Making Pots - |
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Not making but made!
Nikki's batch of pots
ready to load. |
Loading Pots |
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Down in the cool corner lurk a batch of cookie
jars, made by Bill. |
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After the first day's loading.
A bit of a
late start, too much drinking tea? |
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The back section of the kiln loaded, then the
top adjusted to fit in a few more pots. |
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Nikki happy before a day loading. |
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After Nikki's hard day loading her pots,
together with many other folk's offerings.
About three quarters
full at the front. |
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Almost full after another few hours of loading,
by Jess, Lulu and Emma.
Pat's large Pebble Pot, was removed at her
request as she decided to do something different with the glazes..
Just
waiting for Sarah's pots to fill up the rest. |
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Bill after the last evening's loading session.
Well done Sarah, Simon and new member of the team Harry with his
range of different slips and glazes and even some porcelain.
Glad
to have got in a good variety of pottery from many potters. Still a
few pots left over for the next firing. |
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Bricked up the door, after a few more of Jess's
hands were added, balanced on queen scallop shells, and a few more
pyrometric cones were placed - to enable the range of temperatures to
be checked after the firing.
Now we wait for the firing
to be "allowed" when the surrounding countryside has been dampened
down a bit more and presents less of a fire risk. |
Firing Kiln - |
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After a night of preheating, when he "put
another log on the fire" every hour, Bill now watches Nick stoking
slightly more vigorously. |
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Nick recording the temperature in the log. |
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Ciaran stoking. A new member of the stoking
team, fresh from a night watching over the preheat.
Ciaran deserves
a medal for managing to stay awake for almost the whole 36 hours of
the firing. He claimed to have enjoyed being a slave! |
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The firebox at 14.30 hours.
Temperature
slowing rising. |
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Mark, actually being allowed to play at
stoking, resplendent in his new overall. He too earned a medal for
long service. |
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The cones 8 & 9 seen through the spyhole at
1745hours |
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Nikki in pole position?
She got bored and
started practicing her pole dancing moves.
Belinda does not look
amused! |
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Martin chatting. |
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Stoking.
The plan was to use one large chunk
of timber and top it up with several small pieces more regularly. |
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Into the evening and the flames start to back
out of the firebox when the door is opened. |
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Nikki checking the damper at the bottom of the
chimney.
Or has she got confused and started stoking the wrong
opening!? |
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Early evening. Flames coming from the top of
the chimney. Although that shows a wasting of unburnt fuel, it does
help to heat up the chimney which makes it pull better. |
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Sarah, one of the final push crew, stoking. |
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Sarah and her friend enjoying a laugh. |
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The cones started to bend at about 3am, by 5pm
they were over enough to call it a day, so the gaps under the doors
were bricked up, the "portcullis" lowered to block off the chimney
from the main chamber and the damper bricks removed from the base of
the chimney to less the pull. |
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Unloading Pots |
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First glimpse of the chamber after the top
courses of door brick removed.
Bill had a minor moment of
desperation, the first pots looked too matt, but they turned out to be
Harry's unglazed tests, with a range of coloured slips applied. Then
the cone on the right was unbent, but was an 11, which should not have
gone. |
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Bill and Ciaran unbricking the door.
Revealing a well fired chamber, nicely toasted pots. |
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Unbricked.
Cones gone where they were meant
to.
Slightly too low a temperature in the bottom right corner away
from the flame entries, but not too bad. |
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The same view taken with Harry's better camera,
perhaps he cleans his lens now and then! |
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Harry unloading. |
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Harry's nest of resulting pots.
Some
interesting tests with slips and porcelain bodies. |
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Harry with one of his lovely dark slipped pots. |
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Simon enjoying unloading his offerings.
Great results, with good speckle and toasted reduced areas. |
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Jess and Lulu sharing the joy! |
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Some of Nikki's mugs.
Very pleasing speckled
glazes and some nicely designed shapes. |
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Laurence's jugs and an urn decorated by
Jeanette. |
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Bill's beakers. |
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Close up.
Splendid slightly speckled brown
glaze inside and lip, with unglazed outside, the impressed comb
decoration nicely picked out by the ash toasting, with mild reduction
darkening the clay surface. |
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A few more of the same. |
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Bill's mugs and cups in the fading light. |
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Bill's flat bowls, platters, flan dishes, call
them what you will.
Iron rich dark brown glaze internally.
Band
of marks just under rim, harking back to a favourite iron age design
feature. |
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more of the same... |
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more of the same again... |
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Bill's random bowls.
High temperature light
oatmeal glaze. |
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Bill's large brown bowls. |
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more of the same... |
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Bill's mortaria.
Lots of ash speckle. |
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More of the same.
Paler because they were in
a cooler place away from the incoming flames. |
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More... |
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More... |
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Bill's conical flutes. |
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More "iron age" decorated bowls. |
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Bill's bowls, inspired by Iron age "Glastonbury
Ware" bowls. |
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More.... |
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More .... |
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Bill's mini mortaria. |
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Bill light oatmeal bowls, well toasted. |
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Bill's urn. |
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Report and Conclusions |
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The kiln firing log
A very good firing, following a slow climb in
temperature, the results were great. Smiles all round! It was great
to have so many potters involved with the firing, getting good
results.
Maybe new thermocouple probes are needed, to
keep up with the temperature?!
Fears that the packing was too dense were unfounded.
Comments are very welcome - email Bill Crumbleholme
Nix's wares can be seen and purchased at her website
and etsy
shop :-
https://www.nixhawkinsceramics.com
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/NixHawkinsCeramics
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Special thanks to all the usual
suspects, you know who you are!
Congratulations to Ciaran and Harry
- passing their initiation into the joy of wood fuelled firing.
Thanks to Chris and Storm Eunice for the fence panels and posts. |
