelving rack, wrapped in polythene, with a fan -heater ducted in.<br /><br />That brought back a few memories!soubriquethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01151288534629885195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580639918656230427.post-32810837982250590842009-07-03T08:22:04.871+12:002009-07-03T08:22:04.871+12:00Hello Pat,
You never know when such knowledge migh...Hello Pat,<br />You never know when such knowledge might prove useful! The image with this post was a photo of some pots on a drying rack that I fiddled with on the computer when I probably had something much more pressing to do! Fun anyway, and I thought its futuristic look probably fitted the theme of all that microwave radiation!Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03078608554226394069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580639918656230427.post-85444190817157230422009-07-03T07:49:37.543+12:002009-07-03T07:49:37.543+12:00A fascinating report of this process, Peter. I do...A fascinating report of this process, Peter. I don't expect that I'll ever be in a position to do this, but should the occasion arise, I'll be prepared! :)<br /><br />I greatly admire the kaleidoscopic image that heads this post.Pat - Arkansashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11623638376731374600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580639918656230427.post-73383720186307734482009-07-03T07:08:05.065+12:002009-07-03T07:08:05.065+12:00Hi Jewels and Linda,
I could do with a warm and d...Hi Jewels and Linda,<br /><br />I could do with a warm and dry climate at the moment, the nearest I can get to it is sitting in front of the electric heater surrounded by a pile of paperwork that describes the ebb and flow of our liquid assets! Ah well...<br /><br />Thanks Jewels for the link to Cold Spring Studio, which looks most interesting and helpful. I will persue it all further after licking the IRD envelopes. I don't know if you have a similar thing in the States, but our IRD send envelopes that are too small for more than about one carefully inserted piece of paper, and the glue (which tastes absolutely foul....not even a hint of mint flavour!)is spread too thinly and miserably to work properly! We also have to affix a postage stamp. There was a time when posting stuff to the IRD was free! Our current government is actually cutting further jobs in the IRD, so..., I can only guess that the glue will be spread even thinner in the future!<br /><br />Happy pot nuking! P.Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03078608554226394069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580639918656230427.post-71696418791135143352009-07-03T05:05:54.216+12:002009-07-03T05:05:54.216+12:00Hi Peter, what a thorough explanation, thanks so m...Hi Peter, what a thorough explanation, thanks so much, I have yet to try this as we are a dry climate but in winter I could use it for sure.Linda Starrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04364078667554676592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580639918656230427.post-65587200771985764112009-07-02T11:29:18.550+12:002009-07-02T11:29:18.550+12:00Hello Peter! Thank you for the detailed instructi...Hello Peter! Thank you for the detailed instructions on the art of nuking greenware! It is interesting the water that is removed puddles at the bottom. I have copied your post to my pottery information file and am anxious to test it out (I will be sure to wear goggles). : )<br /> <br />I came across a post by Cold Springs Studio that might be of interest to you: http://oohmyheck.blogspot.com/2009/07/testing-new-idea.html<br /><br />Hope you have completed your taxes and are licking the IRD envelope as I type. <br /><br />All the best, Jewels.SunShinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06491384969589130647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580639918656230427.post-30299472784780033292009-07-02T10:10:00.605+12:002009-07-02T10:10:00.605+12:00Hi Patti,
What was the saying, "necessity is ...Hi Patti,<br />What was the saying, "necessity is the mother of invention"? I think that applies in this case! <br /><br /> Regarding the last paragraph, I have never had a problem myself with the process, but part of that success is being methodical and always keeping in mind what might go wrong.Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03078608554226394069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580639918656230427.post-48839048423326656822009-07-01T23:39:19.950+12:002009-07-01T23:39:19.950+12:00Aren't you clever but then so was your friend ...Aren't you clever but then so was your friend to think of it.<br />It is so neat that you share your findings. You really are a good teacher Peter. Anyone can follow your instructions.<br />However, your last paragraph is a bit threatening. Better thee than me.Arkansas Pattihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14156004753267665579noreply@blogger.com