Wood firing Returns to Farnham!
Greetings Kiln Clubbers,
As the headline reads, the firing of the tenth of April was a great success. For the first time in about fifteen years there has been a proper wood firing at the ceramics department in Farnham. This is something for which all involved should feel justifiably proud. It was another idyllic day for a firing (we seem to have unerring good luck with the weather for the kiln club). Ashley dropped by to pick me up at an unfeasible hour. We nursed a tiny flame (soon to rise to a mighty roar) accompanied by the trills of a fabulous dawn chorus.
The pack, on Thursday the 8th April was supervised by Graham Ellerby, whose input was much appreciated. Our priority was to space the ware evenly, anticipating the flow of the fire through the kiln and being careful not to create any obstructions or ‘short cut’ pathways for the flame, which would prevent even temperature rise. The loss of one fire box, and expansion of the other, resulted in a slightly enlarged packing space I reckon. Spookily, we had exactly the right amount of work. The pack took the full day, and we managed to get in easily as much work as the last time. A meticulous business and one that set Graham’s teeth a tad on edge – he’s a particular fella with his kiln packs and there were a few intakes of breath at my occasionally unorthodox packing solutions… Slow steady stoking brought the kiln up to about red heat by mid day, and we were ready for reduction by one.
There’s really nothing quite like it. The wood kiln is a living beast, with particular demands. Wood is a fuel that requires persistence, resourcefulness and a lot of physical energy. Thankfully the event was well attended and there were several willing hands who ably assisted during the day, whether stoking or chopping wood or buddying the stokers. Food and drink was brought along too and a great atmosphere of pyro-fellowship pervaded the day.
One sticking point required some inventive adjustment to the kiln’s infrastructure, which shall not be mentioned here but those who were there will remember it! That done, the beast purred away, delivering a consistent temperature rise with almost every stoke, and climbing at about 60 degrees an hour. Our sense was that there was plenty ‘in the tank’ and we could have pushed it further than our target of 1280, which we reached at about 7 pm. We held it there in a soak for an hour to even it up, because due to an anomaly of the pack, the base was about a cone higher in temperature than the top (the temp. indicator proved to be accurate, which was good to know). Bertha (for yea, verily, that is her name) delivered the goods by 8, and we basked in the glow of not only the radiated heat from the kiln door (the rest of the improved insulation worked a dream, incidentally), but also in our own internal glow of veritable triumph. Damn, it felt good. Many thanks to all who assisted on the day.
So, we will do it again. I think the next Kiln club wood firing should be in June, to give all and sundry time to make things. If you have not been involved as yet, I urge you to do so. It is a rewarding and challenging experience, worthy of commemoration in a folk song… We also need to decide upon a date for the next Raku day. I will confer with the key people and get back to y’all on both counts within the next week or so.
Gareth. April 27th 2010