Making some things before the semester drops hammers.

April 2012 Juniata College anagama part 7

April 2012 Juniata College anagama part 5

April 2012 Juniata College anagama part 1

Thanksgiving and kiln firing. November Juniata Anagama anticipation.

Here we are. Its almost time to unload. Take a look at my photobucket for some loading pictures and a few firing pictures. I am waiting for more documentation from other folks with cameras that were at/participating in the firing. We fired for 5 days (or 4.5 days if you count hours)managing to keep it at cone 10 for about 3 days. That is a far more impressive soak (holding at a particular temperature) than any firing thus far. There was a hick-up around quartz inversion and there was definately damage done to some of the green (raw) pots. Next time we have to be more careful and make sure everyone knows whats going on. Other than that it seems like things went very well. I wont really know till this coming Tuesday I guess.


Been pretty busy overall lately. The weather has been fantastic so I was working outside on the anagama behind my studio. I had a sale at my place too. It went ok. I need to advertise better. Next one I will absolutely advertise on the interwebs.

Working hard. Hardly working.

life is what you make.

What is it? October WHAT already...

Oh how time flies when stuff happens. It feels good during the day and is getting pretty darn cold at night. In between bouts of rain I have been steadily working in the studio and out. Firing and refiring. Bricking and unbricking.



I redid the front firebox area today and changed the grate configuration. I started with an arched grate but it was too tall so I lowered the floor and am planning to span the top of the box with long bricks (hopefully two 13" bricks with a support in the center).

My plan is to continue to work on the kiln until the weather is unbearable.

now we are walking.

After some time I have come upon fired test pieces. I used two clay bodies and three glazes. There are more pots to be fired but I need more white glaze. I think its going to come to mixing my own recipe but I need to have materials sent in or I need to go out into the wilderness and forage for bags of feldspar...

Probably best going to someone who already found some.

Must make more mugs. Also work for the April anagama firing is underway, I think we will have enough work for a good firing.

Juniata College Fall Anagama Firing 2010 (2)

Wood-Salt Firing in Boiling Springs with Kurt

Friend, colleague, and Juniata College student Nick Brown and I joined Kurt to fire his updraft woodkiln in August. It went quite well dis-spite a disgruntled and completely uninformed neighbor who just picked us to take all her environmental woes at about 9:00 am at around 2000 degrees. What a problem! People really need to learn about what they are fighting against before they raise their voice. If she knew what kind of footprint the wood we were burning actually was as opposed to the propane she forcefully suggested we use or the gas she uses to 'drive to her real job' over an hour everyday she would never have left her house to even think about doing anything but thanking us for enriching her town both in spirit and in culture. We went from stoking rather large pieces of slab wood to spending about 12 to 14 hours firing with nothing but 3 or 4 pieces of 9"x3"x1" hardwood and were able to continue to rise in temperature. It was insane. The pictures I promised will be uploaded shortly as there are many.

Mid Summer's End

I have just come back from a 'weekend' in Carlisle PA in which I spent time working with Kurt in his studio preparing for a salt/wood/propane firing in his kiln. This firing is going to happen next weekend and I plan on documenting so there will be another post to follow this one with images of the whole deal. Just before that though my dad and I set up a small barrel that he lined with a refractory castable material and attempted to run a saltku (high temp, like cone 9-14, gas firing using charcoal and rock salt) firing. Because of the lack of a proper flue system we were only able to reach 1250 degrees F but it was still a worthwhile venture. We fired from about 6pm till midnight when the kiln basically stopped gaining temp for good. We are casting a real lid with a better opening for a flue so there will be another firing soon.

We had a camera so here is kind of how it went.